July 14, 2021
Elections on for Whanganui River board
Elections are underway for a board that represents the living embodiment and legal personality of a river.
Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust was formed as a result of the Whanganui River settlement, and its founding members are completing their first term.
Chief executive Nancy Taine says there are about 8000 descendants of Whanganui River iwi on the voting roll, and the board is trying to encourage those people to check their addresses are still current, and to get other eligible uri to enrol.
She says the settlement represents a new way of looking at the environment and the awa, so the board is trying to encourage a change of behaviour outside what people have come to expect from the Resource Management Act.
"We’re saying actually before that you need to have a conversation, we need to have conversations as a community for everybody who has a role and an interest and an impact on the river and the river system more broadly in terms of Te Awa Tupua. It's different from any other board in that respect," Ms Tuaine says.
Voting for Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust is open now and runs until August 3.
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