Taupo fees open doors to iwi partnership

Waatea Team Taupo fees open doors to iwi partnership

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The chair of Ngāti Tūwharetoa Trust Board says the iwi is keen to form partnerships with commercial users of Lake Taupō.

The High Court has rules that as the owner of the bed of the lake and its tributaries Tūwharetoa has the right to charge for commercial use.

John Bishara says while some companies like Mercury Energy started paying fees once the lake bed was returned to the iwi in its 2007 settlement, other users resisted.

He says the ruling confirms what the iwi always knew was right.

"Charging the commercial operators is not going to make us rich and it's not about that. It's about our ability to get some economic return on behalf of the people of our iwi and also to enter into commercial partnerships or the utilisation they have and the privileges they have using Taupō waters,' he says.

John Bishara says some users could now be changed back rates.

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