June 18, 2024
Commissioners acknowledge mana of Tauranga Moana iwi
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A Tauranga City Council commissioner says the commission has been able to make progress for mana whenua in its four years.
The term of the commission led by former minister Anne Tolley is expiring and residents are voting for a new council.
Shadrach Rolleston, who has deep ties to Tauranga Moana iwi and a background in resource management, says the four commissioners were faced with decisions which had remained unresolved for many years and where it made sense to work in partnership with Māori.
“There was a long-standing dispute over a piece of land in the centre city – so a 160-year dispute over a piece of land that ultimately came into the hands of the council. We stepped through a process wiht mana whenua and the community about transferring that land into a joint ownership arrangement between council mana whenua and for that land to be used by council for community purposes, a new library, a new museum,” he says.
Mr Rolleston says the commissioners were established a first right of refusal policiy giving mana whenua a chance to bid when councl declares properties surplus.