May 14, 2014
Te Taitokerau advisory komiti on track
Northland Regional Council is pushing ahead with creating a Te Taitokerau Maori Advisory Committee.
Councilor Dover Samuels, who will chair the committee, says it’s likely to meet soon at Ngati Hine Marae in Moerewa.
The committee could eventually have more than 30 members, including four councillors, the chief executive of regional economic development body Northland Inc, and two each from 13 iwi and Ngati Hine.
As the largest Ngapuhi hapu, Ngati Hine is recognised as an iwi authority for resource management processes.
So far six iwi have nominated representatives.
Mr Samuels says details of how the committee will work won’t be finalised until councilors and staff have visited other local authorities around the country to investigate the ways they engage with Maori.
The committee will have a manager reporting directly to the council chief executive.
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