Iwi divided over $200m road

A Taranaki iwi has given its support to a $200 million roading upgrade, but not all its members are happy.

Te Ru¯ nanga o Nga¯ ti Tama was once neutral about its view of the New Zealand Transport Agency’s (NZTA) plans to upgrade State Highway 3 at Mt Messenger, but it’s had a change of heart and given the project the green light.

The proposed bypass cuts through land known as Parininihi, which is owned by Nga¯ ti Tama. The whenua (land) had been confiscated by the Crown but later returned as part of its 2003 Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

But the ‘‘fractured’’ relationships within the north Taranaki iwi were once again laid bare at a resource consent hearing connected to the proposal yesterday.

Members of Te Korowai Tiaki o te Haua¯ uru provided evidence to independent commissioner Stephen Daysh, which voiced their opposition to the work along with their concern about being left out of the consultation process.

The ru¯ nanga is the postsettlement governance entity for Nga¯ ti Tama and is considered to be its mandated voice in terms of consultation involving major developments.

But Rob Enright, counsel for Te Korowai, questioned NZTA’s reliance on getting support for the project from the ru¯ nanga, at the expense of other affected Ma¯ ori.

He said Te Korowai had a membership of 500 people, who all had whakapapa to Nga¯ti Tama.

‘‘The key point I make here is that hapu¯ have a right to be heard and tangata whenua have a right to be heard,’’ he said.

‘‘The sign-off from the iwi authority is not enough.’’

Bill White, a Te Korowai member, slammed NZTA’s lack of consultation with the group.

He said as the proposal stood, there was a risk the land that had been returned to it would be lost, despite any compensation provided.

As part of Nga¯ti Tama’s negotiations with NZTA an agreement is on the table, which includes a land swap involving a 120 hectare section, a cash payment and environmental mitigation measures.

White said Nga¯ti Tama had already lost too much through historical land confiscation.

‘‘The Crown stole the Rolls Royce and gave back the tow bar,’’ he said.

Te Korowai chairman Amos White endorsed what his brother Bill had said about the lack of contact from NZTA.

‘‘We expected a wider and more open consultation process with hapu¯ and iwi from our treaty partners.’’

Planner Greg Carlyon, who provided expert evidence for Te Korowai, said there was a growing trend that consultation involved moving beyond just talking to one group.

Daysh described the relationships within Nga¯ti Tama as ‘‘fractured’’ and pointed out the difficulties this could have presented to the NZTA.

He said there was enough time for further discussion between the ru¯ nanga and Te Korowai.

The resource consent hearing has now been adjourned until October 8.