New horizons for iwi, council
A partnership forged in the bush should mean more than one signed around a board table.
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-aRua and Horizons Regional Council have signed a memorandum of partnership, an agreement where they will work to create opportunities to help the iwi.
On Wednesday the iwi took Horizons councillors and staff to a block of its land near Weber, southeast of Dannevirke, for the official signing.
The 660ha block, called Awakura, was returned to the iwi in its Treaty of Waitangi settlement. Near the headwaters of the Ākitio River, it has forests and steep hills with views far south along the Puketoi Range.
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-aRua chairman Hayden Hape said that instead of signing the memorandum in an office, he wanted to show the council something by taking councillors and staff to the block of land.
When he saw the block of land on the Crown list, it was a place he knew the iwi wanted, he said. A lot of their families had become disengaged from the whenua, but now they had the ability to reconnect and work on the land.
Iwi general manager Stacey Hape said that in their Treaty settlement, they wanted properties that could help their whānau and give them benefits straight away, which Awakura had done.
“For the last two years we’ve been able to employ people under the Jobs for Nature project and upskill our whānau and give them more opportunities, which allowed our rangatahi (youth) to go into tertiary education. This is really a magical place. I can see it’s going to be beneficial for training, but also for mental wellbeing and lots of other opportunities for the community.”
Horizons chairwoman Rachel Keedwell said she was looking forward to what could be achieved with the iwi.
She said the iwi had been on a journey to reach a settlement with the Crown, and now they were in the post-settlement era, it was a good time to formalise a relationship with Horizons.
“This memorandum of partnership is a formal written way of forming the basis of that relationship where we can move forward.
“It’s not legally binding, but it’s an excellent starting point for how we can work together to make [the iwi] realise your aspirations.”
She said they could “make some magic together”, and had agreed for the relationship to be Te Tiriti-focused.
“The memorandum identifies projects we want to work on together. The key to success is having open and honest communication.
“It will be robust, but as long as it’s in the spirit of reaching our end goal of being stronger together, we’re on the right path.”