Horizons calls halt to 11 iwi partnership processes ahead of RMA repeal

Eleven iwi-led partnership processes across the Horizons region will be ditched because they cannot be completed before the Government scraps the legal framework underpinning them.

Horizons Regional councillors have agreed to wind down the Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (MWāR) processes initiated by 14 iwi entities and shift toward alternative partnership arrangements.

The Government is expected to enact resource management reforms in September. Until then, the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) remains in force, meaning the council must continue meeting its existing statutory obligations to iwi.

But council officers said there was now little prospect of completing the 11 processes before the legislation changes. The processes are in various stages, ranging from scoping to negotiation and draft-agreement.

At a meeting on Tuesday in Palmerston North, officers said there was not enough time to complete negotiation, legal review, elected-member consideration and formal approval of the agreements before the RMA is repealed.

"Should the Government's announced amendments be passed by the House, every Mana Whakahono ā Rohe process in the Horizons region ends on enactment, regardless of what stage it has reached," a report to councillors said.

MWāR are a statutory mechanism under the RMA that provides a framework for councils and iwi authorities to agree on how they will work together on resource management matters.

The Government has said it plans to amend the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill so that initiated and existing MWāR agreements do not transfer to the new planning system.

Councils will be able to enter into new "iwi participation agreements" under the replacement system. However, the proposed replacement appears narrower and would be at council discretion.

Further detail about the new agreements remains unclear.

The report said the council was not being asked to reassess the value of MWāR or council's commitment to iwi partnerships, but to provide direction on how to end the processes. Councillors were also asked to consider their position on potential future iwi participation agreements, and whether to fund iwi work on the agreements to date.

In July the council agreed to contribute up to $10,000 for each iwi entity participating in a MWāR process beyond an initial hui. With 14 iwi entities involved, the maximum commitment was $140,000. No grants had yet been paid out.

Councillors voted to honour the funding commitment for iwi that had already committed resources to the process. Eligible iwi and the amount of each contribution will be approved by the chief executive.

The council also agreed to continue "active, face-to-face" engagement arrangements with Māori/iwi that had been in place prior to MWāR provisions, including memoranda of understanding, iwi environmental management plans, Treaty settlement commitments and other existing partnership agreements.

Councillor Elijah Pue said the council's wider obligations to Māori and Treaty settlement partners would remain even after the RMA is repealed.

He said reaffirming decisions the council had already made would uphold existing relationship mechanisms and the work council and iwi have done to improve Māori engagement in the regulatory system.

"Māori must continue to participate in the planning system. By no means do I think we should stop engagement because all the work done by iwi and Horizons would just simply go out the window.

"In terms of our relationships and our obligations to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treaty settlement arrangements and iwi environmental management plans, [that] would certainly be throwing out the baby with the bathwater."