Hapū submission: Waitangi and Oromahoe Marae – Far North Proposed District Plan (October 2022)
- Oct 1, 2022
- 2 min read
This submission was made in October 2022 by community leaders and social scientists affiliated with Waitangi and Oromahoe marae — including kaumātua and kuia of Ngāti Rāhiri and Ngāti Kawa — in response to the Far North District Council's Proposed District Plan. It focuses on four sections of the plan relating to tangata whenua provisions, historic and cultural values, sites and areas of significance to Māori, and economic prosperity.
The submission argues that the proposed plan, while well-intentioned, lacks specificity and accountability in its treatment of Māori rights and interests. Key recommendations include strengthening the plan's language around rangatiratanga and Te Tiriti — moving from vague "partnership" framing toward obligations that give active effect to Article Two — and replacing "cultural impact assessment" with "tangata whenua impact assessment" throughout, to prevent assessments being conducted without the authority or mandate of mana whenua.
Significant emphasis is placed on climate change, which the submitters note is absent from all tangata whenua objectives in the plan as drafted. They propose a new policy (TW-P7) requiring the Council to work proactively with iwi and hapū on kāinga adaptation plans, share council-held climate data, translate national climate legislation to a local level, and establish a dedicated Council point of contact for tangata whenua on climate change matters.
The submission also calls for mātauranga Māori to be actively integrated into practical outcomes rather than merely acknowledged, and for consent costs to be waived for sites and areas of significance to Māori.
For Project Kāinga, this document is directly relevant as a community-led articulation of how climate adaptation intersects with resource management, rangatiratanga and kāinga planning at the local governance level — authored in part by members of the Project Kāinga network.
