Image: Whangaehu River and Mangamāhu stream convergence - Mangamāhu
Te Tāhoratanga o Te Waiū –
a strategic document for the awa
Te Tāhoratanga is the strategic document for Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika that will be developed by Ngā Wai Tōtā. The word ‘tahora’ means to lay out, to spread out. The job of Ngā Wai Tōtā is to feed and sustain the awa, and Te Tāhoratanga o Te Waiū is about laying out the kōrero to make sure that happens. It’s about sharing the voice of the awa so that she is sustained and nurtured. It’s about sharing together the work of nurturing her.
The job of Te Tāhoratanga is to provide guidance and leadership for the Whangaehu River. Its role is to place the needs of the river at the centre of decision-making, to set the health and well-being of the awa and her people at the heart of how the river is treated and cared for, and to ensure the voice of her people is heard and heeded. Its role is to bring all communities of the awa together for the good of the awa.
Te Mana Tupua and Ngā Toka Tupua are central to this. In Te Mana Tupua and Ngā Toka Tupua, we move away from old narratives of seeing the awa as a ‘dead awa’, towards understanding that the awa is vibrant, the awa is a healer, and the awa is unique. It is an awa full of kōrero, interconnected from source to sea, an awa that brings sustenance to the land and the communities that connect to her, physically, spiritually, culturally and economically.
The purpose of Te Tāhoratanga is to:
-
Promote Te Mana Tupua and Ngā Toka Tupua
-
Advance the health and well-being of the awa
-
Advance the integrated management of the awa
-
Give guidance on expressing the relationship of Ngā Iwi o Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika (including our kawa, tikanga, and ritenga) with the awa
Image: An intake of the Eastern Diversion of the Tongariro Power Scheme diverting water from Te Waiū, Karioi Forest
What legal weight does Te Tāhoratanga have?
Local authorities must recognise and provide for Te Tāhoratanga whenever they are preparing or changing a planning document that relates to Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika. This includes regional policy statements, regional and district plans. They can incorporate Te Tāhoratanga in its entirety if they want to. Local authorities can do reviews of their plans and policy statements so that these properly recognise and provide for Te Tāhoratanga.
For resource consents in the Te Waiū catchment that relate to or affect Te Waiū, consent authorities must have particular regard to Te Tāhoratanga. Likewise, for the Te Waiū catchment, conservation management strategies, Te Pae Ao plans, pest plans under the Biosecurity Act, fisheries decisions under the Fisheries Act and decisions made under the Local Government Act must have particular regard to Te Tāhoratanga. For the Fisheries Act, this applies to decisions about sustainability of the fisheries in Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika.