Minutes of Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting

unconfirmed Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting minutes

17 September 2025

MINUTES OF Tauranga City Council

Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting

HELD AT THE MARAE

ON Wednesday, 17 September 2025 AT 9.30am

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr Anthony Fisher (Chair), Mayor Mahé Drysdale, Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular, Ms Matire Duncan, Ms Destiny Leaf, Mr Whitiora McLeod, Cr Kevin Schuler, Cr Kura Martin, Cr Hēmi Rolleston.

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE

Cr Glen Crowther and Cr Rod Taylor

Ms Rohario Murray, Tangata Whenua representative for Audit & Risk Committee

Te Rangapu Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana Members:

· Irene Walker

· Arthur Flintoff

· Nathan James

· Kylie Smallman

Ngai Tamarāwaho:

· Kirsty Willison

· Kylie Wilson

· Hemoata Willison

· Jamie-Lee Jack-Kino

· Rakera Willison-Stewart

· Ms Julie Tawa

IN ATTENDANCE:

Christine Jones (General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance), Keren Paekau (Acting Head of Strategic Māori Engagement), Cynthia Hamel (Acting Team Leader: Takawaenga Māori), Yolande Tipuna (Kaiārahi Māori), Leonie Cairns (Kaiārahi Māori),Tuana Kuka (Kaiārahi Māori), Ange Webster (Māori Engagement - City Waters), James Jacobs (Community Partnerships Lead), Eric Signi (Senior Transport Planner), Caroline Irvin (Governance Advisor).

1 Opening karakia

Mr Chris Nepia, Kaupapa Māori Manager, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opened the meeting with a karakia.

2 Apologies

Apology

Committee Resolution TW/25/3/1

Moved: Mr Buddy Mikaere

Seconded: Ms Matire Duncan

That the apology for absence received from Member Puhirake Ihaka, Cr Hautapu Baker and Chief Executive Marty Grenfell be accepted.

Carried

3 Public forum

Nil

4 Acceptance of late items

Ms Matire Duncan advised she had two late items of business she wished to address at the meeting:

· Advocacy for a Māori policy analyst to join the Takawaenga Team

· The Council meeting held on 16 September 2025.

5 Confidential business to be transferred into the open

Nil

6 Change to order of business

Nil

7 Confirmation of minutes

7.1 Minutes of the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting held on 25 June 2025

Committee Resolution TW/25/3/2

Moved: Ms Destiny Leaf

Seconded: Mayor Mahé Drysdale

That the Minutes of the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting held on 25 June 2025 be confirmed as a true and correct record.

Carried

8 Declaration of conflicts of interest

Nil

9 Deputations, presentations, petitions

Timestamp: 8:03 minutes

9.1 Hapū Presentation - Ngai Tamarāwaho

1. Ms Kura Martin

· Ms Kura Martin provided the committee with the pepeha of Ngai Tamarāwaho.

2. Kaumatua Des Tata – provided a presentation on the following:

· An outline of some of the history about the Takitimu Waka and its arrival to Tauranga Moana.

· Iwi history.

· Ngai Tamarāwaho’s genealogical ties to the whenua and a brief history of some of the land wars in Tauranga Moana, the resulting confiscation of land and the alienation of Ngai Tamarāwaho from their whenua.

· The issues facing Ngai Tamarāwaho on Motuopae Island around the decreasing capacity to be able to continue to bury their deceased there.

Action requested

· Ngai Tamarāwaho requested that Council look at providing land for a new urupā site to enable them to bury their deceased.

3. Mr Chris Nepia, Trustee of the Te Reti B and C Residue Trust

· Mr Nepia spoke on behalf of Te Reti B and C Residue Trust and provided a brief history of their Papakāinga located on Cambridge Road, which was administered as a Trust on behalf of around 600 owners.

· There were issues with infrastructure and building more houses as part of this Papakāinga. The onus of meeting the requirements of Council was on the individual house owners.

· One of the issues now was the requirement of a resource consent from individual house builds for stormwater. This was due to the stormwater allocation for houses that were to be built outside the Papakāinga whenua.

· The added cost of acquiring a resource consent and meeting infrastructure requirements for homeowners was making a return to their whenua difficult to achieve.

Action requested

· The Trust requested that Council consider creating a comprehensive land use consent to cover these issues to enable tangata whenua to return to live on their land.

4. Kylie Willison – Te Mahi ā-Nuku

· Te Mahi ā-Nuku was a hapū led plant nursery and training facility that undertook maintenance and planting within their rohe and sites of significance, especially Kopurererua and Waikareao.

· Building consent processes and costs were some of the difficulties they faced due to constraints with nearby infrastructure.

Action requested

· Te Mahi ā-Nuku requested that a hapu ranger be established for the Kopurererua Valley and to be able to take over some of the maintenance of the Valley and other key reserve areas.

5. Hemoata Willison – Huria Trust

· The Committee was welcomed to Huria Marae, provided with a mihimihi/pepeha (see attachment) and advised of the following requests:

Actions requested

Huria Marae Sewerage Wharekai	Council’s support was requested to find a solution to the now serious sewerage issues that of the marae and manuhiri.
Huria Marae Emergency Planning	Council was asked to partner with the marae to find a solution to the marae’s problematic wastewater issues, in particular the wharekai.
Redevelopment of 4 Te Kaponga Street	Council’s support in restoring and revitalising this space, as a tūrangawaeae, was requested.
Tamarawaho Crescent	Council was requested to revisit the maintenance contract for this road by way of a contract to the hapū nursery development Te Mahi a Nuku.
Mobil Station at Chappel Street – CBD Presence	An update was requested on where the mobile Station at Chapel Street land transfer from Tauranga City Council to Ngai Tamarāwaho was at.
Protocol Document	An update was requested on where the protocol document between Ngāti Tamarawaho and Council was at this time.

The Chair thanked Ngai Tamarāwaho for their presentation and acknowledged the comments and requests which would be taken back to Council.

Attachments

1 Huria Marae Presentation

10 Business

Timestamp: 1 hour and 12.38 minutes

10.1 Tangata Whenua/Tauranga City Council Committee - Chairperson's Report - September 2025

Chairperson Mr Anthony Fisher

Chairperson Anthony Fisher commented on attending the Koroneihana celebrations for Te Ārikinui Kuīni Nga wai hono i te po which was a very uplifting time for the whole country and brought about a new era.

Committee Resolution TW/25/3/3

Moved: Mr Whitiora McLeod

Seconded: Cr Hēmi Rolleston

That the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Tangata Whenua/Tauranga City Council Committee - Chairperson's Report - September 2025".

Carried

Timestamp: 1 hour and 14 minutes

10.2 Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana Report - September 2025

Ms Matire Duncan

Member Buddy Mikaere – Māori Roads

· There were difficulties with Māori roadways in terms of Papakāinga establishment. Te Rangapu Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana (TRM) wished to work with Council on this issue.

Member Whitiora McLeod – Resource Management Reform Update

· Workshops with Council staff had been going well. It was acknowledged this was a changing landscape that had to be kept on top of. It was important to remember and build on the relationship with the Māori Land Court and the effect the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 could have on Papakāinga developments.

· There had been ongoing discussion with local iwi on Local Waters Done Well. Member McLeod noted there was opposition from Tauranga Moana iwi and hapū to Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council partnering with Thames-Coromandel District Council.

Member Matire Duncan - Local Waters Done Well

· Council’s water staff were to be acknowledged for keeping iwi updated on future Local Waters Done Well developments, commitment agreements and due diligence.

Member Kura Martin – Use of Council Land Policy

· The Use of Council Land Policy was due for review this year. It was felt this needed to come to TRM first for discussion and review.

Member Matire Duncan – Strategic Plan

· RMW’s Strategic Plan ‘Te Aupikitanga 2024-2026’ (attached to the RMW report) laid out its vision, mission, values and focus areas. This was a work in progress.

Member Destiny Leaf – National Māori Housing Conference

· The benefits of Papakāinga housing was that it connected people spiritually back to their whenua and culture.

· In 2023, Te Arawa hosted the largest Māori housing conference and show cased innovation in providing unique housing options for whanau Māori.

· The National Māori Housing Conference brought together iwi, Government and community stakeholders to address housing challenges. It showcased innovative solutions and Māori housing leadership and highlighted best practices. It strengthened partnerships forums from funding announcements to indigenous lead strategies and Papakāinga successes.

Member Matire Duncan

· Cr Baker and Cr Rolleston had provided valuable feedback in terms of improving engagement and communication between tangata whenua and Council.

· It was suggested there could be more input into the ‘Te Ao Māori Approach’ section in Council reports.

· There would be upcoming conversations around the role of iwi/hapū in Local Waters Done Well which would include finding ways to work together more effectively moving forward.

Cr Rolleston

· There were learnings to be taken from the Local Water Done Well approach to date. There was a lot of information to work through. Working smarter and more efficiently with an open mind would help to achieve tangata whenua desired outcomes.

At 12.08pm Mr Buddy Mikaere withdrew from the meeting

Mayor Drysdale

· Council was very keen to work in partnership with Tangata Whenua and implement meaningful change. Going forward, part of the engagement was about the lessons learnt over the past year.

· Council had discussed partnering with Ngā Pōtiki in terms of looking at the whole Te Manga site as one, as opposed to three separate issues.

Cr Rolleston

· Cr Rolleston put forward the idea that Council planning staff could also attend the National Māori Housing Conference.

Late items

Member Matire Duncan (Independent Chair of Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana)

· Te Rangapū put forward that a Māori policy analyst join Te Pou Takawaenga for the purpose of policy development, research, legislation and regulation analysis. This was particularly in terms of Māori engagement, and the application of Māori knowledge and principles when developing policy.

· Mr Mikaere Sydney was in attendance at the Council meeting held on 16 September 2025, where his success of being the first elected member for the Māori Ward seat was acknowledged with a certificate. Mr Sydney was congratulated by Elected Members and sung a waiata. Ms Duncan noted that not all Councillors acknowledged Mr Sydney, and it was felt this was disrespectful.

Committee Resolution TW/25/3/4

Moved: Cr Hēmi Rolleston

Seconded: Cr Kevin Schuler

That the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana Report - September 2025".

Carried

Timestamp: 1 hour and 38 minutes

10.3 Tangata Whenua Presentation Updates - September 2025

Staff Keren Pakeau, Acting Head of Strategic Māori Engagement

The Acting Head of Strategic Māori Engagement highlighted the following points from the report:

· The funding for Papakāinga was being worked on now in terms of what the criteria for the fund would look like. A workshop with Elected Members was scheduled to progress this work.

· There had been a number of changes within the organisation over the last few months and as a result some projects hadn’t moved as quickly as would have liked – in particular ones around property.

· It was acknowledged that Mangatawa Marae, the last marae within the TCC area without wastewater reticulation, now had a connected ossett wastewater system.

· Last week Elected Members met with Ngati Kuku. The matters that arose would be added to the table for the next Committee meeting to ensure tracking of them.

· The Waiari Kaitiaki Advisory Group had a great hui with Tapuika and Waitaha who attended the meeting with their kaitiaki staff with the desire to work closer with Te Pou Takawaenga around monitoring the awa. A plan would be developed on the partnership for the monitoring of the awa.

· The ‘whole of Te Manga’ approach had been discussed with Ngā Pōtiki which concerned infrastructure, landfill and other activities in this area.

Comments

· Cr Rolleston reiterated the question, in terms of working smarter, of how Council could accelerate the issues raised today, and previously, to the point of completion.

· The General Manager: Strategy, Partnerships & Growth advised that the conversation about what the future looked like and how TCC could improve and better frame its relationship with tangata whenua like had been initiated with tangata whenua. It was acknowledged that the relationship had improved over the last 20 years. The Chief Executive’s next conversation was about what the next ten to 20 years looked like given the changes to Council over the years, and how best to shape the work in a way that would benefit everyone. Once this had been confirmed, Council could work on how to best allocate the resources needed to achieve the established outcomes.

Committee Resolution TW/25/3/5

Moved: Cr Hēmi Rolleston

Seconded: Ms Destiny Leaf

That the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Tangata Whenua Presentation Updates - September 2025".

Carried

11 Discussion of late items

Nil

12 Closing karakia

Kaumatua Des Tata closed the meeting with a karakia.

The meeting closed at 12.31pm.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed as a true and correct record at the Tangata Whenua / Tauranga City Council Committee meeting held on 3 December 2025.