Tuesday, 09 March 2010
A NGATI Rangitihi iwi member has scathingly described a deal between the Tasman mill companies and iwi groups to work towards improving Tarawera River water quality as “hush money”.
Tipene Marr, one of the three Maori constituency members on Environment Bay of Plenty, said the deal signed last week between Carter Holt Harvey and Norske Skog Tasman and Ngati Rangitihi, Ngati Awa and Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) was little more than “tea money” for the parties involved and amounted to an attempt to isolate those who opposed discharges to the river.
He said the mill companies would have funded the discussions and the resulting memorandum of understanding signed by the parties on Friday did not mean Environment Court appeals lodged by iwi against the discharges would be withdrawn.
Mr Marr was one of the opposing submitters at last year’s joint EnvBOP and Whakatane District Council resource consent hearings into the mill companies’ applications to continue their effluent discharges to the river and emissions to the air.
Mr Marr said he expected the Nga Uri o Ngati Rangitihi (the descendants of Ngati Rangitihi) appeal on discharges to the river to be heard by the Environment Court in June.
Other appeals were lodged by Mr Marr’s brother Lindsay Marr and Tiro Rangatiratanga Ngati Rangitihi, and a Wellington woman.
Tiro Rangatiratanga member David Potter also said their appeal would go ahead regardless of the agreement.
In a media statement on behalf of the mill companies and the iwi involved, the agreement was described as a watershed.
The spokesman for the signing ceremony at the Umutahi Marae near Matata, Steven Wilson, said the agreement set the terms of a relationship between the five parties for discussing and promoting environmental matters concerning the effects of mill activities on the river and the surrounding land and air.
Mr Wilson said under the agreement projects would be selected and initiated to improve the mauri (life force) of the river and the biological diversity of the river environment for years to come.
“The exciting thing about this agreement is that from a position of significant disagreement over resource consent issues for the mills all parties have found common ground to work for the benefit of the river, the wider environment around it and communities that are connected to it.
“Here we have three iwi with many common links through inter-marriage who experience historical tensions; putting those differences aside for the common love and respect of their awa tupuna (ancestral river), Tarawera,” Mr Wilson said.
He said each party still retained their individual mandate including the right to agree or disagree, while acting in the common good for the river.
“The memorandum of understanding contains an engagement protocol that ensures a ‘no surprises’ approach to activities at the mills and also provides for all parties to meet regularly to discuss operational advancements that will ensure the mills’ environmental performance is continually improving.”
Mr Wilson said the parties understood there were still issues concerning the operation of the mills, but were taking a pragmatic approach to address each issue bit by bit, over the longer term.
“This understanding therefore represents the beginning of a new era of co-operation for the benefit of the river environment.”
In approving resource consents for discharges to the river last year one of the conditions set by the hearings committee was for improved consultation with iwi.