Kōrero o te Tiamana
Tēnā kōutou katoa,
As we approach the end of the year it’s timely to reflect on our recent mahi and the progress Ngāti Rangitihi has made on a number of exciting projects.
This has included our purchase of the Waimangu Volcanic Valley Limited eco-tourism business in partnership with Tūhourangi Tribal Authority and supported by Te Puia|New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. Waimangu sits in the heart of our rohe and will already be familiar to many of you. Our ownership represents a significant milestone for Ngāti Rangitihi and will provide a strong platform to enable the continued success and growth of our people and many opportunities for iwi and whānau in the years to come.
Complementing our acquisition of Waimangu has been the confirmation that we have secured government funding to undertake a feasibility study assessing a potential alpine track over Mount Tarawera. As kaitiaki, Ngāti Rangitihi has a responsibility to ensure that any assessment of this concept acknowledges the cultural significance of this maunga. That’s why the study will specifically assess whether a track will meet the cultural, environmental and economic aspirations of our iwi and whānau. There’s much work to be done to assess whether this is a realistic opportunity for Ngāti Rangitihi and the Trust will be working closely with Ruawahia 2B as we consider our next steps.
While we’ve made great progress on these projects, our path towards reaching a Treaty Settlement with the Crown has been slowed by the country’s general election. Our negotiations are unlikely to resume for a month or so, and we are now looking at a new date of mid-2018 for our Agreement in Principle. In the meantime, our negotiations team are continuing to build our case so that can recommence negotiations as soon as possible.
Finally, I’d like to offer my congratulations to our newly elected Trustees following September’s election – Melanie Cheung, Taichi Playle and Tia Warbrick – and thank those departing Trustees who have been with the Trust since it’s inception – Tiipene Marr, Kenneth Raureti and Harina Warbrick. Thank you too to all of you who voted in our survey on your preferred format for Trustee elections. With the majority of you keen to maintain the current system of Trustees representing Ngāti Rangitihi as a whole rather than having separate hapū representatives, we have a clear indication of the preferred way forward. With plenty of mahi still ahead of us, it will be a busy run in to Christmas but by working together, we’ll continue to achieve more exciting successes in the months ahead.
Leith Comer
Chairman
Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi
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