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Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Lake Rotoaira
Lake Rotoaira has cultural and historical significance to local iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa and trout fishing licences, which are managed by the Lake Rotoaira Trust, are an important source of revenue.[1]: 17 Ownership of the lake was vested in the Trust in 1956 with the trustees representing the hapu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa.[2] One of the Trust's roles was "to negotiate with the Crown on the use of the lake for electricity generation".[1]: 4 As a result of construction work on access roads and near spawning streams on the Western Diversion the decline of fish stocks in the Lake was being reported in the late 1960s. (Koning 6) During the construction phase the Ministry of Works wanted greater control over, and ownership of, the lake. The iwi would not concede ownership and in a 1972 agreement the Crown was allowed control over the water for electricity generation but discharged from any compensation claims caused by environmental damage or adverse effects on the fishing.[1]: 17 In 1991 the Trust lodged a claim, Wai 178, with the Waitangi Tribunal asking that the agreement be renegotiated and that the Trust be paid for the use of the lake. (Koning p2) Little study had been done on the effect of the scheme on the Lake's fisheries before the scheme but by 1997, when the resource consent came up for renewal, the iwi and the Trust were concerned that trout stocks were declining.(Lake Managers Handbook). It was found that the scheme had caused a decline of trout and kōaro and an increase of bullies. (LMH) Renewal of the resource consent in 2001 required Genesis, under the Resource Management Act 1991, to consult with the Trust to implement a management plan to achieve an increase in the numbers of trout and kōaro. (LMH) In 2013 the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Crown had not recompensed the iwi for the damage to the Lake and for its use to generate electricity.[3] A 2015 Tribunal report acknowledged the harm that the Scheme had done not just to the Lake but to Ngāti Tūwharetoa's economic, social, cultural and spiritual well-being which included reduction in income from fishing licences.[4] The Wai 178 claim was finally settled in the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Act 2018.[5]
Ngati Rangi
Timeline[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c Koning, John (1993). Lake Rotoaira: Maori ownership and crown policy towards electricity generation. Wellington: Waitangi Tribunal Division, Department of Justice. ISBN 0908810172.
- ^ "About Us | Lake Rotoaira Trust". Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Waitangi Tribunal releases its report on Tongariro National Park claims". waitangitribunal.govt.nz. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown: agreement in principle to settle historical claims (PDF).
- ^ "Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Act 2018". Parliamentary Counsel Office. New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "NGATI RANGI: Pioneers in Protecting Maori Land Claims". www.culturalsurvival.org. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2023.