Appendix IV

Appendix IV: Statutory acknowledgements

Statutory acknowledgements
A statutory acknowledgement is a means by which the Crown has formally acknowledged the statements made by the iwi of the particular cultural, spiritual, historical, and traditional association of the iwi with the statutory areas.

The purposes of statutory acknowledgements are-

(a)       to require consent authorities, the Environment Court and the Historic Places Trust to have regard to the statutory acknowledgements;

(b)       to require relevant consent authorities to forward summaries of resource consent applications for activities that would affect the area to which the statutory acknowledgement applies to the governance entity; and

(c)       to enable the governance entity and any member of the relevant iwi to cite a statutory acknowledgement as evidence of the association of the iwi with the area to which the statutory acknowledgement relates.

Consent authorities must have regard to a statutory acknowledgement relating to a statutory area in forming an opinion in accordance with sections 93 to 94C of the Resource Management Act 1991 as to whether the governance entity is a person who may be adversely affected by the granting of a resource consent for activities within, adjacent to, or impacting directly on, the statutory area.

The limitations on the effect of statutory acknowledgements are, that except as expressly provided in the deed of settlement legislation,-

(a)       statutory acknowledgements do not affect, and are not able to be taken into account by, any person exercising a power or performing a function or duties under any statute, regulation or bylaw;

(b)       no person, in considering a matter or making a decision or recommendation under any statute, regulation or bylaw, may give greater or lesser weight to the association of the iwi with a statutory area than that person would give under relevant statute, regulation or bylaw if a statutory acknowledgement did not exist;

(c)       statutory acknowledgements do not affect the lawful rights or interests of a person who is not a party to the deed of settlement or have the effect of granting, creating or providing evidence of an estate or interest in, or any rights relating to a statutory area. 

Attachment of statutory acknowledgements in accordance with iwi deeds of settlement relating to the Taranaki region
To date, four statutory acknowledgements apply to the Taranaki region - these relate to the Ngati Ruanui, Ngati Tama, and Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi and Ngāti Mutunga deeds of settlement (see links below). Information on each statutory acknowledgement, including maps showing the locations of the statutory acknowledgements for these iwi are presented below.

Details of the statutory areas for each iwi are included in the relevant regional plan, and more information on each statutory acknowledgement is contained in the relevant iwi deed of settlement legislation.

Links:

Ngati Ruanui statutory acknowledgements

Ngati Tama statutory acknowledgements

Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi statutory acknowledgements

Ngāti Mutunga statutory acknowledgements

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