When challenged about the committee’s powers,
Mayor Moko Tepania downplayed the criticism, saying the committee is simply
“advisory”, and decisions need to be ratified by the full council. However, Cr
Davina Smolders has revealed this is not what is actually happening. She says, “Just
days later, when the Moringaehe Reserve (Ahipara) Co-governance Agreement came
before Te Kuaka Committee (20 April 2026), the process appeared to change
completely…within minutes of the Committee passing the recommendation, out came
the signatures, smiles, and sausage rolls. The deal was signed and done. That
Full Council approval step simply disappeared.”
In a later post, Cr Smolders said the council
conceded the proper process had not been followed. The council admitted, “A
procedural oversight has therefore occurred in the governance approval pathway,
where the Agreement progressed without being formally approved by Council at
the appropriate stage.”
This makes a mockery of the claim by the Mayor
that the committee is purely advisory. Clearly, there is an expectation that it
has the power to make decisions that bind the council, including co-governance
arrangements. Perhaps the Minister of Local Government, Simon Watts, may wish
to reconsider his view that the situation does not yet meet the high legal
threshold required for central government intervention, as was reported in the
last issue of LETTERBOX.
The land in question has a controversial
history. The section (1 Wharo Way, Ahipara) was occupied in 2021 after the
private landowner, a local doctor, partially cleared a pōhutukawa tree (which
the council confirmed was not subject to any protection) to make way for a
dwelling. The occupation ended two years later when the FNDC agreed to purchase
the land and convert it into a reserve. The purchase price was not disclosed,
but the landowner stated it was approximately $130,000 below the property’s
Quotable Value.
More
Northern Advocate: Ahipara occupiers vow to stay until the tree and land are protected
FNDC Agenda item