Inside the Resource Management Act: A Tainui Case Study

Abstract

Under the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991 councils are required to promote the sustainable management of physical and natural resources within their respective areas. In carrying out their duties, councils are obliged to recognise and provide for the relationship of Māori with their culture, traditions, lands, waters and other taonga. They are also required to have regard to kaitiakitanga, and to take into account the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi when making decisions. This thesis focuses on the RMA experiences of Tainui, a hapū in Whaingaroa. It sets out to prove that in the last 19 years, since the enactment of the RMA, Waikato councils have failed to honour these obligations to Tainui. While the RMA specifically provides for Māori interests, in reality those interests are contested and eroded by decision makers who write and enforce rules which inequitably affect Māori relationships with land and other taonga. The thesis engages multiple theories and methodologies including Kaupapa Māori, critical theory, autobiography, and a longitudinal case study to expose personal experiences that bring the realities of planning impacts on Tainui to life. The fact that Tainui has successfully appealed several council decisions to the Environment Court indicates that councils are failing to meet their obligations as laid out in the legislation.