Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Tama made the decision to carry out a major transaction vote on Waka Kotahi’s offer to Ngāti Tama, for Te Ara o Te Ata to go ahead. A special resolution was put to iwi members that required a 75 percent positive vote for it to be passed. Te Runanga developed approaches for engaging with iwi to raise awareness about the project and encourage them to vote. This included information-sharing hui about the project, held in Waitara, Manaia and Porirua during February and March 2020.
Details about key aspects of the bypass design, environmental programme and agreements offered by Waka Kotahi, were distributed in the illustrated booklet Mt Messenger Bypass project – the story.