Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Tama Chair Paul Silich announced today the Iwi\u2019s support for entering agreements with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency that sees a modern $200m bypass of hazardous road on State Highway 3 at Mt Messenger in north Taranaki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This announcement is the result of the Iwi\u2019s vote on Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Tama\u2019s resolution to accept Waka Kotahi\u2019s offer. Support from at least 75 percent of those who voted was needed to get it across line. This was surpassed, with 82 percent of voters agreeing with the Trustees\u2019 support for the bypass and agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past months, the Board has carried out comprehensive engagement with its members to share information on the Mt Messenger Bypass project and the agreements on offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe knew the agreements were good for our iwi, and this vote confirms it. 61% of our members voted, which is high and indicative of their strong interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d like to acknowledge and thank our membership for supporting a new, safer and more resilient road at Mt Messenger. We\u2019re humbled by their support and welcome their ongoing involvement in the project \u2013 including those who may not have been in favour of the agreements,\u201d said Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost people we spoke with knew the road was no longer fit for purpose. As one of our kuia said, we need to listen to people who know about safer roads and how to build them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur people have lived in this area for many generations, and at one time we were responsible for holding back invasions into Taranaki from the north. This time, we can help protect lives and livelihoods. The new road will benefit all our communities. This pandemic has shown us just how reliant we are on securing highways for our essential goods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20 hectares of Ng\u0101ti Tama land is to be used for the new road, and, in exchange, the Iwi will receive a 120ha of coastal property, a cultural compensation payment and an environmental programme that includes pest management in perpetuity on 3,650ha in the rohe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a huge win for the environment, for Taranaki and for our Iwi,\u201d said Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPests are destroying our native species, and this provides an incredible opportunity to get rid of them and allow native flora and fauna to regenerate. Other parts of the agreement allow for a cultural narrative along the route which tells some of our history in the form of designs and pou.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTaranaki\u2019s a great place to live and this will provide our region with muchneeded economic benefits. We\u2019re hoping this will attract more people home. For us, this is an exciting and challenging time. As partners in the bypass project, we have mahi to get on with to prepare for the work ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Tama Chair Paul Silich announced today the Iwi\u2019s support for entering agreements with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency that sees a modern $200m bypass of hazardous road on State Highway 3 at Mt Messenger in north Taranaki. This announcement is the result of the Iwi\u2019s vote on Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101ti […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":981,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ngatitamaotaranaki.iwi.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}