Ngati Tama will 'never stop fighting' until springs is safeguarded

Thursday, 19 April 2018

They've been fighting for 40 years.

But iwi Ngāti Tama say they will 'never give up' until the country's largest freshwater springs are safeguarded, a special tribunal has heard.

As part of the iwi's Treaty of Waitangi settlement Ngati Tama must be consulted and notified of any resource management activities affecting the springs reserve.

Kaumata John Ward-Holmes said it had hoped the settlement deed would have helped look after Te Waikoropupū – but this was not the case.

'It has done absolutely nothing to help us protect it,' he said.

The deed of settlement did not have any teeth which was why it wanted to protect the springs and its aquifers with a Water Conservation Order.

The first week of the Water Conservation Order hearing for Te Waikoropupū Springs in Golden Bay has started.

Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Andrew Yuill are the co-applicants for the order.

**READ MORE:

* [Te Waikoropupū Springs Water Conservation order begins in Takaka

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*](https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/103105775/te-waikoropup-springs-clarity-improves-over-past-25-years) Protecting Te Waikoropupū Springs' purity holds deep spiritual significance to iwi

* Te Waikoropupu Springs campaigners fear council will grant consents**

Iwi trustee Margie Little said the government departments weren't 'up to speed' with the settlement deed, and they were still 'getting their heads around the fact' that iwi have some rights.

'As the indigenous people of this country, we have had to fight for our rights,' she said.

'Whilst [the deed of settlement] is the highest you can give, other than giving [the springs] back, I'm yet to determine what use it is. We've still had to battle to be seen, in TDC's eyes, when we need to be seen as equal parties.' 

Little explained how the protection of the mauri (lifeforce) and tapu (sacredness) of Te Waikoropupū was central to the iwi values, which had been handed down the generations by way of kaitiakitanga (guardianship).

Understanding the relationship iwi have with wai (water) was vital to its cultural values and customary practises.

'As kaitiaki, we have been fighting this for a long time - 40 years now,' Little said.

'We were powerless to change anything because the reserve was gifted in 1984 to DOC by a woman who owned the land surrounding the springs … DOC had control over the reserve, TDC had control over the water, but the iwi had control over no one.'

Little said that if it wasn't for iwi, the springs would be 'totally commercialised'.

'From glass bottom boats, to diving, gold panning, and mining now - we are fighting a mining application to mine the farm behind the [springs] - a restaurant, a commercial water take 100m behind [the springs] to send water to china,' she said.

'It has just gone on, and it's no thanks to anyone, other than who is standing here in this room, because we have been the ones fighting.'

Little said the TDC 'didn't even look at the management plan' when they gave the consent to Kahurangi Virgin Water to take water for their commercial bottling operation near the springs.

'We have been fighting that. We have been in the High Court. We are going back to the High Court to keep fighting the consent that was granted – again.  …we are just passing through. And that's something that I really want to stipulate: is that … this place is bigger than us…all of us in this room.'

She said Te Waikoropupū 'needed to be protected'.

'We will never give up.'

Te Waikoropupū are the largest coldwater springs in the Southern Hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water in the world.

If granted, the order would give the springs, the arthur marble aquifer, and associated water bodies the equivalent to National Park status.