Joint management decision dumped on incoming council

Friday, 1 August 2025

After almost two and half hours of debate and failed amendments, Taupō district councillors have voted to let a new council decide on a joint management agreement with the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board.

The vote, made at a Taupō District Council meeting on Thursday, to defer its decision until after October’s elections was a close one with five councillors joining mayor David Trewavas in agreeing to allow the new council more time to analyse the document.

Five councillors voted against deferring the decision, including John Williamson who said some councillors were using the debate “for political capital”.

“There is nothing there that will trigger alarm, let’s get it done,” he said.

Concerns about the joint management agreement (JMA) between Taupō’s council and the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board were raised by councillor Duncan Campbell in early July.

His main concerns were the financial implications of the agreement, its “expanded jurisdictional scope, Treaty-framed governance language”, and the absence of any planned public consultation.

Campbell took issue with the draft agreement, and enlisted lobby group Hobson’s Pledge to advertise his concerns to a wider audience, and to “seek independent scrutiny”.

Trewavas said his motion to essentially offload the decision onto the new council was made because he felt the debate had been “driven by misinformation, and disinformation”.

“This agreement has not been socialised enough, and I take some of the blame for that … but this is the right thing to do.”

The Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Raukawa, and Te Arawa River lwi Waikato River Act 2010 requires the council and the trust board to enter into a JMA to protect and restore the Waikato River.

The JMA would also include new protections over Taupō Moana (Lake Taupō) and any tributaries leading into the lake, and allow iwi to jointly manage and protect its water resources by collaborating on work such as monitoring and enforcement, district plan reviews, and resource consent application assessments.

Before the meeting, during the council’s open public forum, mayoral hopeful Zane Cozens said excluding the public from the conversation had been “a failure in leadership”.

“The mood on the ground is not healthy … it’s tense, divisive, and increasingly hostile”, and had led to “online vitriol and overt racism”, which could have been avoided by public consultation.

Councillor Karam Fletcher reminded those present that any and all decisions would remain in the hands of the council.

Attempts by councillor Christine Rankin to add a public consultation requirement to the decision were rebuffed by councillors however, the door has been left open for the new council to consult the public on new additions to the JMA.

Staff told councillors that “no amount of community feedback can change what is required under the law”, and that some commentary provided by Hobson’s Pledge was “factually incorrect”.

They said consultation could be held for any additions to the agreement, but not on any legislative requirements mandated under the Act.

Councillor Rachel Shepherd said it was a complex document that had been “extended significantly” by changes not required under the Act and had “blind-sided” some councillors.

“It didn’t come from us or was approved by us,” she said.

Voting to defer the decision were mayor Trewavas, and councillors Christine Rankin, Rachel Shepherd, Sandra Greenslade, Kylie Leonard and Duncan Campbell.

Voting against deferring the decision were deputy mayor Kevin Taylor, and councillors John Williamson, Danny Laughlin, Yvonne Westerman, and Karam Fletcher.

Councillor Kirsty Trueman was absent.