A dispute over $2 million of lake restoration funding has opened a bigger debate over who shapes the future of Rotorua’s lakes.
Te Arawa Lakes Trust (TALT) says a long-running funding agreement created after a Treaty of Waitangi settlement is no longer fit for purpose.
The trust argues that Te Arawa has had too little influence over millions of dollars intended to help restore the lakes and recognise the iwi’s relationship with them.
It comes after the Bay of Plenty Regional Council considered a proposal to transfer $2 million of remaining Crown funding to the trust.
The dispute centres on a Ministry for the Environment funding deed created after the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement in 2006.
The deed committed the Crown to more than $72 million towards restoring Rotorua’s lakes. Rotorua Lakes Council and the regional council matched that amount.
About $5m of Crown funding remains before the programme’s 2032 deadline.
The trust wants $2m of that remaining funding transferred from projects managed by the regional council.
The trust said the money would be redirected toward lake restoration activities such as aquatic weed harvesting and catfish removal.
Any change would require agreement from both councils and approval from the Minister for the Environment.
Despite support from the district council, regional council staff recommended against the proposal, warning it could jeopardise planned nitrogen reduction work.
Much of the remaining funding is tied to projects – such as wetlands – intended to reduce nitrogen entering Lake Rotorua, a key measure of progress towards water quality targets.
At a council meeting this month, regional councillors stopped short of making a final decision on the proposed $2m transfer and sought more information.
At the meeting, Western Bay regional councillor Ken Shirley questioned the trust’s recent efficacy and referred to what he described as its “quite flabby overheads”.
The issue was discussed again at last week’s Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group meeting. The group includes representatives of the trust and both councils, and oversees management of the 12 Rotorua Te Arawa lakes.
Trustee Nicki Douglas told that meeting the debate had exposed frustrations dating back nearly two decades.
She said discussions were happening “about us, without us”.
“It’s about our right to participate in our restoration of the lakes. That was guaranteed in our Treaty settlement.
“We’re happy to do that in partnership, but not in our absence.”
The trust argues that despite being a founding party to the lakes strategy group, it has spent much of the past 20 years watching councils make decisions about funding originating from the Te Arawa settlement.
Trust general manager Tame Malcolm said it had spent nearly two decades negotiating the settlement, only to find itself reduced to the role of a cultural adviser, while councils controlled most funding decisions.
“What really probably upset [the trust] was the failure of the Treaty settlement recognition and the partnership agreements,” he said.
Malcolm described the situation as a “failing of Crown and council to honour commitments”, and said some of the criticism directed at the trust during recent council debates had been ”disappointing”.
He said the trust’s $2m proposal represented its “best attempt” at showing how a trust-led approach to environmental restoration could look, while also delivering on Treaty commitments.
He said, however, that the discussion had focused on whether wetlands were the best option, rather than whether the current plan remained achievable.
The trust’s report says some wetland projects identified under the funding deed had yet to secure landowner agreements and face delivery risks.
Malcolm warned some funding may have to be returned if planned projects could not proceed.
“So is the funding deed still fit for purpose?” Malcolm asked.
Malcolm said he was happy to forgo the $2m transfer proposal as long as the entire framework could be revisited.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said past decisions had not always treated the trust appropriately.
“A decision of the past to relegate Te Arawa Lakes Trust was not appropriate and not necessarily respectful,” she said.
She described the trust as an “incredibly valuable, experienced, knowledgeable partner”, and said Rotorua could not achieve its environmental aspirations without it.
Tapsell also backed the $2m proposal, saying she believed the trust was best placed to work with Māori landowners and pursue opportunities for major nitrogen reductions.
Regional councillor Anna Grayling stressed that councillors remained focused on achieving nutrient reduction targets, and said concerns about the reallocation stemmed from ensuring those obligations were met.
She said the council should remain “on the hook” for lake quality because “it’s not my hook, it’s my grandchildren’s hook”.
The trust has been invited to address the regional council when the matter returns to councillors on September 24.
The strategy group backed a review of the funding deed, with the trust to lead the work and report back by February 2027.
The review will consider whether the remaining funding can realistically achieve its goals, whether the programme’s targets remain achievable by 2032, and whether changes to the deed are needed.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
