Richard Hills: Auckland councillor unveils new proposed plan for management of Waitākere Ranges

An Auckland Councillor says a new management plan for the Waitākere Ranges is about consultation - not decision-making. 

The council wants to set up a regional committee, jointly controlled by Council-and-Government, alongside tangata whenua. 

Richard Hills says it's a sounding board, and final decisions would still be made by the council and local boards.

He says it would make an already existing process easier - putting all the usual groups consulted in one place. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now talked about this yesterday. A campaign is underway to
stop what looks like an attempt to set up co
governance over Auckland's why Parkeety Ranges. The council wants to
set up a decision making committee which is made up
fifty percent of tongue at the Fenoa and then fifty
percent of the government and council. And this will come
as a surprise to you if you thought that this
new government was putting a stop to co governance. Auckland

(00:20):
City Councilor Richard Hills is with us to explain more.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello, Richard Suder, how are you. How's the mumlife?

Speaker 1 (00:26):
You're right, awesome, Thank you, It's very good. Thank you, Richard.
We could talk for hours about it, and we often do.
You and I let's talk about the co governance. Why
do we need this?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, so this two thousand, well two thousand and eight,
so seventeen years ago o a Tackety Heritage Act was
Britain and it said we must enter a deed. Seventeen
years later, we're finally entering the deed. The deed is
essentially working together for the best outcomes for the White
Tuckety Rangers. Part of giving effect to that, we've suggested

(00:58):
setting up a joint committee, which was basically like oversight.
They'll set up a strategic plan, but all the decision
making still sits with the local boards and the council.
But instead of going to like we have to if
anyone our three local boards, the governing body water care
or can transport dock, why not do it all as
one group and then you have all those voices come

(01:19):
out around the table together and then the outcome is
hopefully better and more efficient for the rangers.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
So this particular committee, this will make the decisions about
the rangers.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
No, so they basically restricted to setting up a working
on a plan together and oversight. So a lot of
this happens anyway, but very disjointed, and then it gets
presented in fifteen different ways before anything happens. So essentially
it's looking at which the deed in the Act says back,

(01:51):
you know, talking seventeen years ago, not some random new
thing that the relationship will be worked on together to
basically improve the environmental outcomes recreational life.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
But so I just want to understand the power of
the committee. What is the power of this committee, what
can it.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Do basically set up a plan.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Set up a plan. Basically, it sets up the plan
and then it gets disbanded, does it.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
No, it doesn't get disbanded. It it's basically does what
all those different groups do together now as monitor come
to the council and say hey, you're not doing the
things you said you did. It will set up the
strategic plan and then every three years that will be
done again and then they would potentially be able to
create a work program that council and dop in everyone
look at. They could probably come and advocate to the

(02:40):
council for So.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
They've got no power at all. They just they just
they're just like a sounding board. They have no power.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, because we already have to answer, So.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
How do we pay for this then? For this nonsense
that doesn't make any decisions.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Well, hopefully it's less than we're doing now because at
the moment we have reports and decisions. So there's no
because it hasn't been set up. It'll basically be staff
admin time, which is already going on on the disparate groups,
going to every local board, going to doc You know,
when you've got the White Tuckety Rangers, forest and bird
and Tree Council and Protection Society all saying thank you,

(03:14):
please do the specific of going to five six different
groups every time we want to do some volunteer work
in the rangers.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Why do they have to go to five or six
different groups? These groups don't have any decision making power,
So what's why they obligated to go to these groups?

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Because they'll go to Manafena and talk to them, and
then they'll go to the three local boards and go
what do you think? Then they'll come to the council
and go what do you think? Because we are in
charge of the regional park and instead they're saying, you know,
these groups that are now saying that we should be
doing this, they can come to one group, a sounding board,
an oversight committee, basically all the groups that are passionate

(03:50):
about for the local boards and the Facado a Maki
who are already involved, already passionate, already doing this work,
and the White Tuckety Rangers, they could do it together
and then council only has one port of call, but
all the decision making over budgets, over contracts, all that
kind of thing would still sit with walking council and
the local boards. They could over time, like they've seen

(04:11):
in the Kuiperer delegate to that group, like the government
have set up a bunch of funding for the private
funding is now going into that, and that is a
group for the council.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So the Council could delegate decision making power to this
joint committee.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Only if it only if it thought that that made sense,
or it was.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Start that makes sense. So I can see that this
is what's coming down the path, though, isn't it, Richard. No.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
I think the disappointing thing of all the kind of
the stuff has been going on for a very long time,
long before before anyone was concerned.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
That's right, Richard. And because it sucks, people want to
stop it.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
But stop what people working together for the better than
origional park.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
I think the problem here is that there are unelected
people who get ultimately decision making power over everybody. And
they are and this is the important bit, unelected. But
they're by dint of their race.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
No, they're thereby the fact that they're the mane been
work for the area.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Different words to describe exactly the same thing, Richard, Listen,
tell me something there is apparently, and I was reading
about this apparently to Caludo Amaki want to shut down
about or want to restrict access to about thirty five
percent of the park and shut down something like thirteen
or fourteen percent of the tracks. Is that right?

Speaker 2 (05:31):
I don't know the exact details. They've had a lot.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Of Roughly roughly this sounds about right.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, No, I've seen proposals where they want to close
off the areas that are most affected by Cody diebacks
and the areas that are most that need to be protected.
But with the government, council and Manafina have already worked
together on that. We're reopening tracks where it's safe, and
there's the areas that are as saying can you assure me.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Can you assure me that that is not going to happen?
That there is not going to be a group of
people in Auckland City who are going to shut down
thirty five percent or restrict access to thirty five percent
of that park.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
That no one can do that apart from the council.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Okay, Hey, thank you very much, Richard, As per usual,
love chatting to you. That's Richard Hill's Auckland City Councils.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
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Speaker 1 (06:19):
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