Tai-ranga-whenua

Tai-ranga-whenua

Tai-ranga-whenua means "to weave the land and the sea". It’s also the name of Waikato Regional Council's iwi relationships team, who assist the council and iwi Māori to work together as the Treaty of Waitangi intended.

Our Tai-ranga-whenua staff all have experience in tikanga and mātauranga Māori and are dedicated to maintaining and strengthening a shared relationship with iwi across the rohe (region). They carry out a number of important functions:

• Help build cultural competency across the organisation to enable staff to build enduring relationships with iwi.
• Create effective relationships with iwi that are equitable, transparent and mutually beneficial.
• Ensure iwi and Māori values and perspectives are part of council decisions.
• Contribute to Māori community outcomes.
• Contribute to the council’s objectives.
• Contribute to improving overall outcomes for the community as a whole.

The team do this by providing expertise and support in engaging iwi for planning and policy development, consulting with iwi on resource consent applications and resource management issues, and fulfilling the council’s co-governance requirements.