May 2022

Kia ora koutou, 

We hope this newsletter finds you all well and keeping on top after another challenging year.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the agencies we work alongside continue to work hard progressing consents for Rotorua’s lake structure owners and we would like to share our latest updates in this newsletter.

In this edition we cover:

• Replacement Consent Project (Lake Rotorua, Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotoiti and the Ōhau Channel
• Lakebed Ownership Acknowledgement
• Tribute to Geoff Ewert
• Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy group hui

Replacement Consent Project (Lake Rotorua, Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotoiti and the Ōhau Channel)

Lake Rotorua

We have finished processing the second batch of Lake Rotorua non-notified consent applications and are in the process of sending out consents.

Lake Tarawera

We have finished processing consents for all the non-notified applications on Lake Tarawera and have sent nearly all to consent holders.

Applications assessed as having minor or more than minor adverse cultural effects were limited notified; we are still working with Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Tūhourangi on next steps in the process.

We may hold a pre-hearing meeting for the boatshed applications at Kariri Point (Boatshed Bay) assessed as having significant cultural adverse effects but for now we are still waiting for further information from the applicant.

Lake Rotoiti and the Ōhau Channel

We have finished processing all non-notified applications on Lake Rotoiti and are in the process of sending out the consents.

Applications assessed as having minor or more than minor adverse cultural effects were limited notified to Te Arawa Lakes Trust and the iwi and hapū groups with an interest in this rohe.

We may hold a pre-hearing meeting to work out if issues can be resolved, or the applications may go to a hearing. A resource consent hearing is a formal public meeting to consider a resource consent application. A hearing provides an opportunity for the applicants and submitters to present their case to a neutral independent hearing commissioner before a decision or recommendation is made. 

Please note the consents that have been granted have assessed and considered environmental and cultural effects and include appropriate mitigation measures as consent conditions. All lake structure consent applications are required to go through this process.

Lakebed Ownership Acknowledgement

The relationship Te Arawa has with the Rotorua Lakes has been formally recognised through the Te Arawa Lakebed Settlement Act 2006 (TALSA). Under this legislation, the traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual relationship and association that Te Arawa hapū/iwi have with the Te Arawa Lakes is recognised by the vesting of the lakebeds of 13 lakes in the Trust.

Section 33 of TALSA enables existing lake structures to remain on a Te Arawa lakebed without consent from TALT (Te Arawa Lakes Trust) as the landowner.

However, the Te Arawa Lakes are subject to statutory acknowledgement which is a formal acknowledgement of the cultural, historical, spiritual and traditional association of tangata whenua with the lake. TALT have requested that existing lake structure owners engage with them to obtain a no-fee lease to recognise and acknowledge that their structure is on land and lakebed owned by the Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council considers an acknowledgement by owners of existing lake structures that their structure is located on Te Arawa lakebed an appropriate cultural mitigation measure. This acknowledgement will also provide the structure owner with written confirmation from TALT that their structure existed prior to the 2006 Te Arawa Lakebed Settlement which can be kept as a record and passed onto future lake structure owners. The Regional Council will include the following condition in Lake Structure Resource Consents:

• To acknowledge the relationship of tangata whenua with the lakes and Te Arawa Lakes Trust’s ownership of the lakebed the consent holder is required to provide within 1 year of this consent being granted written evidence of their attempt at engagement with TALT to obtain written acknowledgement that the structure is located on lakebed owned by Te Arawa and existed prior to the 2006 Te Arawa Lakebed Settlement (Contact details for TALT will be provided as an advice note).

Suggested wording for an email to TALT is:

Condition (include consent condition) of resource consent (include resource consent number) (for list lake structures including plate numbers on the bed of Lake name of lake) requires me to engage with Te Arawa Lakes Trust to obtain written acknowledgement that the structures are on lakebed owned by Te Arawa. I understand that the acknowledgement is of your relationship with the lake and your ownership of the lakebed. I also understand that you're busy and may not respond immediately, but I will use this email as evidence that I have initiated engagement with you to obtain acknowledgement.

A copy of the email sent to TALT’s email address provided in the advice note will suffice as evidence that this consent condition has been met.

Tribute to Geoff Ewert, Lake Structures Contractor

Many of you may or may not have met our Lake Structure Contractor Geoff Ewert who very sadly passed away earlier this year. Geoff undertook contract work for a number of Bay of Plenty Regional Council teams and spent a lot of time on the lakes over the years. Geoff carried out Lake Structure audits but he was also instrumental in the catfish programme. You may have seen him on the lakes in his red boat with his dog alongside. Geoff is sorely missed by Regional Council staff. He was an absolute trooper and nothing was ever too much trouble for Geoff. RIP Geoff.

Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy group hui

The most recent Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy group hui was held on April 20 at the Regional Council office in Rotorua. Updates were included from the Ministry for the Environment, as well as partners on behalf of the programme including Regional Council, Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Rotorua Lakes Council.

The next hui is scheduled for 10 June 2022.

Link for minutes

For more information on lake structures and the replacement consent process please visit www.boprc.govt.nz/lakestructure

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