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Treaty settlements

The Ministry for the Environment works closely with the Office of Treaty Settlements – the Crown agency charged with negotiating Treaty of Waitangi claim settlements. Generally historical land claim settlements include a range of redress mechanisms relating to resource management. These include:

  • Statutory Acknowledgements – Statutory Acknowledgements record the traditional significance to claimants of sites that are in Crown ownership. They require that the claimant group must be informed whenever a local authority receives a resource consent application affecting a site that is subject to a Statutory Acknowledgement; and that a local authority must have regard to the Statutory Acknowledgement when deciding whether the claimant group is “adversely affected” by an activity for which a resource consent is sought. When dealing with a resource consent application, the Environment Court must also have regard to any relevant statutory acknowledgements in determining whether the claimant group has an interest in the proceedings greater than that of the general public.
  • Deeds of Recognition – Where a Statutory Acknowledgement exists over a site that the Crown owns and manages, the Crown may enter into a Deed of Recognition with the claimant group. Deeds of Recognition provide that the claimant group must be consulted on certain matters.
  • Monitoring provisions – Settlements generally include a requirement that the Ministry for the Environment will monitor the implementation of provisions of the Resource Management Act relating to the Treaty of Waitangi and other relevant matters in the claimants’ area of interest.
  • Memoranda of Understanding with Local Authorities – Settlements often include an offer for the Minister for the Environment to write to the local authorities in the claimants’ area of interest encouraging them to enter into memoranda of understanding with the claimants in relation to particular matters. Such matters can include Resource Management Act processes, the naming of streets and places, and the management of council-administered reserves.

More information on Treaty settlements is available on the government's Treaty of Waitangi website.