Rauhuia Environmental Services
Vision
The vision for Rauhuia is:
Mission statement
The mission statement of Rauhuia is:
Strategic principles
The principles by which Rauhuia operate are:
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Tūhono Principle The Tūhono Principle of Alignment: If a Māori centred business is not aligned with Māori aspirations it will be of limited use to Māori.
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Pūroto Principle The Pūrotu Principle of Transparency: Māori businesses have multiple responsibilities and levels of accountability.
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Whakaritenga Principle The Whakaritenga Principle of Balanced Motives: In a Māori centred business; the profit motive is not the only motive. In land based businesses for example, the heritage motive is equally strong it not stronger.
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Paiheretia Principle The Paiheretia Principle of Integrated Goals: Because there are many motivations for a business, the goals may be divergent.
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Puāwaitanga Principle The Puāwaitanga Principle of Best Outcomes: A successful business is one that produces the best possible returns for the beneficiaries. However care must be taken to ensure that the indicators of ‘best possible return’ reflect the balanced motives and the integrated goals.
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Kotahitanga Principle The Kotahitanga Principle of Alliance: Business opportunities will be enhanced if there are sensible alliances between Māori organisations and groups. Too often Māori businesses compete with each other without exploring opportunities for joint ventures and shared resources.
Rauhuia Environmental Services (RES) is a division of Te Maru o Ruahine Trust and is based at Rātā marae complex. This service was established by the representative body of Ngāti Hauiti, called Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hauiti, to fulfil their responsibilities arising from the Resource Management Act 1991. Rauhuia Environmental Services has developed a commercial focus and has been contracting out services to neighbouring Iwi.
OUR PROCESS
Initial Impact Assessment:
Rauhuia undertakes a multitude of initial assessments each year in response to resource consent applications. The purpose of the initial assessment is to ascertain whether or not a proposed activity, requiring resource consent, is likely to be of interest to hapū and iwi. This is bearing in mind the universal policies that exist for natural resource management from a Māori perspective, as well as specific policies that are unique to each hapū and iwi.
Where an application is found to work within the existing policies, then conditional approval is given to the applicant and the consent authority is informed that consultation is complete and no objections have been raised. When a proposed activity is found to transgress the policies of hapū and iwi in one way or another, the applicant is expected to undertake a “Cultural Impact Assessment” to allow the impact of the transgression to be measured and means for avoiding, remedying or mitigating the impact to be developed and agreed upon between the parties.
Cultural Impact Assessments
Cultural Impact Assessments are a research and facilitation tool for explaining hapū and iwi concerns in response to a resource consent application. The research component follows a standard methodology including literature searches, one-on-one interviews and group discussions. The research exercise seeks to identify cultural values and customary rules and practices for resource management, against which the proposed activity can be evaluated to assess the environmental impact from a hapū and iwi perspective. It also facilitates discussion around options for the applicant in order to avoid, remedy or mitigate this environmental impact.
These outcomes are packaged in a single report which is then endorsed by the iwi or hapū concerned before being delivered to the applicant. The applicant is expected to consider the findings of the report before engaging hapū and iwi in a final round of discussions towards reaching an agreement. The final agreement constitutes a comprehensive consultation document that satisfies the requirements of the RMA with regard to iwi and/or hapū consultation.
Monitoring
Often hapū and iwi place conditions on resource consent applications that certain cultural standards will be met, and they require monitoring at the applicants expense to ensure compliance. This requires site visits and observation of work that is being undertaken and the completion of reports back to hapū and iwi concerning compliance. This work is undertaken in various measures and at rates that are negotiated during the resource consent application stage.
For more information contact
General Manager: Robert Martin Phone: 06 322 8765Mobile: 027 2177772Email: hauiti.robert@xtra.co.nz