Sites of Significance
An important function of Toitū te Whenua is assisting Ngā Papatipu Rūnaka, and Ngāi Tahu Whānau and individuals protecting sites that are of cultural significance to Ngāi Tahu Whānui on both Crown and private land.
This is achieved through a variety of functions, such as:
- Processing resource consents;
- Developing processes with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust;
- Co-ordinating Cultural Impact Assessment Reports;
- Working with District and Regional Councils to ensure appropriate processes are in place for management of culturally significant sites;
- Managing culturally significant sites on Conservation Land with the Department of Conservation.
Current developments include:
- Working with Transit New Zealand and New Zealand Historic Places Trust to develop a Heritage Risk Model to protect wāhi tapu, wāhi taonga and archaeological sites located within the State Highway Network in Canterbury and the West Coast regions.
- Working with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust to develop processes to ensure Ngāi Tahu is adequately involved in the management of archaeological sites within the Ngāi Tahu Takiwā.
- Organising archaeological inspections for those Pastoral Leases managed by Land Information New Zealand to ensure they have appropriate protection and access mechanisms as per the Crown Pastoral Land Act (1998).
- Working with Environment Canterbury to develop a list of Sites of Significance within the Environment Canterbury Region.
If you have any queries regarding the protection of culturally significant sites within the Ngāi Tahu takiwā please contact david.oconnell@ngaitahu.iwi.nz