Overview:
The TREC Alliance was established to restore the state highway and railway networks in Te Matau-ā-Maui (Hawkes Bay) and Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) regions impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. A key outcome of the project was to create a regional centric approach by respecting and engaging with iwi, council, regional suppliers to support a local recovery. Mahea were engaged as part of the Pou Team to support iwi / hapū input into the recovery and rebuild process. The programme required iwi / hapū inputs into Major Rebuild Projects business cases, Recovery programme cultural monitoring and reporting and retrospective resource consenting processes.
Approach and Involvement:
Mahea provided programme management services for the Pou Team and were responsible for establishing the work programme, funding requirements and engagement process.
Mahea provided specialist inputs in the development of the Māori GIS portal and internal Māori rights and interests planning review process to review upcoming recovery works to identify potential impacts on Māori rights and interests so that iwi / hapū could be notified and invited to participate prior to works commencing.
The Mahea team designed and coordinated training wānanga with the TREC team to induct iwi / hapū representatives to the Recovery Programme including Health & Safety training, participation in cultural inductions, monitoring and cultural impact assessments. Mahea also supported the Te Matau-ā-Maui TREC Liaison Group and helped to establish the Mana Whenua leadership forum which met monthly.
Members of the Mahea team were seconded at the request of Te Runanga ō Ngāti Porou as the Pou Tātaki (Lead) to develop a process for a hapū led response to the recovery process.
Mahea established processes to support hapū representatives to participate in weekly TREC Liaison Group hui to input on various aspects of the project including inputs to Major Rebuild Project - Hikurangi Bridges, preparation of hapū led Cultural Values Reports to inform the process and on-boarding kaitieki representatives to participate in the recovery process including cultural monitoring of works.
Impact and Outcome:
The impact of Mahea's involvment helped to improve iwi / hapū understanding of the recovery and rebuild process, development of robust processes to support iwi / hapū participation and strengthening the relationships between Te Tiriti partners through the process.