Historic shortcomings in forestry regulation need to be recognised, says iwi

Gisborne District Council needs to acknowledge historic shortcomings in the regulation of the forestry in the region, Ngāti Porou says.

But the review highlighted a lack of oversight - in the years ahead of 2017 - which contributed to poor industry practice and a resistance to scrutiny.

The region had been plagued by slash and debris, damaging infrastructure and putting life and property at risk, following severe storms.

Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou chief executive Henare Walker said landowners and communities were caught between local and central government arguments over who was responsible for the future of forestry in the region.

"We are being left in the middle while our landowners and communities deal with the consequences. We need local and central government working with us on solutions, not pointing at each other," Walker said

He said the report identified unresolved issues around forestry slash discharges and transition away from forestry on erosion prone land.

"The Crown has been part of this story for decades and the report is clear it has an important role in what happens next," he said.

Walker said Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou was calling for transparent scrutiny of the Council's historic monitoring performance and a jointly developed

approach to regulatory improvement and long-term land-use transition.

"We cannot keep dealing with this one consent, one clean-up or one programme at a time. We need to be thinking about what we want our whenua and our rohe to look like in 30, 50 or 100 years, and making decisions now that take us towards that future," Walker said.

He said the iwi organisation's board would meet with council representatives at the end of the month and would reiterate the need for a stronger Ngāti Porou leadership role in decisions affecting the long term future of the region.