Partnering with Mana Whenua

Eke Panuku recognises mana whenua have a strong cultural, historical, and spiritual association with Tāmaki Makaurau.

Mana whenua have settled in Tāmaki Makaurau for a thousand years and seek to continue their ancient cultural practices now and into the future.

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What’s our commitment to mana whenua?

Within Tāmaki Makaurau, the Crown recognises 19 iwi and hapū have a historical association with this whenua. Eke Panuku, as a local government authority, has a role to assist the Crown to discharge its obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Eke Panuku aspires to partner with mana whenua to co-create an Aotearoa that reflects our shared aspirations. We know, when we partner with mana whenua, our work benefits and we achieve better outcomes.

How do we achieve outcomes for mana whenua?

From 2019-2021, Eke Panuku partnered with mana whenua to implement the Mana Whenua Outcomes Framework, a three-year action plan with 72 actions. As of 1 July 2023, Eke Panuku has adopted a new strategic document describing out commitment to mana whenua, the Achieving Mana Whenua Outcomes (AMWO) plan.

The AMWO plan is aligned with the Auckland Council Group Māori outcomes performance measurement framework called Kia Ora Tāmaki Makaurau. We hope the three-year AMWO plan will build the collective capability of Eke Panuku to effectively support the aspirations of mana whenua.

Eke Panuku has a vision to create amazing places. But we can only respond to a space when we’re working in partnership with the mana whenua who exercise authority over this land. This Achieving Mana Whenua Outcomes (AMWO) plan intends to support mana whenua aspirations to be prosperous and see themselves in the built and natural environments of this whenua.

The actions in the AMWO plan can be organised into five pou:

Kia ora te Hononga – Mana whenua are active partners, decision-makers and participants alongside Auckland Council Group.
Kia Hāngai te Kaunihera – The Auckland Council Group achieves outcomes and benefits for and with Māori.
Kia ora te Ahurea – Tāmaki Makaurau is rich with Māori identity and culture.
Kia ora te Umanga – Intergenerational wealth is created through a thriving Māori economy.
Kia ora te Taiao – Mana whenua exercise kaitiakitanga over te taiao (the natural environment) in Tāmaki Makaurau.

How do we engage with mana whenua?

Eke Panuku partners with mana whenua individually and collectively to ensure that our work responds to their aspirations. Typically, Eke Panuku will host a weekly forum and invite mana whenua to engage with us on the work within our programme.

Mana whenua assist us to ensure that our projects are culture-led, place-based, and community-driven. Māori culture is our point of difference in the world, and the work we do with mana whenua helps us create a landscape that is uniquely Aotearoa.

On our projects, we also look to create opportunities for mana whenua to express their tikanga, exercise their role as kaitiaki, and continue to perform their ancient cultural practices. As well as weekly engagement on projects, mana whenua meet with our Executive Lead Team quarterly and the Eke Panuku Board twice a year to maintain relationships and discuss any overarching issues and opportunities.

Engagement with mana whenua on public realm projects

A significant amount of work that we do with mana whenua is focused on building public spaces within our urban regeneration programmes. We engage with mana whenua in the initial stages of a project to identify where and how they would like to be involved. When designing and building public spaces, we attempt to involve mana whenua worldviews.

This can look like, for example, reflecting mana whenua cultural narratives in the design of spaces. Often, we work with mana whenua-nominated artists and technical experts to create spaces that reflect Māori identity.

Below is one such example of a public realm project which engaged mana whenua.

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Engagement with mana whenua on commercial development opportunities

Eke Panuku engages with mana whenua when preparing commercial development opportunities within our regeneration programme. Eke Panuku either engages directly with mana whenua as developers, or we broker conversations between developers and mana whenua.

We believe we have a role to showcase the benefit of working with mana whenua to our stakeholders in the private sector. We can see the benefit of involving mana whenua in designing our development sites. Our property development team can also assist mana whenua to identify commercial opportunities within our portfolio.

What are recent examples of our work with mana whenua?

Adopting the full name Eke Panuku Development Auckland for our organisation, after previously using the name Panuku Development Auckland, to recognise the importance of our relationship with mana whenua.

Hosting regular meetings between mana whenua rangatira and the Eke Panuku board.
Supporting mana whenua to apply Take Mauri Take Hono, a cultural health indicator, on our projects to achieve stronger cultural outcomes.

Updating our Selecting Development Partners Policy to give mana whenua the opportunity to buy our disposal properties directly from us if we would otherwise sell them on the market.
Updating our Selecting Development Partners Policy to establish a 15% evaluation criteria in the weighting to support relationships between mana whenua and commercial property developers.

Selling several significant commercial development sites to mana whenua as part of development consortiums. For example, Kōtuitui in Manukau to Te Ākitai Waiohua and Avant; Pikotoetoe in Papatoetoe to Te Ākitai Waiohua and Avant, Avondale Central in Avondale to Marutūahu and Ockham; and 100 Morrin Road in Stonefields to Ngāti Maru and Fletchers. We also have several properties under negotiation including the Downtown car park to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Precinct Properties.
Standing up the Iwi Investment Grant to support mana whenua to access commercial opportunities.
Involving mana whenua in the selection process to appoint a new member of Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a group which reviews the masterplanning and design work within the commercial and design projects of Eke Panuku.
Worked closely with mana whenua-nominated artists on public and private-led projects across Tāmaki Makaurau.
Developed and delivered mana whenua-led cultural inductions for Eke Panuku staff and our partners.