Volume One 2. Background includes background information on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Māori world view, mauri, kaitiakitanga and tikanga. Secondly, Chapter 3 identifies a specific set of relationship and process issues. These include: • a lack of representation and recognition of iwi values in decision making processes; • an overlap in rohe boundaries of Marlborough’s tangata whenua iwi and the cross boundary issues between iwi that this creates; and • historic difficulties in terms of the capacity of iwi to effectively take part in resource consent processing or policy development. While the issues identified in Chapter 3 are those of Marlborough’s tangata whenua iwi, the Council has worked with iwi to develop objectives and policies to address the first two groups of issues. These objectives and policies, set out in Chapter 3, are to be had regard to by those undertaking activities within the framework of the RMA. The third way in which iwi issues have been addressed are through the remaining chapters of Volume 1, in which the resource management issues of significance for the whole community are identified. The management responses to these issues are set out in the remaining chapters of the MEP. Working with others to sustainably manage Marlborough’s natural and physical resources The Council has a statutory role to sustainably manage Marlborough’s natural and physical resources under the RMA; that is not to say that others do not also have important roles to play in helping to achieve that purpose. For example: • Other statutory agencies have specific responsibilities for managing particular natural and physical resources through separate pieces of legislation. • Resource users play an essential role in ensuring their day-to-day activities are sustainable in the long term. • Iwi are kaitiaki of natural resources within their rohe. • The community is affected by the management of natural and physical resources. It is essential that the management applied variously by management agencies, resource users, iwi authorities and the community is integrated in order to achieve the objectives established in the MEP. Those involved in managing natural and physical resources should work collaboratively and on an on-going basis to efficiently and effectively respond to resource management issues (or to avoid those issues in the first place). The Council will meet with the groupings listed below to ensure regular communication and exchange of information. Feedback from the various agencies, organisations and individuals will inform the assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing resource management framework contained in the MEP. It will also enable the application of consistent or co-ordinated approaches when more than one management agency has a responsibility for the management of a particular resource. Statutory agencies A number of statutory agencies operate under legislation, which is in some instances completely separate from the RMA. However, the responsibilities of these agencies do overlap with the sustainable management purpose of the RMA. In some cases there is a dual responsibility with the Council to manage certain resources under the RMA such as the Department of Conservation in respect of the coastal marine area. This sees a particularly close relationship with that agency. 2 – 5