2.0 Introduction 2.1 What are Statutory Acknowledgements? A Statutory Acknowledgement is a type of cultural redress frequently included in Treaty settlements between the Crown and a Maori claimant group. Statutory Acknowledgements are usually provided over Crown-owned portions of land or geographic features (such as lakes, rivers, wetlands, mountains or coastal marine areas). With respect to bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and wetlands, the Statutory Acknowledgement excludes any part of the bed not owned or controlled by the Crown. A Statutory Acknowledgement recognises the particular cultural, spiritual, historical and traditional association of an iwi with the identified site/area.This type of redress enhances the ability of the iwi to participate in specified Resource Management Act 1991 processes. When a claimant group and the Crown reach agreement on a final settlement offer they enter into a Deed of Settlement setting out the terms of that settlement. Legislation is required to give effect to some elements of a Treaty settlement including Statutory Acknowledgements. A Statutory Acknowledgement involves: The settling iwi provide a statement of their association with the site/area of significance. This statement is recorded in the Deed of Settlement. The identification and description of the area over which the redress will apply. This is referred to in the legislation as the ‘statutory are a’. The Crown then acknowledges the statement from the iwi in statute (the settlement legislation). 2.2 Functions of a Statutory Acknowledgement The functions of a Statutory Acknowledgement are — (a) to require relevant consent authorities, the Environment Court, and the Historic Places Trust to have regard to the Statutory Acknowledgement; and (b) to require relevant consent authorities to provide summaries of resource consent applications, or copies of notices of resource consent applications, to the relevant trustees; and (c) to enable the relevant trustees and members of the relevant iwi to cite the Statutory Acknowledgement as evidence of the iwi's association with the ‘statutory area’. 2.3 Relevant consent authorities to have regard to Statutory Acknowledgement On and from the effective date, a relevant consent authority must have regard to the Statutory Acknowledgement relating to the ‘statutory area’ in deciding, under section 95E of the Resource Management Act 1991, whether the relevant trustees are affected persons in relation to an activity within, adjacent to, or directly affecting the ‘statutory area’ and for which an application for a resource consent has been made. This does not limit the obligations of a relevant consent authority under the Resource Management Act 1991. 2.4 Notification of Resource Consent Applications Consent authorities, the Environment Court, and the Historic Places Trust are required to have regard to a Statutory Acknowledgement when determining whether the relevant iwi may be adversely affected by the granting of a resource consent for activities within, adjacent to or impacting directly on the ’statutory area’. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 5 of 163