The draft Te Tai o Poutini Plan is due to begin the formal hearing stage later in the next few months but one of the commissioners representing Ngai Tahu has had to resign. Photo: Greymouth Star / Supplied
A commissioner appointed for the Te Tai o Poutini Plan - the new regional plan for the West Coast - has resigned before the hearing panel has formally convened.
Resource consent consultant and Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio member Veronica Baldwin, originally of Whataroa, was nominated by Ngāi Tahu but has now resigned after notifying the TTPP Committee of a potential conflict of interest, after she formed a view as part of the process for the ongoing formal review of Department of Conservation stewardship land.
Baldwin's resignation was noted at the TTPP Committee last week. Acting TTPP project manager Rachel Vaughan told the committee one of the commissioners had stood down "because of a conflict of interest that has come to light".
The hearing panel for the TTPP was due to convene by August but is now likely to be delayed by several months after the committee last week agreed to extend the time for further public submissions until 30 June, putting the hearing timeframe back.
Vaughan said the committee would need to reconvene shortly for another formal meeting to approve a new commissioner appointment pending nominations from Ngāi Tahu.
After the meeting, Vaughan told Local Democracy Reporting that while Baldwin had been nominated by Poutini Ngāi Tahu, she had also been a technical advisor for the Mana whenua panel for the stewardship land review.
The conflict had been declared but Baldwin had subsequently decided to declare that she had already "formed an opinion" on the cultural status of some stewardship land in the region, which had implications for her TTPP role.
"She self-declared. It's a shame because she is very knowledgeable and would have been a great commissioner," Vaughan said.
* Te Runanga o Makaawhio chairman Paul Madgwick is also the editor of the Greymouth Star. He took no part in the commissioning, writing or editing of this LDR story.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.