Frequently Asked Questions

Nga Patai
Kia ora! 

Te Ara Tipuna is an ambitious and complex project with lots of moving parts, including a detailed Resource Consent process. We are committed to keeping our website and FAQs up to date so everyone—whether you're new or checking back—can easily find the latest information. We’ll update again once the Gisborne District Council publicly shares our response to their request for more information sometime in April.

Overall Project Questions

Te Ara Tipuna was conceived as a possibility for the four Iwi between Gisborne and Opotiki to strengthen our cultural connection and create environmental and economic opportunities for all - a gift of participation, not an obligation.

Ngati Porou has always been our focus, and we respect that Te Whanau-a-Apanui, Ngai Tai ki Torere, Te Whakatohea have their own priorities. We hope the vision of a continuous trail might be realised in the future - he hononga whakapapa.

In March 2025, the Te Ara Tipuna Board advised GDC of the decision to reduce the extent of our application to focus only on Ngati Porou, from Te Toka a Taiau to Potikirua.

Further information on our application, including the reduced extent, is being prepared and will be provided to GDC in April to formalise this change. We anticipate GDC will make this information publicly available.

See letters advising Iwi leaders of the reduced extent here:
https://tearatipuna.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Update-He-Hononga-Whakapapa-Iwi-Letters-1.pdf 
It is estimated to take 5-7 years to completely develop Te Ara Tipuna, between Gisborne and Potaka (Te Toka a Taiau ki Potikirua). The project has committed to using local contractors to develop and maintain the tracks and trails. Given the pressures of recovery work, and ongoing maintenance and repair of SH35 and local roads, this timeline of 5-7 years is realistic. It could be sooner if funding and resources allow. 

Yes, it will be developed in stages. What stage is developed when, will depend on negotiation and agreement from landowners. Currently, those stages (in geographical, not priority order) are: 

  • Te Toka a Taiau (Gisborne) to Tolaga Bay
  • Tolaga Bay to Tokomaru Bay
  • Tokomaru Bay to Ruatoria
  • Ruatoria to East Cape
This will depend on negotiations and agreement with landowners, and securing funding! 
We have yet to secure funding for the development of Te Ara Tipuna. To date, we have received funding support from Te Puni Kokiri and Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou to plot the route, engage with communities, build the 1km model in Ruatoria, and apply for consents.

Unless the resource consent is approved there will be nothing to fund. If the consent is approved Te Ara Tipuna will be considered for the Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund. The project will find the rest of the funding through other sources that it is eligible for.
No. That funding has been used to run the project including the development of the Application, meetings with landowners and communities, communications, working with government agencies, and will be meeting the costs of Councils and Commissioners processing the Application.
No. Te Ara Tipuna is a new project that met the criteria for Te Puni Kokiri’s Te Ringa Hapai funding. This included a requirement for an Iwi contribution which Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou made.
No. SH35, like all State Highways, is funded by NZTA according to its criteria. Te Ara Tipuna is not a state highway. It is not eligible for that funding.
No. Te Ara Tipuna is not yet built and will not be a road. It is not eligible for pothole repair funding.
First and foremost, the trail is to connect uri, noho kaenga and kei te whenua, with each other, their whenua and pa kaenga, and to anchor their whanau, hapu and iwi identity. Please see the Proposal Document 2021 which sets out all the reasons – that we have thought of. There will be many ideas.

We do hope the trail will attract tourists, who will support local businesses and create further opportunities to start new businesses and grow local employment.

Landowner Questions

We want to meet and engage with you to share more about the project, how it impacts your whenua, and the opportunities it could unlock. In order for us to develop Te Ara Tipuna, we need to reach agreement with each landblock/trust along the Ara. At the point that the track is to be developed across your whenua, we will negotiate a legal easement with you.
The following support is available.

The Project Team is working alongisde Te Puni Kokiri and Te Kooti Whenua Maori to ensure whenua Maori landowners are supported, including assisting ungoverned landblocks to set up governance structures.

Te Herenga a Nuku (Walking Access Commission) is also working alongside the project team; their purpose is to help establish public walkways, support landowners with legal instruments and what that means for their whenua.

You can get in touch with the Te Ara Tipuna project team at [email protected] to discuss your specific enquiry.

At this stage of the process we are seeking:

At the point that the track is to be developed across your whenua, we will negotiate a legal easement with you. 

You can support by: 

Talking to your fellow trustees, landowners, whanau and friends about Te Ara Tipuna. Asking people to complete a Tick for Te Ara Tipuna Support Submission on our website. 

Keep in touch with our Te Ara Tipuna team to see if there is anything else you can do to help. Speaking well of this kaupapa! 
Possibly. We are happy to discuss what you think a better option might be, and whether it could be accommodated within the Consent guidelines. To note - the current route has been assessed by technical experts across a range of disciplines.
An easement.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of the trail is whenua Maori, governed by Te Ture Whenua Maori 1993 under the jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court. As whenua Maori owners and governance entities’ know, the process to gain or give an easement is long and winding and potentially costly. In comparison, general land is quite straightforward. 

See chart here

Even with the approved resource consent, a willing land block, an authorised governance entity, the process to agree an easement, and then have it recorded through the Court can take months to years. Nevertheless, our faith in the possibilities that Te Ara Tipuna offers are worth giving it a go!

Te Ara Tipuna Project Team has already begun discussions with the relevant agencies to try to solve these decades-long difficulties for whenua Maori whether owners are interested in being a part of the trail or not.
Kei te pai! We will work with you to include necessary caveats in the easement agreement to ensure you are comfortable with the arrangements for the Ara crossing your whenua. For example, you may wish to include “No crossing during lambing time” as a caveat. However, the point of the Ara is that it is a continuous trail. So we would need to work together to identify an alternative, such as a different route during sensitive farming times.  
You, the landowner, will be chiefly responsible. We aim to begin an ancillary project to co-design a ‘kawa’ for the Ara. This will be for both landowners and users of the trail. 

We are also working toward developing partnerships with Department of Conservation to support and establish maintenance and management standards.
No. Even with resource consent approval, nothing will happen on your whenua unless you sign a legal agreement (easement) to allow it.
This is an opt-in kaupapa that relies on agreement all the way along. We hope people will see the benefits and opportunities Te Ara Tipuna will bring to landowners, whanau, hapu, and their whenua.
The views of hapu will be taken into account during negotiations concerning the Ara but the final decision on whether the trail is to cross an owner’s land or not will be made by the landowner/s.

Consent Questions

In October 2023, we lodged a single Global Consent with the Gisborne District Council (GDC), the Opotiki District Council (ODC), and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) for the entirety of Te Ara Tipuna.

This Global Consent is at a high level and includes impact assessments and management plans from a range of disciplines.

All members of the public, including landowners, had an opportunity to provide their views on the Project via the public notification and submission process December 2024 to February 2025.

In March 2025, the Te Ara Tipuna Board advised GDC of the decision to reduce the extent of our application to focus only on Ngati Porou, from Te Toka a Taiau to Potikirua. 

Further information on our application, including the reduced extent, is being prepared and will be provided to GDC in April to formalise this change. We anticipate GDC will make this information publicly available and we will update our website accordingly. 

More information about the resource consent process can be found here: https://participate.gdc.govt.nz/te-ara-tipuna-trail-notified-resource-consent
The technical impact assessments submitted as a part of our global consent application were: archaeological, cultural, ecological, coastal erosion, social, recreational, geotechnical, landscape and visual, traffic, and stakeholder engagement. 

(This will be updated once our response to GDC's further information request is made publicly available by the GDC)
You can view the application and impact assessments on the GDC website: 

https://participate.gdc.govt.nz/te-ara-tipuna-trail-notified-resource-consent

(This will be updated once our response to GDC's further information request is made publicly available by the GDC)
No. The track development will begin once we have reached specific legal agreements with specific affected landowners. And, when have secured funding. 
No. We have applied for this Global Consent through the usual Resource Management Act (RMA) consenting process. Although we qualify to apply for the Fast-Track process, the TAT kaupapa will only be a success if we all want it. The usual RMA process allows more opportunity for public engagement, so that is the option we are taking. 

The Trail Questions

The proposed trail was mapped to provide links to as many existing tracks as possible. 
Paper roads are legal public access-ways. However, we respect the association of former owners to the underlying whenua, and we engage on that basis.
Te Ara Tipuna means ‘the ways of our ancestors’. And our many ancestors travelled many ways! It is not proposed to replace, or duplicate, any other ancestral trails. The proposal is that this Te Ara Tipuna can act as a connector between these already existing trails if those landowners and hapu wish to do so. 
The 1km track at the Ruatoria - Tikitiki turnoff is a model of the four levels of “built track” that will be used, only when necessary, along Te Ara Tipuna. We hope that seeing and using, is understanding and supporting. Even inspiring! 
95% of the Ara will be wayfaring across the natural state of the whenua. Boardwalks will typically be used around ecologically or culturally sensitive areas, and coming in and out of townships.
We have had some concerns raised about “te tini me te mano” that could potentially be on the trail. Some days there will be no one on a specific track, other days there could be individuals or a small group. We do not expect that there will be large hoardes of people on the trail all at once, every day - unless, for example, a hapu day has been organised, or an inter-marae activity, or a kura project.
Te Ara Tipuna is about connection, therefore any further connecting of safe and well-managed trails and tracks is welcomed and encouraged - enabling greater sharing of our local stories and histories!
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