New Zealand Acts

WHAKATŌHEA CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT 2024 - SECT 37

37 Use of statutory acknowledgement

1 The trustees and any member of Whakatōhea may, as evidence of the association of Whakatōhea with a statutory area, cite the statutory acknowledgement that relates to that area in submissions concerning activities within, adjacent to, or directly affecting the statutory area that are made to or before—

a) the relevant consent authorities; or

b) the Environment Court; or

c) Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga; or

d) the Environmental Protection Authority or a board of inquiry under Part 6AA of the Resource Management Act 1991 .

2 The content of a statement of association is not, because of the statutory acknowledgement, binding as fact on—

a) the bodies referred to in subsection (1); or

b) parties to proceedings before those bodies; or

c) any other person who is entitled to participate in those proceedings.

3 However, the bodies and persons specified in subsection (2) may take the statutory acknowledgement into account.

4 To avoid doubt,—

a) the trustees and the members of Whakatōhea are not precluded from stating that Whakatōhea has an association with a statutory area that is not described in the statutory acknowledgement; and

b) the content and existence of the statutory acknowledgement do not limit any statement made.