Project partners

10 people signing the project alliance, including iwi partners. There is a contract on the table.

Signing of the project alliance agreement.

O Mahurangi is the first Auckland project to have iwi partners embedded in the project including on our Project Advisory Board (PAB).

This partnership enables us to have a Te Ao Māori lens across all aspects of the project. With Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a framework, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the O Mahurangi Alliance will work with our iwi partners to build strong, meaningful and enduring relationships that achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

Three iwi representatives from Ngāti Manuhiri, Te Kawerau a Maki and Ngaati Whanaunga sit on the PAB and play a full part in the governance of the project. This includes helping to establish Key Result Areas (KRAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). They also hold the Alliance accountable for their delivery in Te Ao Māori. Iwi partners will also be represented in the management of the project, and across all its aspects.

O Mahurangi

"Mōkau ki runga Tāmaki ki raro Mangatoatoa ki waenganui Pare Waikato, Pare Hauraki Te Kaokaoroa ō Pātetere Me te nehenehenui"

The name O Mahurangi was gifted to the project by our iwi partners.

The name recognises the ancestress Mahurangi, a tohunga (priestess) who lived in Hawaiiki. Mahurangi’s powers are said to have enabled the construction of the great voyaging waka Tainui.

When waka Tainua arrived at what is now known as Wenderholm Regional Park in around 1200, they gave the name Mahurangi to a small island next to the Maungatauhoro headland. The island’s name gave rise to the harbour in which it sits, and eventually to the wider district and the Crown’s land purchase.

Rangatira, Te Warena Taua, gifted the name. The name, in his words, is an ancient name belonging to the rohe (district or tribal boundary) of Ngāti Manuhiri, Te Kawerau ā Maki and Tainui whānui as the descendants of the eponymous ancestor Maki from whom the name Tā Maki comes.

The project is framed by the rivers of Wēiti and Ōkura, the maunga Pukekauere, and the bay of Karepiro including Ōtaimaro and Te Ringa Kaha ā Manu – all of which speak to the history of the descendants of Maki and his people.

O Mahurangi will provide a new corridor, bridges and pathways that move people in ways that:

  • whakamana and respect our past
  • recognise the unique cultural landscape
  • anchor our whakapapa - connecting people to place
  • protect the whenua and moana
  • manāki those on the journey
  • provide a positive legacy for future generations.