Your signature helped secure the support of Gisborne District Council and Eastland Wood Council for an independent inquiry into the ongoing ecological disaster across Tairāwhiti. 

Thank you for taking action, with over six and half thousand other signatures, your support clearly has made a big difference. Now we need Cabinet to support an inquiry as central government plays a big part in setting the rules for plantation forests and land use across the country. 

We have other requests on the petition that will be presented to a full meeting of Council at 9am on Thursday 26th January (please meet at 8.30am outside the GDC building if you can make it, or tune in to the broadcast via the GDC YouTube channel).

If you can, please send a brief email to Minister David Parker (d.parker@ministers.govt.nz) asking him to: seek Cabinet support for an independent inquiry into the ongoing slash and sediment crisis in Tairāwhiti and invite Tairāwhiti stakeholders (particularly GDC, iwi and hapū) to be one of the three pilot regions to participate in the new resource management system starting in July. 

We need just over 800 more signatures to reach our goal of 7,500 petition supporters - please continue to share the petition with your friends, family and workmates.

You can find out more, join us and support local efforts to address these issues at: www.manataiao.org 

Ngā mihi!