Otaraua Hapu in Waitara has won a long battle for recognition of a significant North Taranaki waahi tapu.
New Plymouth District Council has resolved to include Tikorangi Pa in its district plan, subject to public consultation.
Environmental policy manager Colin Comber says the pa was not recognised by the council or the Historic Places Trust because there are no physical remains. But Waatea News reports it features prominently in the oral history of the Otaraua Hapu.
Mr Comber says the pa was destroyed in 1860 by the military, which built a redoubt on the same site in 1865 - "effectively a double occupation".
He says inclusion in the plan should stop a repeat of protests earlier this year, when members of Otaraua Hapu occupied the site to prevent Greymouth Petroleum running a pipeline through it.
