Hato Pe¯tera tussle goes into court

The Catholic Diocese has gone to court to evict a group occupying the grounds of Auckland’s Hato Pe¯ tera College.

The college, Auckland’s last Ma¯ ori Catholic boarding school, closed in August after its roll dwindled to one student.

Descendants of the original landowners erected flags and signage at the site in August, calling for the diocese to return the land, and have been living at the marae on the grounds.

Kotahitanga Movement Aotearoa spokesman Reti Hohaia Netana Boynton said the group was served with a trespass notice last week.

Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland went to the High Court at Auckland yesterday. The church applied for an interim injunction, requiring the protesters to vacate the land.

Justice Matthew Muir set a hearing date for October 9.

‘‘We want them to stick to the original agreement for the education of Ma¯ ori and we want to push aside the Catholic ministry,’’ Boynton said.

The Kotahitanga Movement wanted to continue to educate Ma¯ori from preschool ages to adults, he said.

The land was gifted to the diocese in 1850 to be used to educate Ma¯ ori children under a 90-year lease.

Diocese spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer previously said the church was exploring and considering all education options for the use of the site.