Locals seek the return of Taihape farm landbanked
There is no way a Taihape farm locals as say should never have been declared surplus land and put in the landbank for Treaty settlement can be released, the Treaty Negotiations Minister says.
Taihape residents accused the Ministry of Education of stealing the 13-hectare farm they pitched in to buy and set up for Taihape College students 30 years ago.
However, they did not put the farm in a separate trust and it was declared surplus land by the Ministry of Education and consequently land banked for Treaty Settlement.
There have been calls for local iwi to clear the way and ask the Crown to release the land, but the Office of Treaty Settlements said this was not possible in this case as negotiations had not taken place.
There were strict conditions in which a property could be released out- side a Treaty settlement, with the authority of the Minister for Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister of Maori Development Willie Jackson.
These are:
*If it is offered to an iwi for purchase, provided the property is not subject to unaddressed overlapping claims
*Where it is clear no iwi with interests in it want the property
Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little said this could not happen until the Treaty Settlement process was complete.
“Once land is put into the landbank, the only basis of which it can be released from the landbank is for either Treaty settlements or another Crown purpose, it can’t just be handed back willy-nilly to whoever thinks they have a claim on it.”
Mo kai Pa tea Waitangi Claims Trust is seeking a mandate from the Crown to negotiate a settlement on behalf of four local iwi – Ngai Te Ohuake, Ngati Hauiti, Ngati Tamakopiri and Ngati Whitikaupeka.
Little said it was a matter for those iwi during the settlement process to decide what happens with the land.
In a statement, Te Runanga o Ngati Hauiti convenor Dr Heather Gifford said the iwi approach had been “to encourage the Crown to help meet the needs of the school by providing farmland from the land bank for their use – which has occurred”.
How did the Taihape College farm end up being landbanked?
On October 19, 2015, The Office of Treaty Settlements was notified by the Ministry of Education the 5.4 hectare block was surplus.
6 December 2015: The property was advertised to identify any Ma¯ori interests by inviting iwi or hapu¯ to apply to have it landbanked Between December 2015 and January 2016 The Office of Treaty Settlements received applications from two groups “within the claimant community”. It wouldn’t disclose the names of the iwi or hapu¯ applicants
The Protection Mechanism for Surplus Crown-owned Land officials committee recommended the land be banked on the basis:
*It would enhance the spread of properties in the Taihape claims area
*It would not exceed the financial limit of the Taihape claims area
*The applications included cultural and historical information
*The property was near Winiata marae
*It adjoins another block (part Taihape College) that adjoins the Hautapu River
A landbanking application was lodged in February 2016 by Neville Lomax, a claimant from Nga¯ti Hauiti.