Crown buys $7.5m of land for iwi deal
The Crown has secured land for an iwi that includes the contentious Porotı¯ Springs, though Environment Minister David Parker says this move won’t open up the debate of who owns the water.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little announced yesterday the Government has secured land near Whangarei for $7.5 million. The site has been the focus of Nga¯puhi concerns about the health and wellbeing of Porotı¯ Springs.
‘‘The Crown has purchased nearly four hectares of land near Porotı¯ Springs, which will be landbanked for a future Treaty settlement.
‘‘The Crown property purchase includes a resource consent to extract water from the Whatitiri aquifer which feeds the Porotı¯ Springs,’’ he said.
Talks have been underway for almost a decade between Nga¯ puhi and the Crown.
Little is hopeful of reaching a settlement with the country’s largest iwi in this parliamentary term. ‘‘This purchase is about addressing the potential for this site to become an asset to the beneficiaries of a future settlement,’’ he said.
However, there was no guarantee Nga¯ puhi would get the land as there was at least three groups with interests in the springs.
‘‘Whoever it goes to is yet to be determined ... [Nga¯ puhi] are not the only claimant to it,’’ Little said.
As for the broader water debate, Little said this land purchase did not affect water ownership.
‘‘All it is is a piece of land that has some water running through it, some very valuable water, that is now landbanked for future Ma¯ ori ownership.
Management of the land before settlement will be the responsibility of the Crown Property Centre of Expertise at Land Information New Zealand.
‘‘I want to acknowledge the hapu¯ who have endured years of frustration,’’ Little said.
Parker said he didn’t think the purchase contributed to the ‘‘who owns our water debate’’ because it was to ‘‘try and get back some of the previously granted water rights in order to meet the local iwi’s interest in restoring the health of their waterway’’.
‘‘I don’t think that goes to the question of who owns water,’’ he said.