Council facing more claims for Maori land | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A challenge to Masterton District Council to have land returned to Maori may open the door for further claims for up to 360ha (890 acres) from Castlepoint to Mangatainoka.

Makirikiri Trust say they want the return of a gravel reserve north of Mauriceville and compensation from Masterton District Council to right 121 years of wrongful ownership.

The request is the first after recommendations by the Waitangi Tribunal in June that Wairarapa and Tararua land was wrongly taken from Maori by settlers.

Wairarapa's two iwi, Rangitane o Wairarapa and Ngati Kahungunu, are eyeing a multi-million dollar treaty settlement with the Government but the report also showed nearly 360ha were taken from Wairarapa Maori by local authorities.

Makirikiri trustee Geoff Perry said they wanted the Mangone gravel reserve returned not for its economic value but the principle.

"If you look at the Treaty of Waitangi report in regards to the Public Works Act that's how it was taken way back in 1880 and that's why we are asking for its return. It was taken without any compensation or notification."

Mr Perry said mayors would have to get used to these requests because "it won't be the only one".

"At this point we are just focusing on this bit of land because it's a part of the block of the land that we own up there."

The trust also want compensation, which Mr Perry defines as either money, more land, or something extra.

He refused to put a number on monetary compensation "but it certainly wouldn't be in the hundreds of thousands, no".

Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell was aware returning the gravel reserve, despite its small size, set a precedent for future claims.

"Clearly that's one of the issues that will have to be carefully examined and it will be one of the issues we have to debate," he said.

The council did not know how the gravel reserve was taken under the Public Works Act - a law that allowed Maori (and European) lands to be taken for roads, railways and other public works, sometimes without compensation.

"We have to do some research on the procedure for how the council at the time acquired it and the reason it was taken. We are waiting for that information and whether it's up to the council to make the decision or a government department."

Law professor at Victoria University Richard Boast said the council was probably under no legal obligation to return the land and it would be up to councillors.

If the council returned the reserve it would not create a legal precedent to give back more land.

"It might create a precedent in the sense 'you have done this for this group and it's mean-spirited of you to not take our issues into account' but it wouldn't create a legal precedent."