More land ripped off.....
Iwi stunned at sale of land at centre of claimLocal Maori are incredulous at the Whangarei District Council's sale of land which is the subject of a Treaty claim
26 February 2009
There is disbelief the Whangarei District Council has sold a piece of land which is part of a Treaty of Waitangi claim.
The land adjacent to the Hatea River known as the Kaituna Block has been sold to two private companies for $6.1 million.
But Mike Kake who is chairman of Rewarewa D, the last block of Maori freehold land owned in the Whangarei CBD, says the Kaituna Block issue is far from over for local iwi.
"The Waitangi claims are still outstanding and still have to be heard by the Waitangi Tribunal. So it's not all over yet and to say that iwi and hapu concerns have been covered is quite wrong."
Mr Kake says there was no consultation with either ratepayers or iwi and hapu over the sale of the Kaituna Block.
The Whangarei District Council says it was expected to hold the unproductive piece of land in reserve until the Waitangi Tribunal could hear the claims. It says there was no timeframe for this or even any certainty over what the tribunal would recommend.
When two businesses approached council to buy the Kaituna Block, it says it was faced with continuing to own an unproductive property for potentially many years - or promoting economic growth in a time of recession.
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