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Tauranga City Council is working on developing a framework on how it can transfer land back to hapū and iwi.
Ngāi Te Rangi hapū Ngāi Tukairangi has asked the council to return a five hectate reserve at the base of Mauao, which is occupied by a holiday park, hot pools, and the Mount Maunganui Surf Club.
Mayor Stuart Crosby says such a transfer was envisaged in the 2008 settlement that vested the rest of the mountain in the three Tauranga Moana iwi.
He says the wholesale confiscation of land after the wars of the 1860s meant the council has ended up with a lot of land iwi now want back.
"They are going to push and push for return of title for various reserves etc and also some private land as well which they are willing to pay and what we are going to do is develop a framework and work through issue by issue and it is all about strengthening that relationship," Mr Crosby says.
The council is already working positively with iwi on managing the rest of Mauao.
Whakahokihia ngā whenua i murua i te wā ō te raupatu
He nui ngā whenua Māori i murua e te Karauna i te tekau tau 1860, kei te puritia e te Kaunihera ō Tauranga, engari e kii ana ngā iwi ō reira mē whakahoki i aua whenua ki ā rātou.
Kai te rapu huarahi te Kaunihera ō Tauranga kia whakawhiti ngā whenua ki ngā hapū, ki ngā iwi.
Kei te pūtake ō Mauao tētahi wāhi rima heketea te rahi e pīirangitia ana e Ngāi Te Rangi mē Ngāi Tūkairangi, he puni hararei kei reira ināianei.
Hai tā Stuart Crosbie koromatua ō Tauranga, ka titiro ki tēnā tono, ki tēnā tono ā tēnā hapū, ā tēnā iwi i runga i te hiahia kia whakakaha i ngā hononga, ki waenga i te Kaunihera mē te iwi kāinga.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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