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The head of one of the largest Ngati Kahungunu settlement groups says it wants to become a major investor in the Hawkes Bay economy.
He Toa Takitimu, representing the hapu of Heretaunga-Tamatea, is in line to receive a settlement of more than $100 million.
It signed an agreement-in-principle last June this year and hopes to complete negotiations and have settlement legislation passed by June 2016.
In a recent briefing, chair David Tipene-Leach told Hastings District councillors it would be one of the largest settlements so far.
"For so long our marae have been dependent on sausage sizzles and cake stalls and that is no longer going to be the way that things work," he said.
The deal will include some crown land, including the vesting and gift back of a reserve at Cape Kidnappers, known to Maori as Mataupo Maui, the fish hook of Maui.
The iwi wants to talk with the Geographic Board about renaming Clive and Hastings as Waipureku and Heretaunga respectively.
The proposed settlement also includes an option for He Toa Takitimu to take a $20 million stake in the Ruataniwha water storage scheme, if it goes ahead.
Dr Tipene Leach says the iwi was as divided as others in the region about the merits of the dam, as it weighed up its interest in economic development with its desire to improve water quality in the region.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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