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A Ngati Tuwharetoa partnership is today taking delivery of 8500 hectares of central North Island land bought for $20 million as part of the tribe’s settlement.
Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-liga is at Rongomai Marae neat Turangi to mark the handover, which includes Rangipo Prison and 4000 hectares of timber plantation.
The land was on a list of properties available through the tribe’s deferred settlement process, but mismanagement by the inaugural trustees meant the Tuwharetoa Settlement Trust didn’t have the funds to buy it outright.
To get round that the trust set up Hautu-Rangipo Whenua Limited, allowing two large forestry trusts, three Tuwharetoa farming entities, and a collective entity representing eight hapu to share in the deal.
By developing similar partnerships, over the past two years Ngati Tuwharetoa has raised $67.5 million to buy more than 9300 hectares from the crown, including the land under nine Taupo schools, other Corrections property, and the Taupo courthouse.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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