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Officials and landowners are looking for ways to open up landlocked Maori land for development.
The issue was raised by owners during consultation on the new Ture Whenua Maori Bill, and Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell agreed it could be looked at while the bill was going through Parliament.
Consultant Willie Te Aho says it’s something that has come up in every historic treaty claim, and Wairarapa claimants developed a template for identifying blocks which has been picked up in other regions.
"So we’ve seen in the Wairarapa, they have significant coastal areas where there people have been denied access to their land. In the Mokai Patea area we have private landowners stopping access of Maori to 5000 hectare blocks so this is a key concern created by the Native Land Court System and the Maori Land Court system that has been inherited that we want to try and find solutions for," he says.
He says it’s a three phase process to identify the blocks, look for the most reasonable access, and then develop investment proposals for the land.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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