June 11, 2018
Parininihi land swap to boost Ngati Tama prospects
A north Taranaki iwi hopes a strategic road will help it make up some of what it lost from its treaty settlement.
As part of the cultural redress in its 1993 settlement, Ngati Tama received land at Parininihi which the New Zealand Transport Agency now needs for a bypass around Mount Messenger.
Negotiator Greg White, who was responsible for losing most of the tribe’s $20 million settlement cash through a series of failed investments, says it’s the first time the crown has tried to get back settlement land.
He says the iwi is willing to help, but it doesn’t want to go backwards in its landholdings.
"So they require more land than the crown wants to take. They want to improve the bush and we've got a Kokako recovery programme going on down here. They want as less impact on that as possible," Mr White says.
The New Zealand Transport Agency has offered to swap a 120 hectare block near Urenui, close to Pukearuhe Marae, as well as cash and there could also be jobs in building the road and in subsequent environmental work.
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