August 08, 2019
Aitanga a Māhaki ready to collect rent
Te Aitanga a Māhaki Trust is trying to improve the governance of tribal lands that have previously slipped through the gaps.
Lawyer Willie Te Aho says the tribe has identified more than 100 blocks without any trustees, including some that are land locked with no access.
Working with the Māori Land Court and with help from the Gisborne office of Te Puni Kōkiri it mounted a three-day push last month to find trustees for 33 blocks ranging from 120 hectares to just half a hectare.
Once the trusts have been confirmed by the court, the owners will be in a better position to develop them either on their own or in clusters.
"A lot of these lands, the neighbouring farmer has been happily using them as a part of their estate and paying nothing to our people and it’s not just Pākehā farmers, it’s Māori farmers because there have been no entities or people to contact and deal with. Well, that is the typical excuse but now we have removed that excuse, we have put good skills into these trusts and now we need to take a collective approach for the benefit of those landowners," he says.
Another hui will be held on August 25 to appoint trustees for 12 more blocks.
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