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May 17, 2022
Tokomaru Bay landowners keen to break unfair leases
Adam Gifford
Posted On May 17, 2022
Download AudioA lawyer acting for some of the owners of perpetual lease land at Tokomaru Bay says a political solution is needed.
The 13 sections in the three Tuatini Township Blocks were switched in the 1920s from a 21-year lease to a perpetually-renewable lease over 999 years, with the rent set at 4 or 5 per cent of the unimproved value for the land.
Darrell Naden from Tāmaki Law says that the arrangement has been blamed on an administrative error, and it’s time to fix it so the owners have a say what happens to their whenua.
“Really there should be legislation to cancel these leases. It needn’t be the level of compensation that would otherwise be gained through the court that goes to the lessees. It could be a fair amount. They’ve had a good turn at the wheel and so they should take an amount of compensation that Parliament can decide on that is reasonable but doesn’t break Parliament’s bank.” he says.
Mr Naden says the leasing system was devised to break Māori resistance to land sales in certain areas.
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