July 26, 2022
Co-ownership to settle Tauranga land grievance
Tauranga city commissioners want to give mana whenua co-ownership of land in the city centre where a new civic precinct will be built.
They have agreed to open community consultation on options including transferring the land to a council-controlled organisation for $1 and leasing it back for a peppercorn rent, with any improvements remaining with the council.
Commission chair Anne Tolley says the site has a long and complex history dating back nearly 200 years.
Commissioners believe it’s important to reconcile this longstanding grievance now, so they can right past wrongs, secure the land for future generations and provide long-term certainty for the community in terms of public use.
Peri Kohu from the Otamataha Trust, which represents Ngai Tamarāwaho, Ngāti Tapu and Te Materāwaho, with the intention the land be held for the benefit of Māori.
Instead it was gifted to the crown, and the civic precinct block was transferred to the Borough of Tauranga in 1995.
He says joint ownership will go a long way to right a wrong and restore the mana of Ngai Tamarāwaho, and the continued use of the land for public and community purposes represents another hugely generous contribution from the hapū to the city.
Council has worked closely with Otamataha Trust on the civic precinct masterplan refresh so that the vision better reflects the site’s rich history and its significance to mana whenua.
The trust has gifted the name, Te Manawataki O Te Papa – the heartbeat of Te Papa.
The parties signed a non-binding accord on July 11 setting out their aspirations for partnership and joint ownership of the land beneath the civic precinct development.