September 12, 2022
Compensation paid for peppercorn rents
Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust has resolved a long-standing conflict over fair compensation for Whakarewa land around Motueka.
The crown has agreed to pay $8 million in compensation for loss of rent and other income from the lease lands being left out of 1997 reforms that allowed for more commercial terms for Maori reserved lands.
The Crown has also given a written assurance the Trust will be considered in any future reform of Māori reserved land leases.
Trustee Paul Morgan says the Whakarewa lands were part of the Motueka Occupation Reserves and Tenths Reserves Estates and were granted to the Anglican Church by the Crown in 1853.
They were administered by the Whakarewa School Board and then the church under perpetual leases.