No change on Bastion Pt

Press, 19 March 1982, Page 1

No change on Bastion Pt

PA ■ Wellington An Auckland civic delegation yesterday put a compromise proposal to the Government over the Bastion Point land dispute, but the Minister of Housing (Mr Quigley) indicated that his Cabinet colleagues would not shift their stand. The Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Authority told Mr Quigley that they wanted the 1.7 hectares of land at issue to stay in public ownership. Mr Quigley made it clear to journalists that the Housing Corporation was likely to continue with its plan to put the land up for tender for high-cost housing. The Mayor of Auckland, Mr Colin Kay, and the chairman of the A.R.A., Mr Lee Murdoch, headed the delegation. Mr Quigley said they had gone away with a better understanding of agreements previously reached over the

disposal of the land. Mr Murdoch agreed that the Government was "perfectly within its rights in following the legislation as it existed and the agreement it reached with the (Maori) people." But he said a study group in 1977 had found that the land should remain owned by the corporation or Auckland City Council, and he felt the Government should follow that course. Mr Quigley said he would refer the Auckland proposal to the Cabinet but he “could not anticipate its reaction." He emphasised that what the Government was doing was “completely consistent with the agreement reached with the Maori elders and the legislation passed m 1978." He said some people were also using the issue to "foment trouble in the community- ” .