Sale of land

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 18

Sale of land

Sir, —“The Press” (July 8) carried a classified advertisement in the Farms for Sale column. It advertised for sale an area of bare land at Woodend. I wish tb draw to your attention the words "building permit available to Ngai Tahu descendants.” This concerns me greatly as I assume that if a non-Maori person was to purchase this land, he would not be able to obtain a building permit simply because he or she was not Maori. If, as I suspect, this is a small portion of Maori land being sold, who gives the vendors the right to dictate that buildings subsequently erected on this land shall be built by Maori people only and that other races are excluded? Furthermore, what part is the local council playing in this racist approach to building?— Yours, etc., G. D. JACKSON. July 9, 1989.

[The manager of Harcourts Real Estate, Rangiora, Mr Geoffrey Twiss, replies: “I undersand that the Rangiora District Council will be replying explaining the Rural D zoning which is contained in its district scheme for the protection of Maori land and restricting development by Europeans. Europeans may be granted a building permit, but only after applying for a specified departure (which could be extremely difficult to., obtain). Having to apply for a specified departure has a direct bearing on the asking price of the property, the present owners realising that they are looking for a very restricted number of purchasers.”]

[The District Clerk, Rangiora District Council, Mr A. F. Rapley, replies: “The Rangiora District Council in 1981 brought down a change to its district scheme to recognise, in accordance with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977, that ‘as a matter of national importance which shall in particular be recognised and provided for’; and ‘the relationship of the Maori people and their culture and traditions with their ancestral land.’ In so doing the council created a Tuahiwi Community Zone (Rural D) which includes those parts of Maori Reserve 873 where further limited residential occupation can take place without prejudice to the major objectives of the district scheme for the rural area. The purpose of the zone is to recognise the special interests of the Maori people with regard to their ancestral land and to facilitate the continued occupation and use of Maori land in the zone by the decendants of the original grantees. In 1848 H. T. Kemp purchased on behalf of the Crown all the land between Waipapa and the Otago block. ‘The Kemp’s Deed,’ as the sale has become known, promised the Maori people that ‘our places of residence and our cultivations are to be reserved for us and our children after us.’ Today approximately a third of the reserve remains in Maori ownership, and much of this is in multiple

ownership. Although this is honouring a commitment made long ago, non-Maoris may take up occupation in this zone provided they meet the district scheme requirements for the rural area.”]