CLAIM TO MUDFLATS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 113, 6 February 1941, Page 6

CLAIM TO MUDFLATS

Decision 01' General Interest To Be Macle

ACTION BY MAORI TRIBE

Dominion Special Service

AUCKLAND, February 4. Much interest is being taken in the position of the Rauglkohu mudflats, Kaitaia, which were claimed by the Maoris of the Rarawa sub-tribe at a sitting of the Native Land Court in Herekino. The decision, when given, will have a general bearing on all reclaimed land in New Zealand. Possibly because of the weathering of the hills on the west coast, the harbour at Rangikohu is disappearing, and, by process of graual accretion, dry land, unaffected even by high tides, is being built up. The original surveyor, Mr. Compton Smith, gave evidence from, his work diary of that year. An interesting item was that while going over this area he had had mullet jump into his boat. Today this laud is well above high-water mark and appears most suitable for cultivation. Though the Rangikohu flats are a particularly apt illustration, the tendency is general on the west coast. The opinion was given that at one time such lands were probably low-lying river valleys which the sea had entered, forming harbours. Now, however, the harbours arc disappearing and flats are forming along the coast. A strange point made was that, while reclamation is being made possible on the. west coast, erosion was to a certain extent taking place on the east coast.