Rainey Collins Lawyers

Sale Of Crown-Owned Land – New Protections For Maori

By James Johnston, Monday, 10 December, 2007, Maori Issues

The Government recently introduced a new process for the sale of all Crown-owned land.

The new process responds to community and Government concerns about the proposed Landcorp sale of Whenuakite on the Coromandel Peninsula and Rangiputa in Northland.  Landcorp has now agreed to retain these properties, along with seven others, and will continue to farm, and protect the conservation and other natural values, of the properties.

Under the new process, when Crown-owned land meets the criteria for sale, officials will be consulted to determine whether there are any potential values which require protection in relation to Maori interests, and the Office of Treaty Settlements will be asked to assess potential claim issues.

In addition, a wider variety of land will be assessed for “sensitive values”.  This will allow Te Puni Kokiri to assess if the land has cultural value to Maori beyond the narrower definition of waahi tapu used in existing processes.

Te Puni Kokiri will assess whether those cultural values need protection.  Features on a piece of land, such as traditional religious ceremony sites, battles sites or traditional housing sites will be considered cultural values that may be protected.

If officials consider land requires protection, they will identify the most appropriate protective mechanism on a case-by-case basis.  Land can be protected by Land Banking, a prohibition on sale (where this is legally possible), Heritage listing or covenants on the land.

The new process will be reviewed by the Government in February 2009.

For further information about the process for the sale of Crown-owned land go to www.beehive.govt.nz.

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