NPDC - Waitara Lands - Community Taranaki

NPDC - Points of Clarification for Maori Affairs Committee 3rd March 2017
... arising after the February 2017 Public Hearings, and regarding

- The relationship between the Pekapeka Block and the endowment Lands
- What happened to the endowment lands?
- What non-leasehold endowment land is left?
- Was Waitara East also confiscated, or was it purchased fairly or otherwise?
- Are leaseholders correct when they say Te Atiawa has already received compensation in the 1940s?
- The origin and significance of section 117 of the Te Atiawa Claims Settlement Act 2016
- Why was the Head of Agreement signed one day before the Deed of Settlement?
- Is the Heads of Agreement with Te Atiawa more than a list of issues to be discussed?
- Te Atiawa contributions to the Bill based on the Head of Agreement

The signed Heads of Agreement is also attached here

New Plymouth District Council and Taranaki Regional Council presentation to the Maori Affairs Select Committee
in Wellington on Wednesday 15 February 2017.
NPDC: The Council is not the Crown and is not a Treaty settlement partner. The established law is clear that land vested in a local authority, such as the Waitara land, is private land and not available for inclusion in settlements. To separately legislate to require NPDC to transfer all of the confiscated Waitara land to iwi would be inconsistent with this established approach.

NPDC oral submission to Maori Affairs Select Committee
Barbara McKerrow, NPDC Chief Executive, 18th November 2016

NPDC Initial Briefing to the Maori Affairs Select Committee
3rd October 2016

NPDC 2016 Statement of Proposal

NPDC Council Meeting 5th July 2016

Fight to End Over Lands Bill
by Taryn Utiger, Taranaki Daily News, 6th July 2016
Although New Plymouth District councillors voted to send the Waitara Lands Bill to Parliament last night, the district's only Maori councillor said he was taking a moral stand against the decision. "I can't and will not support this Bill going forward to Parliament," Howie Tamati told his fellow councillors at their full meeting.

Maori councillor votes against Taranaki land sales
by Robin Martin, Radio New Zealand 6th July 2016
Howie Tamati: " "For me getting to the final point, the magnitude of the decision started to really hit home. The thought that I would stand there after all the history that's come before and agree to sell the Peka Peka essentially. I don't think I could've moved on."

Council boss defends land Bill stance
by Blanton Smith,Taranaki Daily News, 8th July 2016
TRC Chairman David McLeod: "The TRC has responded on every occasion to requests from the NPDC to be involved in the process and is fully supportive of the outcome which works for the community."

"Waitara - a new take on an old crime" 24th July 2016 e-tangata
by vivian Hutchinson (an edited version of his paper by e-tangata)
Tamati: “I stand here today and say I can’t and will not support this bill going forward to parliament. My tupuna are saying to me: ‘Do not sell the Pekapeka.’ The lands in Waitara were stolen illegally, and they should be returned to those they belonged to, and they should not be required to buy it back.”

Native Affairs - Selling off Waitara (7 mins)
by Iulia Leilua, Native Affairs (Maori Television) 20th September 2016
The New Plymouth District Council is being accused by some Waitara Māori of selling off stolen land through the Waitara Lands Bill, being read in Parliament tomorrow. The bill will allow the Council to sell off Waitara land leases. It was opposed by just one councillor, Howie Tamati.

some video extracts from the NPDC Council Meeting 5th July 2016:

NPDC webpage of raw video from Council Meeting 5th July 2016

NPDC Council 160705 Craig McFarlane

NPDC Council 160705 Harry Duynhoven

NPDC Council 160705 Howie Tamati