PUKEROA RESERVE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 543, 29 May 1933, Page 6

PUKEROA RESERVE

H. TAI :

MITOKELL. -

Sir, — For some time past, reference by prominent citizens of the Rotorua town has been made to the above reserve regarding ownership and control. It has been argued that under certain Orders-in-Council the ownership has been vested in the Borough of Rotorua and the recent expression of opinion by His Worship the Mayor seems to emphasise that contention in view of the probable removal of King George V. Hospital from Pukeroa to another site and the consequent reversioii| of this property to its original status. In short, if I may so put it, the mayor with' his usual alertness, , is getting in early with his claim on behalf of the borough. With all due respect to the arguments in law under Orders-in-Council as set out so ably in your valuable paper re- ' cently, no one, and least of all the mayor, would persist in a claim if he were assured that such a claim, if true, broke solemn pledges entered into be,tween the Government of this country -and the Arawa tribes in 1880 when Pukeroa Hill, the key position of everything Ngati Whakaue held sacred, was handed over to the Government as a recreation reserve under certain conditions which I will now briefly outline: — In 1880 the Government began negotiations with' the Arawa tribes for the purpose of establishing a township in the thermal district — Rotorua being selected as the most suitable site for that purpose. After protracted negotiations the matter was finalised. Ample reserves were made and gifted and provision in this respect to meet all future .public requirements were made by the Arawa chiefs and accepted by the Crown. The most valued gifts from the Ngati Whakaue view point are placed in the following order of importance: (1) Pukeroa Recreation Reserve. (2) Orauwhata Hot Springs Reserve (now Government Gardens). (3) Kuirau Hot Springs Reserve. (4) Arikikapakapa Hot Springs Reserve (now partly golf links). Followed by educational and municipal endowments, a museum reserve and other reserves. In that year, the hot springs area of the district had" already received a large measure of attention from overseas visitors and were. known to be valuable assets. The other reserves in the town were looked upon as reserves associated with the "town-to-be" whose value would be created by the growth of Pakeha institutions and enterprise in the proposed town of Rotorua. The gift of Pukeroa was the erowning act in the foundation history of Rotorua town and was consumated to mark the confidence and faith of the Arawa tribes in the Government's declared intentions to carry-out its obligations under the arrangements made but in consultation with the Arawa tribes on the major issues in connection with the town. Ngati Whakaue views Pukeroa as the most valuable of all the gifted areas made to the Crown because of its associations with the tribal history in times of peace and of war, because it contains the burial place of their distinguished dead and last but not least because it contains the "Tuahu" or abode of the guardian deity, Te Makawe, of the Arawa tribes, before Christianity was intioduced into the district.

The trust, therefore, affecting Pukeroa and the hot springs reserves referred to above, has special features which impose restrictive rights on the Government which cannot divest itself of the conditions of the trust and pass them. on to some other tribunal without consultation with Ngati Whakaue. And any Order-in-Council therefore, if such has been issued, without the consent of both contracting parties must be bad, certainly ultra vires, as would be deeply resented by Ngatt Whakaue as a distinct breach of faith on the part of the Government. Summarising the above, Ngati Whakaue submits that there are three classes of reserves in the town of Rotorua in sequence of importance and value as follows: — (1) In this class comes Pukeroa Reserve. (2) In this class are the Hot Springs Reserves. (3) In this class are the balance of the reserves. In number s 1 and 2 clauses the trust therein implies Governmenl r>nn-trnl for all time unless both parfc-

ies agree to a variation of the trust. No. 3. The same principle applies but as these reserves are directly connected with the growth of civic administration and expenditure Ngati Whakaue, being on the borough roll of electors, are, ipso facto, associated With the control by the borough and therefore the terms of the trust regarding these reserves are not infringed. At a meeting of Ngati Whakaue last night at Tamatekapua the foliowresolution was unanimously carried: "That the position as viewed from their standpoint be made public bj public'ation in the 'Morning Post'."--T nm . p.tc..

Rotorua, May 25.