Local hapu claims 145,000 Whanganui River acres

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 609, 24 October 1995, Page 2

Local hapu claims 145,000 Whanganui River acres

Descendants of "the ancestor T amahaki" have filed a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal for the Taumatamahoe Block — a large land area situated on the true right hand bank of I the Whanganui River comprisingsome 145,000 acres. A large portion of the block is presently administered by the Department of Conservation, with other portions being targetted for inclu-

sion into the Whanganui National Park, said Larry Ponga, chairman of the Tamahaki Council of Hapu who support the claim. "The filing of this claim has been under consideration for some time," stated the council in a press release. "Actions of the Department of Conservation have forced the claimants to move with urgency ," continued the release, "on 6

April 1995 representatives of the Minister of Conservation invited the Tamahaki Council of Hapu to discussions concerning outstanding issues as regards land within the Tamahaki Ancestral area." "Since then the department has reneged on that

agreement and has instead set up an alternative "Iwi Liaison Group" to discuss these matters," stated the group. "At the same time the Whanganui Conservancy has denied the Tamahaki Council of Hapu the opportunity to make submission

to its Conservation Management Strategy." "The filing of this claim ... will serve notice ... that it is Nga Whanau me Nga Hapu o Tamahaki who will determine the processes that concern their ancestral lands," concluded the release, signed by Mr Ponga and kaumatua Mark Cribb.