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The Taurewa Development Scheme 1939-2006

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The Taurewa Development Scheme 1939-2006 RECEIVED IOFFICIALj t-_-,Waitanai Tribunal Wai 1130 # E37 j<J AUG 2006 Ministry of Justice WELLINGTON The Taurewa Development Scheme 1939-2006 A research report for the National Park District Inquiry Gmllnissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal Ann Beaglehole August 2006 PREFACE My name is Ann Beaglehole. I have a PhD in New Zealand History from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. My publications include A Small Price to Pay: Refugeesfrom Hitler in New Zealand, 1936-1946 (Allen and Unwin, 1988); The History ofthe Eastern Bays of Wellington Harbour (Eastbourne Historical Society, 2001); and a novel, Replacement Girl (Tandem Press, 2002). Since August 2005 I have been employed as a Research Officer with the Waitangi Tribunal Business Unit. I was employed as Senior Policy Analyst at Te Puni Kokiri from 2000-2005. This report was completed with the assistance of staff at the Waitangi Tribunal Business Unit. In particular I would like to acknowledge the research advice and editorial assistance provided by Leanne Boulton, Mark Derby, Jamie Mitchell and Barry Rigby. I would like to thank Brian Herlihy, former registrar of the Wanganui Maori Land Court, for his help with locating information and Peter Little, Manager of the Land Management Unit, Te Puni Kokiri, for contributing his personal knowledge of the Taurewa Development Scheme. I am also grateful to Molly Kino, Senior Records Officer at Te Puni Kokiri, for enabling me to access vital information. Lastly, I would like to give sincere thanks to the people who agreed to be interviewed about the Taurewa Development Scheme: Tumu Te Heuheu, Kepa Patena, Arthur Smallman and Sonny Te Ahuru. Table of contents 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 THE COMMISSION ...................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 EXISTING LITERATURE ............................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 SOURCES USED FOR THIS REPORT ............................................................................................................. 11 1.4 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.5 ORAL EVIDENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 11 1.6 THEPEOPLEINTERVIEWED ...................................................................................................................... 12 1.7 OMISSIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 13 1.8 MAIN THEMES AND ISSUES ...................................................................................................................... 14 1.9 ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT ............................................................................................................... 15 2 BACKGROUND .....................................................................................................••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 16 2.1 ORIGINS OF MAORI LAND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................ 16 2.2 WHAT IS A MAORI LAND DEVELOPMENT SCHEME? .................................................................................. 17 2.3 NATIVE LAND AMENDMENT ACT 1936 ................................................................................................... 18 2.4 MAORI AFFAIRS ACT 1953 ...................................................................................................................... 18 2.5 MAORI AFFAIRS AMENDMENT ACT 1967 ................................................................................................ 19 2.6 TE TURE WHENUA MAORI ACT 1993 ...................................................................................................... 20 2.7 STAGES IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ........................................................................................ 20 2.8 FUNDING MAORI LAND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................... 20 2.9 WHERE IS THE TAUREWA DEVELOPMENT SCHEME? ................................................................................ 21 2.10 HAPu AND !WI ASSOCIATIONS ............................................................................................................. 24 2.11 NAMES ................................................................................................................................................ 24 2.12 AN ATTRACTIVE PROPERTY WITH GOOD CONTOUR AND BUSH ............................................................ 25 2.13 TITLE HISTORy .................................................................................................................................... 25 2.14 INITIATING THE T AUREWA DEVELOPMENT SCHEME ........................................................................... 27 2.15 FURTHER VESTING OF LAND ................................................................................................................ 27 2.16 HIKAIRO TOWNSHIP BLOCKS .............................................................................................................. 27 2.17 LAND VESTED AND RELEASED, 1965-1982 ......................................................................................... 28 2.18 T AUREWA DEVELOPMENT SCHEME DECLARED SUBJECT TO PART XXIV OF THE MAORI AFFAIRS ACT 1953 ........................................................................................................................................................ 28 2.19 RELEASE OF THE LAND VESTED IN THE TAUREWA DEVELOPMENT SCHEME ....................................... 28 3 ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION, 1920S -1950S ....................................................................... 29 3.1 DEVELOPMENT BEFORE THE START OF THE DEVELOPMENT SCHEME ....................................................... 29 3.2 APPLICATION TO THE NATIVE MINISTER FOR ASSISTANCE TO BUILD TWO BRIDGES, 1932 ...................... 30 3.3 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT SCHEME .................................................................................... 32 3.3.1 Lack ofinformation ....................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.2 The decision to call in the Native Department .............................................................................. 32 3.3.3 To join or not to join ..................................................................................................................... 33 3.3.4 Meeting held to formally hand over blocks to the Native Department for development, 24 June 1937............................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.5 Other events leading up to the gazetting ofthe Taurewa Development Scheme ........................... 36 3.3.6 Resolutions ofthe Native Land Development Board and the Board ofMaori Affairs regarding the Taurewa Development Scheme, 1940s .......................................................................................... 37 3.3.7 Persuading reluctant owners ofHikairo Township sections to sell their lots to be included in the development scheme, 1959 ............................................................................................................ 38 3.3.8 Original purpose and intended potential of the scheme ................................................................ 39 3.3.9 Owner expectations/departmental promises ................................................................................. 39 3.3.10 The Department's 'settlement objective' in the late 1950s ........................................................... 40 3.4 STARTING TO DEVELOP THE SCHEME, 1940s ........................................................................................... 41 3.5 FARMING AND DEVELOPMENT, 1950s ..................................................................................................... 41 3.5.1 Sonny Te Ahuru,jirst manager under Maori Affairs, 1952-1959 ................................................. 41 3.5.2 Fromfern to grass: snapshot ofthe Taurewa Development Scheme in 1958 ............................... 42 3.5.3 Dissatisfaction with the Taurewa Development Scheme, 1959 ..................................................... 42 3.5.4 Access and bridges ........................................................................................................................ 43 3.5.5 Concern over debt and losses ........................................................................................................ 46 3.5.6 Expansion ...................................................................................................................................... 47 3.5.7 Agreement to amalgamate? .......................................................................................................... 48 3.6 WAS IT A DOUBTFUL SCHEME FROM THE START? ••.•.........••..••.••.......•.••••.•••.••••.......••..........•..•••••.••.•••••••.•• 48 3.7 THE YEARS AHEAD •••••••.••.....•....•.........•••••••.•••••.....•••••..•.........•••..•.•••.............•...•••......••.....................•••.•.
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