April 23, 2015
Prison land wlll allow tribe to grow
The chair of the Tuwharetoa Settlement Trust says completion of purchases under the deferred settlement process means the tribe is now ready to move forward.
The trust has partnered with Tuwharetoa land and forestry trusts and a hapu entity to buy 8500 hectares of Crown Land by Rangipo Prison for about $20 million.
That’s on top of earlier purchases of land under nine schools, the courthouse and the probation office in Taupo.
Dylan Tahau says it caps more than seven years of intense work that started with the 2008 Central North Island collective settlement.
"Making these purchases is one thing. Using the land and growing not only the land but the whanau, the people, that's the big job because that's what goes through the generations. So kua hoki mai te whenua, it's back and now the real work starts
Mr Tahau says how the Rangipo land will be used will be revealed when the deal is finalised on June 30, but the certainty means the Lake Taupo Protection Trust’s nitrate reduction programme in the Lake Taupo catchment is now completed.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH DYLAN TAHAU CLICK ON THE LINK
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