July 01, 2015
Chance for iwi to reconnect back to the whenua
The chair of the Tuwharetoa Settlement Trust says a massive deal for the Rangipo Prison and surrounding land gives the iwi a chance to reconnect with its whenua.
Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-liga was in Turangi yesterday to formally hand over the 8500 hectare block, which has been bought by the trust and five other Tuwharetoa entities for $52.7 million.
Dylan Tahau says it includes 4000 hectares of timber plantations which connect the tribe’s Lake Taupo and Lake Rotoaira forests, as well as a number of important waahi tapu, rivers and streams.
He says yesterday’s ceremony was about thanking the crown for letting the land go, and it’s now time to talk to iwi members.
"That land’s been away from out family for a long time because a lot of these have prisons and forest and health and safety. We can't walk around and look at the rivers, we can't do things that normal iwi or hapu would do. So the opportunities for us in the first instance is to talk to our own. Understand what that means from a cultural perspective and an economic perspective. We can then start looking at making plans for whats been agreed to but also what we can look forward to for other parts of the land" he says.
Dylan Tahau says because of the lease back to Corrections and a deal with Australian forest manager New Forests, the iwi partnership Hautu-Rangipo Whenua Limited is already getting revenue for the land.
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