Maungatautari Pest Proof Fence To Come Down On June 18

When Minister of Treaty Negotiations Chris Findlayson signs a Deed of Settlement with Ngati Koroki Kahukura on June 18 at Pohara Marae near Karapiro he will also be triggering the destruction of the 47 kilometre pest proof fence that surrounds Maungatautari mountain near Cambridge.

At that point the project, where $30 million has been spent to fence the mountain with a seven feet high stainless steel fence and then eradicate all pest species and reintroduce native species inside the fence, will be at an end.

Landowners opposed to the new race-based governance structure of the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust are also opposed to the handing over to local Maori the 2500 hectare Maungatautari Reserve.

After requests over many months for meetings with Cabinet ministers there is now a last gasp effort to set up mediation around the controversial mountain. Landowners however see that has little value if there is an intention to continue with signing the reserve out of Crown ownership.

Spokesperson Peter Holmes says there is deep resolve that landowners will require this fence to be removed over many kilometres of farmland the moment this settlement happens.

The fence will be breached immediately in several places and then there will be a requirement to remove the fence entirely from private land within 30 days.

“We have been on the receiving end of a lot of aggression from Ngati Koroki Kahukura and the new Ngati Koroki Kahukura-controlled Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust. We have asked that people stay off our private land and they continue to enter our private property at will and continue to lay poison on our property against our wishes.

“We also see Ngati Koroki Kahukura is attacking other Maori families that do not agree with this claim and we believe their interests also need protecting.”

Holmes says the loss of the fence is a tragedy for New Zealand and while the trail of blame begins with Ngati Koroki Kahukura it must end with the Government and Waipa District Council.

“This was a community project of major proportions. Ngati Koroki Kahukura stepped in to rip the heart out of it and the Government, through inaction, encouraged that to happen.

“We have a government that is showing weakness in the face of aggression. It appears some have preferential treatment as far as access to the Prime Minister’s office is concerned.” The Landowners Council has also researched land sale deeds that show the land encompassing the Maungatautari Reserve was sold by relatives of the present claimants in 1885 for £7125 to an Australian timber company. That deed was signed in front of a translator and a solicitor acting for the Maori sellers. The sellers were Tairi Tioriori and 18 others. Tairi Tioriori is directly related to one of the present day claimants Wally Tioriori Papa.

Holmes says in 1885 £7125 was a significant amount of money and now descendents get the land back again.

“This episode must send a dire warning to farmers everywhere. Where Treaty settlements are concerned your own private property rights will not be respected. The lessons from this are also a warning to every farmer that QE ll covenants are not something they should enter into as they can be used as a tool to attempt to override private property rights.

“We entered into an arrangement that we believed was good for the community and country and now we find the rules change around us and we are involved in something we did not sign up for.”

END

© Scoop Media