Otito Reserve update June 2010

The land is Restored

We have had a great victory in our fight to get the Otito Reserve land that was included in a private title returned to the Reserve. In January DoC purchased most of the disputed land from the Ringers for $3.5 million, and made an offer to our two community organisations to pay less than half our legal costs if we withdrew our court action scheduled for early July in Whangarei. The Crown have not offered any recognition to the intangible costs and effects on the Hapu caused by the desecration of the wahitapu that is located in the area.

The Crown told us that DoC purchased the disputed land “in the interests of the public and the community of Matapouri”.  We say the real reason for the purchase has to be that our Court proceedings have forced the Crown to take action.  Although it won’t admit it, the Crown knows it made an error when it approved the survey plan in 1999 which caused the shift in the boundaries and ‘transferred’ the land to Ringer Farms – its’ own surveying experts have told it that including an ex- Surveyor General.

Court Action

For these reasons we are continuing our legal action and the Court for a public hearing which will be held in Whangarei starting 5th to the 10th July. Everyone is welcome to attend.  The Crown, like everyone else should be made accountable, both for their actions and the use of public money.

The hearing will decide on the 2 question that all parties agreed to in August 2008 - is the Ringer’s 1999 survey DP199214 correct in defining the boundary between Otito Reserve and the Ringers land, and if it is not where is the correct boundary.  If the Judge rules that the 1999 survey was incorrect and should not have been accepted then the Crown will need to let the public know why it felt it was necessary to buy back Reserve land including purchasing Crown Grant Road.

Our two organisations would like to see our legal costs reimbursed for having forced the Crown to restore the Reserve Boundary. These costs have been quite substantial because the Crown refused to take action early on when the problem of the 1999 survey was brought to their attention – going back to October 2007 when we first began.

Without the commitment of our legal team (Henderson Reeves Connell Rishworth) and without our supporters donations and assistance we could have lost this valuable part of our reserve forever.  

FoM and the Hapu are aiming to raise $25,000 towards our ongoing legal costs for the five day Court hearing. Can you help with fundraising or by making a donation? We have, so far, been very successful and with the community behind us, we can keep fighting to have all the issues brought out in the open and resolved.

Donations can be made either online (ASB Bank account: 12-3099-0880004-00 with reference “Donation”) or by cheque (made out to Friends of Matapouri Incorporated) and delivered or posted to Elizabeth Fuge, Friends of Matapouri Incorporated Treasurer, 954B Matapouri Road, RD3, Whangarei 0173.

Otito Reserve update February 2010

In January 2010, Crown Law informed our lawyers that DoC had purchased an area of beachfront land that had, in 1999, been included in the title of the adjoining property when a defective survey was approved. The Crown lawyers informed us that “the offer was made in the best interests of the public and community of Matapouri” and DoC is now “progressing on a number of operational matters to ensure the property will become part of the adjacent reserve and be subject to the Reserves Act 1977”.

DoC has also offered our two organisations a sum of money as “...contribution towards your clients costs conditional on withdrawal of proceedings”… against the Crown. This amount is way short of the true legal costs that have been incurred by both our organisations to retrieve the land and also fails to address issues around compensation, discussion about ongoing management of the Reserve and issues relating to the cleaning up of the wahitapu areas.

We are presently seeking information from the Crown regarding these unresolved issues and trying to get access to the agreement and the cabinet papers that gave approval for DoC to settle.

We are outraged that the Crown has re-purchased land that they originally acquired in 1970 and also land that was defined as Crown Grant Road. To understand why they have just spent millions of our tax dollars in this way we demand open disclosure. After all we have been promised a transparent and accountable government.

A Judicial Settlement Conference is scheduled on March 17 in Whangarei. This gives the Crown, FoM and the Hapu an opportunity to settle before attending a 4 day Court hearing in July. While the fight is far from over we would like to thank all our supporters for their help in reaching this significant milestone. 

Our community, together with the unstinting efforts of our legal representatives, Henderson Reeves Connell Rishworth, has succeeded in making the Government take action to reinstate this important piece of land to its rightful status as Crown owned Reserve.  Well done! 

We must not yet slacken off though - there is work still to be done to finalise all aspects of our claim and restore the mana of that land. We must maintain pressure on the Crown through legal action, so any contribution you can afford will help to have this matter resolved properly. For now Otito Reserve including the wahitapu once again belongs to all New Zealanders - of this we can all be proud.

February 2010

Otito Reserve update July 2009

Another Judge declares Otito Reserve Court Action: ‘Public Interest Case’

Click here to download a copy of Justice Allan’s decision.

On May 12 we went before Justice Allan in the Whangarei Court. The Ringer’s had requested a review of the original judgment (in our last newsletter) on security of costs.

The first Associate Justice declared the case ‘public interest’ in his decision released in December. We were frustated when the Ringers requested a review of this decision - but our confidence was boosted when the Judgment was released last week, again declaring the case to be of public interest. The case can be heard now without the need to find security for costs.

Click here to download a copy of Justice Allan’s decision. Let’s hope we can now move on to the hearing to have this matter decided without further hindrances.

Otito Reserve Posted August 2008

After 10 long months of discussion, research and information gathering, Te Whanau O Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust and Friends of Matapouri have been left with no choice but to take the issue of restoring the Otito Reserve boundaries to Court.

Legal documents have been lodged with the Whangarei court naming the Department of Conservation as the first defendant, the chief executive of Land Information New Zealand as second defendant and the Attorney General on behalf of the Crown as Treaty Partner, as third defendant.

Otito Reserve: an Overview

This document was prepared in October 2008 as a summary explanation for the situation.

Restore, Respect and Protect Otito Reserve Matapouri Bay Northland
Otito Reserve was sold to the Crown in 1970. When originally surveyed in 1877 the southern boundary was defined using the Te Wahi Tapu Creek which has since disappeared (it was located south of the rocky knoll). Subsequent surveys used an angle peg (OP (R) S05117) that was found and renewed in the 1960s.

Here is a PDF illustration using a Google earth map to show the area in question. Click here to take a look >>

Late last year (October 2007) a local resident saw a surveyor placing pegs in the sandhills in what she thought was the reserve. On enquiring she found out that what was commonly thought of as Reserve or Maori land was now in private ownership and a subdivision process almost completed.

The Reserve holds 62 acres of bush covered headland at the northern end of iconic Matapouri Bay and contains two significant wahitapu. One of these tapu areas is at the southern end of the Reserve, the area that is now in private ownership.

This area is an urupah, a cemetery / mortuary where bodies were cleansed and prepared for burial. A Maori Land Court condition of the sale to the Crown was that the ‘two wahitapu areas be pointed out to the purchaser and the purchaser to respect such sacred grounds’

View the Maori Land Court conditions of sale from 1970 >>

The Morrisons (Jock and Molly Morrison) purchased the property adjoining the reserve around 1915. In the mid 1940s a residential house was sited on the most southern wahitapu area within the Reserve.

A lifetime tenancy was granted (though never formalised) for Mrs Morrison when the Crown purchased the Maori land as a Reserve in 1970. When Mrs Morrison died in 1991, Ngatiwai Trust urged the Department of Conservation (DoC) to have the house removed and the area restored to the Reserve.

In 1999 a new survey plan (DP119214) was deposited by the grandchildren of Mrs Morrison. This survey plan redefined the boundary between the reserve and the adjoining neighbour so that approximately 1.1 hectares of reserve land was transferred to private ownership. The plan was approved by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) under a new reduced accreditation process. This process allows accredited surveyors to submit plans that are not subject to a rigorous individual check by LINZ staff as had happened previously. LINZ randomly ‘audits’ survey plans to ensure accuracy.

In June 2008 Tony Bevin, an ex Surveyor General was requested by DoC to conduct a peer review of the 1999 survey plan DP199214. His conclusion was that the survey plan was 'not robust' and ignored the corner peg OP(R) S05117 when defining the boundary.

Te Whanau O Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Trust (descendants of the original Otito Trustees) and Friends of Matapouri Inc are demanding that the correct boundaries be restored, the wahitapu be respected and the Maori Land Court conditions of the sale to the Crown be honoured.

Our first report November 2007

In October 2007, 2 local residents were walking on Matapouri beach and chanced upon some surveyors marking out the dunes beside Wahitapu Stream. Upon approaching them they were shocked to learn that an area commonly known to be part of Otito Reserve had been approved for private subdivision.

The plan submitted for subdivision. Click on the map to see a larger version

The Department of Conservation has an entry on it's website about Otito Reserve. Link>>

Background to Otito Reserve

The beautiful Otito block was transferred into Crown ownership by Tangata Whenua in 1969 with conditions attached.

Key among these were the provisions that:

• the purchaser respect the wahi tapu within the reserve
• the land could not be sold or exchanged, and
• that Mrs Morrison be granted a life tenancy in consideration of her home occupying the reserve at the time of the sale.

The land was subsequently made a Department of Conservation (DoC) reserve.

The land includes tapu areas. Wahitapu Stream and the knoll beside the Morrison house, Whitiroa, whose iwi significance make them indispensable. The dunes marked for subdivision are highly unstable (NRC has made a report confirming this point).

Local Maori had struggled to ensure its protection in the 1960’s in the face of boundary uncertainty caused by the lack of survey definition of the Wahitapu Stream at the time the land was set aside as a Maori Reservation.

From research, indications are that the Chief Surveyor determined the boundary in the mid 1970’s to include the sacred land. However, in the 1999 LINZ has accepted the information placed before them and allowed boundary alterations which result in the part of the Reserve to the south of the present stream being held as private land. Subdivision of this land has recently been approved and has only been prevented from proceeding by a caveat lodged by Te Whanau O Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust.

What can we do?

This belated discovery has sparked an outcry from the community. Over Labour Weekend 2007 local Maori, residents and bach owners packed the hall demonstrating massive opposition to the subdivision. Lawyers came on board and donations poured in, funding the rapid development of a strong legal case.

Previous work done by local iwi on the boundary issues, provided a large fund of material to draw on in the urgency of the last few weeks, and the extraordinarily focused action and generosity of all involved have achieved a great deal at extremely short notice. Our goal is to restore Otito to its rightful status as a protected public resource and a cultural treasure.

Friends of Matapouri Inc have joined the community to assist in this process.

We desperately need your assistance (financial and time) to continue to investigate the legal situation in regard to the boundaries of the Reserve and the new subdivision.

Please use the contact details if you can offer any assistance. Or to donate to the fund see the details on the right hand side of this page.

Donate to the Friends of Matapouri and help preserve the historical, cultural and natural environment of Otito Reserve, Matapouri.

Deposits can be made online. (Please email with your details once a deposit is made)

Cheques made out to Friends of Matapouri Inc
Post to: Elizabeth Fuge, Treasurer, Matapouri Road, RD3 Whangarei.

Receipts will be posted out.

Bank details:

• ASB Bank Rathbone St. Whangarei
• Account Name:
  Friends of Matapouri Inc
• Account:
  12-3099-0880004-00

A Friends of Matapouri information session was held at Matapouri Hall on Saturday 5 January 2008. Once again the Hall was packed with residents wanting to hear more about FOM and our activities especially the Otito Reserve boundary issue

Last updated: June 9, 2010