I have moved across to Facebook. I am having too many technical problems...

Trustee meeting to be held 24 November 2012

Wednesday 17 October 2012 Update

First apologies for the formatting of the last few posts. It all looks nicely set out in paragraphs when I am composing them and then it squashes all together when I go to save them. Still trying to fix it. Thank you for your feedback to this point. It was part of the reason I started this blog nearly three years ago. This whole current scenario was always going to come out into the open at some point and I wanted to be transparent in everything I did. I have nothing to hide. I heard the bach-owners perspectives and was grateful they shared their stories and traditions of the beach. Giving the upmost respect, it was weird that a group of people were enjoying the area even if I wasn't. Like most things, there are always two sides to a story. My Whanau never visited that beach when we were young. I always knew about the area but we never went there...for one reason...those baches ! They represented what was wrong in todays society as far as we were concerned. A culture of a past era where a minority thought it is fine to build on private land they do not own. We are certainly not the first to go through this however we are probably one of the last. Worse still is we have to use our own money to achieve it. I had no choice but to get involved because leaving it to the next generation would make the whole situation even more difficult to resolve. Just a couple of comments about the feedback provided thus far. First, if you are a beneficiary of this land and want any financial information then contact myself directly and I am happy to provide it. To all the other comments posted - Interesting viewpoints however read the Whanganui Chronicle in the next day or so...hopefully it clears up a few issues for you. To conclude, my first post in January 2012 prophetically ended with the sentence "...There is a rumbling on the horizon and its been slowly biding its time. Watching and waiting"...Guess what?!

"The article"

http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/bach-battle/1543004/ --- A dispute between landowners at the Whangaehu River mouth and a group of evicted bach owners who claim they have rights to be there could be headed to court. Rakautaua Trust 9 chairman Casey Paki said the landowners wanted to return to their land. The trust desired a peaceful solution and had tried to accommodate the bach owners, who it said had been squatting on the land for many years. The trust had given them 100 days to vacate and remove their dwellings. Two bach owners told the Chronicle they were unhappy with the notice. Steve Baron, of Wellington, said his family had occupied the land at the river mouth for 100 years. They were originally given permission by a farmer to build a bach. Mr Baron said they were prepared to fight their eviction in court. He added that the original bach owners signed a memorandum of understanding with the trust that they would have a lifetime right to occupy, but that was now being ignored. However, Rakautaua 9 Trust trustee and beneficiary Tohe Manawaroa-Te Awe Awe, who grew up at Whangaehu, said that in 1946 there was only a lean-to his family used when they went down to fish. Mr Paki said the memorandum the people signed was for those individuals, and it stated that on the death of that occupier, the dwelling would not pass to "next of kin or otherwise". Any other person had to apply in writing to the trust. The original intention of the memorandum was that the trust or the bach occupiers had to give 21 days to the other party if the bach owners were leaving or being given notice to vacate. Mr Paki said the trust felt that was unreasonable, so extended the notice to 100 days. As well, each bach dweller was to pay a koha for being there, but Mr Manawaroa-Te Awe Awe said it had been a battle getting some owners to come up with the money. Another issue for the trust was that QV was looking to re-rate the land because of the change of use. Rangitikei District Council environmental services team leader Stephen Costelloe said that when QV became involved the council had to also look at the dwellings, and wrote to the trust outlining issues around building and health and safety compliances under the Resource Management Act. Mr Paki said the trust sent a copy of the letter in April to the owners of 13 dwellings, with four weeks to provide feedback. Only two of them had replied. "There are 1100 beneficiaries to this land and we have to comply with legislation. The trust is just doing its job, but the beneficiaries want their land back," Mr Paki said.

Whanganui Chronicle front page today

Have been keeping things quiet lately on purpose with a lot of things going on in the background...until today. The article in the paper today was not of our doing. The bach-owners complained to the Chronicle today...not the Trust. There are two comments that one of the bachowners Mr Baron makes in the article which I will clear up. His first was that his family have been there for over one hundred years. Whanau have an urupa two kilometres from the beach which goes back further than that. Another view would be to think "they have been taking advantage of the situation for over a 100 years". Unfortunately his comment saying that they got permission from a farmer to build there is probably correct. The answer though is that the farmer has NEVER owned it. The bach-owners know they have been living on borrowed time for years and I totally empathise. There have been generations coming out and enjoying the white-baiting, the fishing, the isolation, the environment. It is a beautiful beach and I wouldn't want to go either if in the same position. However, we cannot cater to a small minority who are not beneficiaries, whose dwellings do not meet building code compliance and where they do not own the land. It is wrong. If the situation was reversed and we were building a bach on their beach I doubt very much the outcome would be any different. I advised some of them that we would invite them in for discussions once the Trust was in a position to move forward. Their response is to organise a meeting between themselves with a view to take us to Court. Really?! We are not stopping anyone from using the beach. We would never stop anyone using and enjoying the area. This could have been done with honour, respect and dignity... My opening line said I had been quiet lately. The article today will ensure that I cannot keep quiet any longer.

Vector Transmission Pipeline

Vector sent the Trust some information relating to the pipeline running through the middle of the property. Nice picture but somewhat amused as to whose idea it was in the first place to put it through the middle of a Maori-owned beach property...

Update 31 July 2012

Haven't said anything for a little bit but there are a few things going on in the background. * More dialogue with the Te Araroa Trust with things progressing ever so slightly. Haven't been involved myself (other trustees attending) but am appreciating being kept informed. * Lease being sorted. * Trust meeting processes starting to take shape. Certainly not finished...but started. * Baches situation hopefully will be progressed soon. Most stakeholders have had an opportunity to provide input and we are considereing options. * In discussions with different parties concerning land use options on under-utilised parts of the property. * Vector provided a free aerial map of the property showing the gas pipe-line. When you see it you have to question the wisdom of the "powers that be" of the time authorising it. "Do we just accept it?" * Have heard about a multi-national company exploring the West Coast of the North Island from South Taranaki to the Rangitikei River for ironsands. Looks like they are further down the track than anticipated. More research required before making any further comments. Things will certainly get interesting over the next few months and years...