Farmers seeking end to riverbed litigation

"It shouldn't be happening," Colin Smith, Auckland Council's local ward representative for the Wellsford subdivision, told a public meeting in the town this month.

"My family has been here for 160 years, but I've not had this in all my life. We've always come together to get things done but this is dividing the community."

The trustees of the Ngati Manuhiri Settlement Trust and Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua made an application to the Maori Land Court over two years ago in December 2022, asking it to make an order that the bed of the Hoteo River is Maori customary land. Ngati Manuhiri want an order that the river's bed upstream of the Tarakihi Falls is held by the Crown for their people while Ngati Whatua want an order that the riverbed from the river's mouth at the end of the area it claims in the Kaipara Harbour to its headwaters is held by the Crown for its people.

The 28-kilometre river begins where the Whangaripo and Waiwhiu streams meet, north-east of Wellsford and is the largest river in the Auckland region by both flow and catchment area, covering almost 27,000 hectares. It has been stressed that there was no intention to dispossess landowners and that the applications involved only the bed of the river, so its water and fish were not affected.

In late 2023 the Attorney General sought for both applications to be declined, saying the 48 owners of each of the riparian blocks adjoining the riverbed were set out and their titles described in an attached schedule. Those landowners include Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation, Watercare Services and Waste Management, which hopes to site a landfill on adjacent land in the Dome Valley.

The deadline for registrations of interest in the applications is March 20 with a judicial conference set down for April 2. Ngati Manuhiri and Ngati Whatua have also publicly advertised for supporters of their claims for the Hoteo riverbed as Maori customary land to register their names, addresses and phone numbers with them by the end of this month.

Smith asked for a show of hands from the over 50 people attending the meeting as to who supported the status quo, with the majority voting that way. Two iwi members voted for iwi ownership of the riverbed under the Crown, expressing the view that the applications were more an issue between the two iwi. As different groups had always shared the river landowners could be assured they were safe.

A Facebook group of affected landowners has been set up with donations being called for, but many were still unaware of what was happening despite flyers being widely distributed, the meeting was told. So far only 14 owners have returned the necessary Maori Land Court forms to appeal the applications.

The group is seeking donations as it’s already incurred over $1500 of legal costs. Its legal advice has clarified that the applications don’t appear to relate to streams that flow into the Hoteo River or out of it. But landowners with both riparian titles and easements registered on their land titles should seek status as interested parties. Once total registrations were in a landowners’ group could be formed to seek a meeting with Ngati Manuhiri and Ngati Whatua to find out exactly what they were seeking. Smith, who farms at Wharehine further to the north, said he would be raising the matter with Auckland Council, with the hope that something could be done before the case went back to court.

“Why do we need to go to court?” he asked.

“No one should be claiming anything. All we need is support from the community. We want to make sure the Hoteo is in our hands forever. We’ve just got to do our bit, follow process and get an outcome.”