A proposal to vest ownership of the Te Pohue Domain reserves to the Maungaharuru-Tangitu claimant hapu will be put to the vote at the Hastings District Council tomorrow.
The conditions of the proposal offer up few changes for regular users of the reserve. However, for the hapu it will be a significant step towards settlement of its Treaty of Waitangi claim and potentially a shared governance role over the reserve land.
The council will be asked to vote on whether it should "approve in principle" the 2.2ha recreation reserve be transferred to the hapu as proposed by the Office of Treaty Settlements.
The conditions included confirming the status of the Te Pohue Domain as a recreation reserve, separate from the Te Pohue-Upper Mohaka recreation reserve.
The Te Pohue-Upper Mohaka Domain management committee should continue to administer the hall on the reserve and any reserve management plans for the land be agreed between the council and Maungaharuru-Tangitu post settlement.
The future of the two domain titles was the subject of a public meeting at Te Pohue last week where Maungaharuru-Tangitu lead negotiators explained the historical Treaty claim.
It would again be discussed when the Hastings council meets tomorrow to review a report by its parks and property services manager Colin Hosford and culture and heritage advisor Marama Laurenson.
The report said the Crown had been progressing a settlement package for the hapu and an important part revolved around cultural redress, which included reconnecting iwi with the land. One way to achieve the goal was to make public land available within the claimant area.
The Crown had little public land available it could easily include in the package and so the Te Pohue Domain title had become of interest as part of the claim.
"The Te Pohue Domain is one parcel of a land title that comprises both the domain at Te Pohue and a larger Upper Mohaka Domain about 15km away.
"While these two parcels are managed by the ... Council, they are still owned by the Crown and are therefore legitimate parcels of land for the Crown to include in a settlement package."
A community hall was located on the Te Pohue Domain site and funds for its care were through leases for activities on the Upper Mohaka portion. The Crown wanted to work with hapu, council and community to negotiate a "shared vision" for the reserves.
"While the Crown is keen to settle this Treaty of Waitangi claim, it was also anxious to ensure the settlement process did not leave the Te Pohue (community) with negative feelings toward the settlement process."