High Court hearing on Hawke's Bay coastal rights winds up in Napier

A Ngai Tahu o Mohaka-Waikare line up after the hearing, including stayers George Hancy (fourth from left), wife Glenda (seated), and Malcolm Kingi, at right with counsel Grant Erskine. Photo / Doug Laing

One of Hawke's Bay's longest-running High Court hearings has ended in Napier, with parties prepared to wait several months for the outcome.

After all, says Ngai Tahu o Mohaka-Waikare member Malcolm Kingi, the wait will be worth it, hoping for outcomes that have been awaited for several decades, if not more than his whole life.

He and retired couple Glenda and George Hancy sat through the entire hearing of almost seven weeks. It was based on applications by his people and iwi groups and representatives Ngati Pahauwera, Maungaharuru-Tangiitu and Ngatai Paarau under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, effectively seeking protection of customary rights on the coastline of Hawke's Bay for much of the area north of Napier.

In all, nine parties were represented, with more than a dozen legal counsel involved.
Starting on February 9 before Justice Peter Churchman, the hearing was held in the basement rooms of the Napier War Memorial Centre and finished on Thursday.

Parties, including the judge, returned the next day for the poroporoaki expressing their farewells, Justice Churchman to the forefront in the waiata chosen by manuhiri – Tutira Mai Nga Iwi.

The judge had been unable to give an indication of when a decision might be delivered, as he ploughs through other judicial matters.

While many of the parties have seen dozens of tribunal and court hearings dealing with land and rights issues over the years, Glenda Hancy hadn't been through such an endurance test as the latest exercise, in which much evidence was drawn from inquiries over the decades.

"We're retired, so we could do it," she said. "We were here solely for a good outcome for everyone."