Court hearing of land spat in public interest _ judge

The dispute over a survey of disputed land at Matapouri is of "significant public interest" that should be heard by the courts, an Associate High Court judge says.
Friends of Matapouri and Te Whanau o Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust have lodged High Court action against the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand and the Attorney General, as well as the land's title-holders.
The dispute centres on 1.1ha of privately owned beachfront land at Matapouri which the groups want returned to Crown ownership. They say the property is worth about $10 million.
The groups said the land and its wahi tapu sites originally formed part of the O Tito Reserve but was wrongly converted to private ownership through a surveying error in 1999.
The land is owned by members of the Ringer family, including Val Monk, John Ringer and Martin Ringer, who say the property was bought legally by their grandfather Jock Morrison in 1912.
The first stage in the battle was heard in the High Court at Whangarei last month and in his just-released judgment, Associate Judge David Robinson ruled the questions to be resolved by the case were the following:
"Is the boundary between O Tito reserve and the adjoining land defined correctly [by the surveyors]? And if the boundary ... is incorrect, where is the location of the correct boundary between the two parcels of land?"
Counsel for the Ringers sought costs in advance of up to $90,000 from the Friends of Matapouri and Te Whanau o Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust, but the judge said the move would be inappropriate at this stage.
He said there was substantial public interest in the case and the public would benefit if the groups' claim was successful and the hectare of land incorporated in the public reserve.
"Although it must be conceded that there is a private interest of the plaintiffs in bringing this litigation insofar as they seek damages, there clearly is also a significant public interest," Associate Judge Robinson said.
The judge said that at this stage it was not possible to do more than assess an impression of the merits of the groups' claim, which could not be a definite indicator of the ultimate outcome of the trial.
"However ... evidence adduced by the plaintiff discloses the area of land contained in the certificate of title issued [to the Ringer family] ... showed an increase of area of just over one hectare ..."
Last year Surveyor General Don Grant decided not to require the 1999 survey adjoining O Tito Scenic Reserve to be corrected.
John Radley, the lawyer for the Ringer family, said the family was pleased the legal process was finally taking its course and looked forward to receiving the judge's ruling on the fourth issue he had to deal with - lifting a caveat the groups had placed on the land.
A spokesman for Friends of Matapouri and Te Whanau o Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust said they were delighted to have the legal question clarified by the judge and were encouraged by his ruling that the matter was in the public interest.