Crown hears urban Maori land claim

Crown officials heard one of the largest urban Maori land claims at a weekend hearing at the Orakei Marae in Auckland.

Ngati Whatua o Orakei Maori Trust Board yesterday finished presenting the history of the tribe's Treaty of Waitangi grievances on the Auckland isthmus. Their undisclosed claim relates to about 33,000ha of land which was obtained by the Crown between 1840 and 1845.

The trust board expects the Office of Treaty Settlements will now get back to it with a settlement offer.