By ALAN PERROTT
Stuart Searle has bought his own town but he does not expect to move there.
The Patumahoe resident is now lord and master of the South Waikato township of Mangakino after winning a public tender.
The small rural settlement of about 1500 lies on the shore of Lake Maraetai,
about 20km south of Tokoroa and about 40 minutes' drive from Taupo.
Mr Searle doubts his purchase gives him any special powers and has ruled out setting up house there or any name change to Searleberg or Stuartville.
His company MV Properties takes ownership of about two-thirds of the town from the Ngati Kahungunu Ki Wairarapa trust, Mangakino Township Incorporation, on September 30. The rest is privately owned.
MV Properties is also involved in developments in Rotorua, Pukekohe and Waiuku.
Mr Searle would not disclose how much he paid for the town or any intentions other than to explore the area's tourist potential.
But his first mission will be to win over the local doubters.
Mangakino has been divided since the stunned residents heard of the impending sale in April. Some had hoped for the opportunity to purchase their leased properties freehold, and others felt a one-off sale gives the town its best chance of survival as a tourist destination.
A letter will be sent to all residents offering them the opportunity to freehold their leased properties.
Incorporation chairman Kingi Smiler had said the residents were never promised first rights on the land, which is no longer financially viable for its 1900 shareholders.
In 1924, the Crown gave the land around and including Mangakino to Ngati Kahungunu Ki Wairarapa as compensation for the seizure of another large portion of land, including Lakes Wairarapa and Ferry, in the late 1800s.
The Crown seized the land back under the Public Works Act 22 years later to construct power stations along the Waikato River.
The township was built during construction of the Lake Maraetai dam and power station. When that ended and the workers moved out in 1965 it was returned to the iwi. Ngati Kahungunu Ki Wairarapa gave some of that land to the community and leased the rest to residents.
