Residents in fear of Maori trust eviction threats

By AINSLEY THOMSON

A town is running scared after threats from a Maori trust that is staking a claim to the land and trying to evict people from their homes.

Port Waikato residents say that for the past two weeks they have been intimidated by a group calling itself the Nga Uri O Tahinga trust board.

Residents said the group had told people they could not walk along the beach or fish and had sent letters to all householders threatening to evict them.

One elderly woman would not speak to the Herald for fear of becoming a target.

The group - whose members include Tukotahi Hauturu Te Inuwai and Rewiti Waikato McKinnon - could not be reached for comment yesterday, despite numerous attempts by the Herald.

The police are investigating two burglaries and an assault, which they say are linked to the group.

Tuakau policeman Brendon Dobbs wrote to residents last week saying that although they might have suffered "abuse, threats or even intrusions to your property" they should not take matters into their own hands.

Tensions in the small coastal town west of Pukekohe reached such a level that a public meeting was called on Sunday.

Linda Brasell, chairwoman of the Port Waikato Residents and Ratepayers Association, said most of the close-knit community attended the meeting and were united in their sense of outrage.

Around 37 properties in the town, including 15 leasehold properties, and 100ha of swamp and sand dunes are owned by Ngati Tahinga Ngati Karewa Trust, not the group said to be causing tension.

However, problems with the Ngati Tahinga Ngati Karewa trust mean the homes have been administered by a third party, the Public Trust, since 2001.

Two weeks ago, Nga Uri O Tahinga - the competing trust - began occupying a house and sent letters to people holding leasehold titles saying that the group now owned the land and any leases were invalid.

The letter said that leaseholders had 21 days to remove their belongings and hand over their keys.

The High Court at Auckland ruled yesterday that the Public Trust still had a mandate to administer the trust.

But residents are not easily reassured. Belinda Handley, who has lived in her Port Waikato leasehold house for the past seven years, bought the run-down house for $2000 and pays $1120 a year in rent for the land.

The part-time cleaner said her lease did not run out until 2009 and she had an automatic right of renewal for 21 years.

When she first received the letter saying she had 21 days to move out she thought it was a joke.