PRESS RELEASE
SAVE Tumu Kaituna Campaign
16 May 2019
Keep Māori land in Māori hands
A group of Māori landowners is vowing to fight a plan that will strip them of their ancestral land at Pāpāmoa near
Tauranga.
SAVE Tumu Kaituna have grave fears that more than 4000 Māori landowners will be cut out of 55 hectares of their land if
a proposal - by Tumu Kaituna 14 Trust, Tauranga City Council, developers and neighbouring non-Māori land owners - to
sell it goes through.
SAVE Tumu Kaituna co-spokesperson Karen Stowers says: “It's about fair process and whether the proposed development
benefit the collective Māori owners and future generations of Māori. Māori land is more valuable than money – never sell
it.
“The proposed development could provide new housing for 15,500 people, but we have seen no plans that provide housing
for the Māori landowners. We also must consider if it really is the best use of the land, for our people and the
environment, and an over populated urban city.”
SAVE Tumu Kaituna co-spokesperson Rawiri Bhana says the plan lacked Māori values including intergenerational thinking
and the trustees needed to get back to the table with their people or get off the table.
“A lot of our people are really hurt that those they have put their faith in could potentially sell what little land
they have left,” Rawiri says.
“The lack of transparency behind the proposed development and the trust’s minimal consultation with Māori landowners is
a real cause for concern.
“There is no evidence to show the Trust are putting the owners aspirations and needs first.”