Ngarimu Blair explains how Auckland’s biggest iwi lost its land and how it is growing back.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has sold a block of North Shore waterfront land to retirement company Summerset Group in a deal giving it company shares, and employment and education opportunities for the hapū.
The 5.7ha block of land, once owned by the Royal New Zealand Navy, was sold to NgātiWhātua Ōrākei last decade under its treaty settlement.
Scott Scoullar, Summerset chief executive, said his company had bought the land outright.
That is different from what Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei did with Ryman Healthcare on the Wakakura block, where Ryman leased it long-term to that listed retirement business.
Summerset bought land in this area from Ngāti Whātua. Photo / Google Maps
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei received shares in the company as part of the deal for selling the block whose addresses include 65 Hillary Cres off Eversleigh Rd, which runs off Lake Rd opposite Takapuna Grammar.
“The freehold land purchase from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei was uniquely structured, including part payment through the issuance of shares in Summerset Group Holdings,” Scoullar said today.
Land at Belmont “will be very attractive to future residents being just minutes from the vibrant areas of Takapuna and Devonport with their diverse shopping and dining options and an extensive choice of recreational facilities”.
As part of the deal, Scoullar said there would be “education and employment opportunities for hapū, facilitating the start of a long-term partnership” on the Belmont site.
In the Herald’s Whenua series, Ngarimu Blair described the fall then rise of the entity.
Deputy Chair of the Ngāti Whātua Orakei Trust Ngarimu Blair.
A series of land transactions and legal manoeuvres stripped the tribe of nearly all its land, leaving the embattled iwi with only a tiny patch in Okahu Bay and a sewer pipe across their urupā (burial grounds), disgorging hospital waste and other raw sewage into the bay, he said.
Summerset also today acknowledged Ngati Pāoa as tangata whenua.
Scoullar said the planned village would be unique in the area because unlike the Ryman site of its William Sanders village, few apartments were planned.
It would be “predominantly low-rise villas bringing a more relaxed ambience than the other apartment-dominated retirement villages in the area.
“This coastal village will be generally north-facing and have some stunning views of the city. We’re sure the offering will be highly popular with our future residents.”
The North Shore land just sold at Belmont on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Summerset Group
In 2014, Ryman said it has leased land from the hapu which had paid $10m for the Wakakura block. That is a 4.3ha site on Ngataringa Rd and is now fully developed and home to hundreds of people.
Summerset also said today it had bought three other sites, at Paraparaumu, at Boulcott in Lower Hutt and Blenheim.
The Paraparaumu site is 12.6ha and will be Summerset’s third village in the area, complementing the company’s existing Paraparaumu village and its developing Waikanae village which are both in high demand.
The company bought 1.2ha on the eastern edge of Boulcotts’ Farm Heritage Golf Club, where Summerset plans to build new independent living villas and townhouses.
Scoullar said the company intended to add bonus amenities to the village such as pickleball and a resident clubhouse.
The Blenheim deal is for 4ha for Summerset to offer up to 100 additional homes to Marlborough retirees.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
