Another iwi considers coastline claim

Another Eastern Bay of Plenty tribe is considering asking the Maori Land Court to clarify its rights over several of the region's beaches.

Ngati Awa environmental committee chairman John Hohapata-Oke said his tribe could seek an overlapping recognition of its customary use of some Eastern Bay of Plenty beaches if Whakatohea succeeded with its claim.

The Maori Land Court has agreed to hear Whakatohea's claim for kaitiakitanga (authority and guardianship) over 50km of coastline running east of Whakatane.

"We'll just sit back and watch how this unfolds," Mr Hohapata-Oke said.

"No decisions have been made yet, but we have an interest."

Mr Hohapata-Oke said Whakatohea was not seeking ownership, and there was no reason why the customary relationship could not overlap.

"If they succeed, we could map out an area and look at making a claim."

However, Ngati Awa was more focused on completing its Treaty Of Waitangi settlement, which finished its passage through Parliament earlier this month, he said.

The agreement with the Government recognises Ngati Awa's statutory relationship with Ohiwa Harbour.

This falls short of ownership, but Mr Hohapata-Oke said it was stronger than the customary status being sought by Whakatohea along several parts of the region's coastal zone.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board has continued to distance the tribe from the claim, the first under the new Foreshore and Seabed Act.

On January 17, a lawyer representing Whakatohea elder Claude Edwards and six iwi members lodged the application.

Board chairman Hone Kameta told The Daily Post the group was not representative of the 11,000-strong iwi.

Any claim for coastline within the Whakatohea rohe (boundary) should be spearheaded by the group mandated to represent the iwi, not individual members with their own agenda, Mr Kameta said.

"We have never been consulted and I would ask where their mandate is to speak on behalf of every hapu and whanau of Whakatohea," he said.

"I don't have anything against the spirit of the application but have strong opposition against people calling themselves Whakatohea iwi representatives."

Ngati Ngahere elder Tahu Taia said he was astonished when he heard the application had been lodged on behalf of the iwi.

"It was news to us. It came as a great mystery to the rest of the iwi," he said.

- NZPA