KEY POINTS:
An ownership dispute has broken out over plans to subdivide a site at Northland's scenic Matapouri Bay, which local Maori believe is sacred.
They and other Matapouri residents are outraged over plans to turn the grass area by the beach - understood by many locals to be part of a coastal reserve - into three residential sections worth millions of dollars.
The group has mounted a legal challenge following a decision by the Surveyor General, which found about one hectare of land belonged to the family which once farmed in the area.
The family gained consent to subdivide the site into three sections, although the process was stalled after caveats were placed on the property due to the dispute over the boundary.
Jimmy Mackie, kaumatua of the Rangiwhakaahu Marae, said he was shocked to learn of the subdivision, which had not been formally notified to his hapu.
The 61-year-old, who has lived in Matapouri almost all his life, said Maori used to wash the koiwi (remains) of ancestors and significant enemies who had been killed in battle.
"After the koiwi had been washed, they were dried on Whitiroa. The bones were then scraped and wrapped in flax mats and then secreted in various locations."
Mr Mackie said bones had been uncovered at times in the area, and five pou kaitiaki (guardian posts) had been erected to mark the sacred site.
Te Whanau o Rangiwhakaahu Hapu Charitable Trust and the Friends of Matapouri were now taking the Department of Conservation to court for failing to look after the site, along with Land Information New Zealand and the Attorney General.
Kris MacDonald, chairman of Te Whanau O Rangiwhakaahu Trust, said an 1877 survey showed a stream which formed the boundary but not in its present location.
Subsequent surveys showed the boundary ran behind the knoll and was therefore part of the reserve.
Mr MacDonald said DoC, which administered the land, had failed to sort out the boundary dispute on behalf of the hapu.
"They have lost Crown land."
Northland conservator Chris Jenkins said right back to the 1877 survey there had been a "huge question mark" over the boundary, with long-standing disputes.
Mr Jenkins said the stream might have moved, or there could have been a second stream as was suggested by a geotechnical report the department commissioned.
He said the 1999 survey had been checked before it was approved by Land Information's chief surveyor, but Linz could still review the decision.
Two sides of the story:
Jimmy Mackie - Kaumatua, Rangiwhakaahu Marae
Mr Mackie said it was understood the 1.1ha of disputed land was part of the wider 26ha Otito reserve, which included the bay's northern headland.
He said the reserve was originally owned by local Maori including his father. It was sold in 1969 for $13,000 as no real use could be made of the land.
Crown ownership was thought to be a way of protecting it, including the wahi tapu sites of great significance.
At the time the Maori Land Court made orders preserving the land and guaranteeing its future.
After local farmer and county councillor Jock Morrison died, his widow, Molly, had moved into a house on the portion of land now in dispute.
The court decreed Mrs Morrison would have only a life tenancy, but after she died in 1991 her family held on to the dwelling, at times renting it out.
In 1999 her grandchildren had the site resurveyed with the result that the land was legally confirmed as theirs.
But Mr Mackie said the survey had ignored a critical boundary peg.
Val Monk - Property owner
Mrs Monk said there had been confusion due to an earlier inaccurate survey in the 1960s which put the boundary through part of her grandmother's house. The hapu was told about plans to resurvey the site.
She said the disputed land had been owned by her family since it was bought by Mr Morrison in 1912.
"Our ownership was confirmed by the 1999 investigation and survey which was conducted with great care. Our surveyors were congratulated by the Surveyor General for their detailed research and professionalism."
Mrs Monk said the recognised boundary was the Wahitapu stream. "We have seen no credible evidence that [it] has flowed [on any other] path ... in the hierarchy of boundary definition, a stream is more important than a peg." She said the family had played an "active and honourable role" in the Matapouri community including making available 12ha of coastal land, the Whale Bay Reserve, to the Crown.
