There was standing room only at the Wanganui Racecourse Eulogy Lounge for the Ātihau Whanganui Incorporation annual general meeting on Friday.
Candidates standing for election to the Ātihau board this year are Brendon Te Tiwha Puketapu and Keria Ponga, who are standing for re-election, and new candidates Steph Osborne, Hayden Potaka and Chris Kumeroa.
Shareholders were able to register and vote at the meeting or by postal voting.
Formed in 1969, the incorporation, known as AWHI, came together after a Māori Land Court order to return the governance and management of 42,000ha of land to the original inhabitants of the area, the Whanganui Iwi.
The land runs from Whanganui through the backcountry to Ohakune and there are more than 9000 shareholders or whānau.