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Kaitaia police are investigating the illegal felling and logging of pine trees on a Far North sheep and cattle station destined to be returned to local Maori as part of a Waitangi Treaty settlement claim.
About 100 pine trees forming shelter belts on part of 2275ha Stony Creek Station, 10km south of Mangonui, have been felled in the past week by contractors hired by members of Ngati Aukiwa hapu who object to the farm being handed back by the Crown to the Kahukuraariki Trust Board.
An agreement in principle signed by Crown and trust board representatives just before Christmas is opposed by some in Ngati Aukiwa who believe they have aboriginal title to Stony Creek (Waikohatu) and it should be returned to them, not all the hapu covered by the board.
The station, formerly owned by Landcorp, has been held in recent years by the Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) for use in negotiating and settling local Maori land claims.
It was not clear yesterday whether the felled shelter belt trees have been sold for milling, but under the terms of the proposed settlement, the station plus all its stock, plant and equipment would be returned to marae represented by the trust board - of which Ngati Aukiwa is one. There are no forests on the farm.
Kaitaia police Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn said inquiries were being made into the felling and removal of the trees after police were alerted by OTS.
Mr Gunn said contractors had been employed to undertake the job and inquiries were being made with them as to who specifically had engaged them. He expected inquiries would take about a week.
OTS deputy director Heather Baggott said although police had been told of the illegal pine tree felling, the office wanted to work the situation out with trust board representatives.
The situation was "delicate" however because the land would eventually go back to wider iwi, and arresting people who had a stake in the land did not make sense, she said.
The office did not want to take a heavy-handed approach but at the same time, it did not want to turn a blind eye to illegal activity.
"At the end of the day, it [the farm] is an asset we don't want them [Ngati Aukiwa] to destroy," she said. "We want to return it to the people in a good state."
Associate Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Shane Jones, said last night the "warring parties" should go to the Maori Land Court with their issues.
He is proposing an interim management committee of Crown and Maori negotiating representatives so that Stony Creek farm workers have a committee to rely on, and "problems like felling pine trees can be nipped in the bud". Mr Jones said it was unwise for any tree contractor to get involved in what he described as "criminality".
The Ngati Aukiwa group has previously occupied the station and members have been arrested in recent years for trespass.
An occupation of the farm woolshed and shearers' quarters at Christmas 2004 was ended after 49 days by police who evicted hapu members in February the following year.
The group has also been accused of moving their own cattle on to the farm, shifting stock on the station without authority, and damaging fencelines.
Trust board chairman Sir Graham Latimer and Ngati Aukiwa spokesman Wilfred Petersen could not be contacted yesterday for comment.
