Raglan airfield land to be returned to mana whenua ....almost 90 years after it was taken

Determined wahine toa Māori matriarch Eva Rickard was relentless. Photo /NZME

Waikato District Council is righting a wrong in the district's history and has unanimously voted to return land used as the Raglan Airfield back to Māori ownership.

Raglan Airfield was an amalgamation of three separate land parcels - Part Papahua No. 2, Part Papahua No. 1 and Te Kopua - totalling 36ha. Parts of the land were returned to Māori ownership in 1987.

In 1936, an Air Force officer selected the area as suitable for an emergency airfield. He reportedly had conversations with elders from a local Māori group since the airfield block was made up of land from the Te Kōpua and Papahua blocks which were Māori freehold.

After World War II, the area was no longer required for defence purposes.

Rather than returning it to its former owners, the Civil Aviation Authority requested Raglan County Council take over administration of the airfield.

In 1969, the land was declared Crown Land and vested in the county council. The vesting in the reserve may, with the consent of the administering body (council) be cancelled by the minister.

From 1971, the question of the land going back to the original Māori owners was pursued relentlessly by Raglan local Tuaiwa (Eva) Rickard and the Matakite-O-Aotearoa Movement (land march).

Eva Rickard's daughter Angeline Greensill who was arrested alongside her mum. Photo /NZME

Rickard's daughter Angeline Greensill, who was arrested alongside her mother on the ninth hole of the golf course, told Waatea News, it's great that District Council is doing the right thing.

She said returning the ownership of the land brings to mind words of the late Matiu Rata, the creator of the Waitangi Tribunal.

"'We're all victims of our own history. The challenges of the present generation are to rectify past mistakes and to build for the future on a relationship of mutual respect.' I think that's a pretty apt description of what the council has done in this case. They've realised it's wrong and they really want to do something right," Ms Greensill says.

Mayor Allan Sanson said it was a historic day for the council to right a wrong from the past.

"It's given us a chance to tidy up another piece of our history and it confirms a shift in direction for us in this area," he said.

"It should also be noted that the process to be followed to return the land is likely to be complicated, involve multiple agencies and parties, and will not always be in the council's direct control," the council says.