By KEVIN TAYLOR
The Crown has offered Tainui another chance to buy Hamilton's Army hall site, which was sold in an unauthorised deal signed last month by two tribal directors.
The Defence Force confirmed yesterday that it had given Tainui until February 15 to buy the 4241 sq m Knox St site.
An initial offer, made in early December under the first-right-of-refusal provisions of the 1995 Tainui treaty settlement, expired on January 3.
During that time, tribal directors Maria Henry and Hare Puke - members of chief negotiator Sir Robert Mahuta's faction on the Tainui executive - signed a deal to sell the site for $1.25 million plus GST to an Auckland company, Taradale Developments.
But they did not have authority from the tribal executive, Te Kaumaarua, to make the transaction.
The settlement date for the sale and purchase agreement the pair signed is on Friday.
Taradale managing director Tim Manning could not be contacted yesterday.
But he told the Herald last week that he would investigate the deal and was unaware it had been unauthorised.
The deal is understood to be invalid because it was signed without Te Kaumaarua's authority, and without the knowledge of the executive's other faction, led by chairman Kingi Porima.
Te Kaumaarua executive secretary Lisa Ferguson said yesterday that Tainui was restricted from making major financial decisions because of a pending court case which would decide control of the tribe's pursestrings.
"I would consider a purchase like this a major commercial activity," she said.
A meeting of Te Kaumaarua to consider the Crown's renewed offer on Knox St could not be held until the tribal governance issue was sorted out, she said.
The High Court hearing scheduled for February 1 will consider a move made by Sir Robert and his faction on December 16 to sack three of Mr Porima's faction from the tribe's Tainui Group Holdings.
The same meeting also decided to sack Tainui's chief financial officer, and its lawyers and financial advisers.
Tainui gets new chance to buy
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