Land taken by government officials won't be returned to Taihape school - Andrew Little

The woolshed-classroom for agriculture students from the primary-secondary school in Taihape. Photo / Supplied

The Treaty Negotiations Minister says farmland taken away by government officials will not be returned to Taihape Area School.

The Ombudsman recently told the Education Ministry to apologise for wrongly taking the 13ha farm off the community which set it up in the first place.

Minister Andrew Little said that was a matter for the ministry.

"As Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations my opinion is that the land has a history that is longer than just the transaction between the school and the community.

"This land and the issues around it go back to the start of the Crown's presence in Aotearoa New Zealand and its relationship with Māori," Little said.

"Those factors need to be taken into account," Little said.

"I have no intention of taking the piece of land out of the land bank and making it available to any other party."

Andrew Little said he had no intention of taking the land out of the land bank to make it available to another party. Photo / Dom Thomas

Meanwhile, Taihape farmer Andy Law said the Government had "lost track" of the land, and took it without consulting the community or the school.

The land was originally gifted by the Cherry family in 1989, which brought about different set of legislation, Law said.

"Land that is gifted to the crown – if the crown no longer has a use for it – it should be gifted back to the owners or their descendants," Law told The County's Rowena Duncum.

Last week's apology, still didn't result in the land's return, and Law believed this was because the Ministry of Education "got first dibs on the report".

Law said Little's comment that the issue was up to the Ministry of Education was unacceptable.

"For Little to say the Ombudsman's report is of no concern to him is mindboggling.

"I mean, he's holding land that has been stolen from my community and he wants to use it to pay off a Treaty settlement. That's robbing Peter to pay Paul."

The Taihape community now had to "apply a heap of pressure" to get the land back, Law said.

Listen to Rowena Duncum interview Andy Law on The Country below:

"Either we get that land back or the Government provides ownership of some other land."

The school has a free lease on the farm at the moment, and the ministry is paying for upgrades to buildings, fences and the water supply.

Leasing the land meant profits would go to the owners rather than the school, and any upgrades the Ministry was paying for was "moronic," Law said.

"Why would any tenant…pour a quarter of a million dollars into a piece of land when they've only got a three-year lease – that's just bad business."

The Ministry of Education said it would work with the community to gain access to land, but that wasn't enough, Law said.

"That is not the same thing as ownership – any farmer knows that."

- Additional material from RNZ