Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Tribal group to have first right on Crown property deals

Updated at 6:34 am on 15 June 2012

A group of tribes will soon have right of first refusal to buy any property the Crown decides to sell throughout the Auckland region.

The deal is part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement, which the Tamaki Collective expects to sign within the next couple of months.

The property purchasing agreement will last for 172 years.

A member of the Collective, the central Auckland hapu, Ngati Whatua o Orakei, says the forthcoming settlement is commercially attractive.

A trustee Sharon Hawke says the new deal means the sub-tribe can buy Crown land and buildings outside its traditional rohe (region).

She says for her hapu, the Deed of Settlement will cover a much larger area than the Ngati Whatua o Orakei area - and is separate to its individual Treaty of Waitangi package.

Ms Hawke says the ability to be able to bid for Crown properties outside her hapu's district is down to the group of 13 iwi in the Tamaki Collective deciding to share.

As widely publicised, the Tamaki Collective is also due to take ownership of 14 volcanic cones and some islands.

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