28 Feb 2012

Trespass notice handed to Crafar farm protesters

7:30 am on 28 February 2012

A spokesperson for King Country Maori protesting about the sale of the Crafar dairy farms says they have been handed a trespass notice and will leave peacefully if police come to arrest them.

The group set up camp on 20 February on a Crafar property north of Benneydale, one of 16 farms being offered to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin.

Edward Moana-Emery says they are demanding the Crown return ancestral whenua, which Maori have been arguing about through the courts for 126 years.

He says police, the farm manager and the receivers know the protest has been peaceful and will continue to be.

Mr Moana-Emery says the police do not need to treat the protesters roughly.

The High Court recently ordered the Overseas Investment Office to reconsider its recommendation that the sale be approved.