A group of Maori landowners, the Mangatu Incorporation, intends to go back to the Waitangi Tribunal and seek a determination on who owns a block of forestry land north of Gisborne.
The Supreme Court has ruled the tribunal was wrong to deny the incorporation a hearing when it attempted to challenge a proposed settlement with local iwi Te Aitanga a Mahaaki, which included the 3300 hectare block.
Incorporation chair Alan Haronga, says the Crown's policy of dealing with large natural groupings of iwi ignored the legal rights of the incorporation's 5000 shareholders, who have a special relationship to the land.
Mr Haronga told Waatea News that the value in economic terms is not great, rather it is land that is "like a part of your soul" that the the group wants back.
He says the forestry land was highly productive when the Crown forced Mangatu Incorporation to sell the block of land in 1961 and the sale price reflected only a few season's earnings.
