3 Sep 2011

Tribe's negotiations with some departments 'difficult'

10:00 am on 3 September 2011

An Auckland iwi says it has given ground to the Crown during settlement negotiations, and has found some Government departments difficult to deal with.

Ngati Whatua o Kaipara is due to resolve long-standing grievances next week - with a forest, a housing block and schools among the assets being transferred to the tribe.

The claim was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal in 1992 and the iwi says it's relieved it has reached a conclusion.

Its claim manager, Margaret Kawharu, says while some un-named Crown agencies have been tricky, the tribe has moved on.

She says she found Crown agencies had different perceptions of what they were dealing with in a Treaty settlement - and talks involved quite a bit of compromise and reasoning.

She says she went to Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson when she had to.

Ngati Whatua o Kaipara is expected to sign a deed of settlement with the Crown at Aotea-Shelly Beach, near Helensville, on 9 September.