Former MP Donna Awatere Huata and her husband, Wi Huata, have been criticised by a judge for using a “vague” claim about tikanga in a bid to delay a hearing that may see them evicted from the land they have occupied for decades.
The couple have occupied a 17.7ha block of land at Maraekakaho, near Hastings, since 1986.
The land, with an estimated value of $2.4 million, is owned by the Mangaroa 26N2 Trust, which was set up to administer the land for descendants of Miriama Te Whare, who bought the land in 1909. It has been in the trust’s hands since 1974.
The trustees and the Huatas have had numerous disputes over the past 37 years as to what right the Huatas had to be on the land.
The trustees have refused several requests by the Huatas to buy the land. They asked the Huatas to leave, but the couple refused. Instead, they built a shed and a double garage that became a kohanga reo.
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