UNDERSTANDING YOUR INCORPORATION LEASE In this issue of WHENUA we continue our examination of the history of the origins of Parininihi ki Waitotara Incorporation by looking at the creation of the Parininihi ki Waitotara Mega Reserve and the beginning of the shareholding system. Aftermath of Confiscation Following the Taranaki wars and subsequent Government confiscations approximately one-fifth of the lands taken were returned to their owners. The West Coast Settlement Reserves Act 1881 provided for the previously collectively controlled lands to be surveyed, divided, and leased with a view to promoting settlement and securing for the owners a reasonable return. Approximately 201,395 acres were awarded to 5,289 individual people.
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The 1881 Act was amended at least five times over the next ten years during which the legality of the leases became questionable due to administrative irregularities on the part of the Public Trustee. This prompted the passage of the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act 1892 to legally validate certain leases, end owner litigation against the Public Trustee and “re-establish friendly relations between lessees and Māori”. Under the 1892 Act the Public Trustee was given complete control over the land. The Trustee collected rent and paid it to the owners calculated at 5% of the unimproved value of the land. Rent was reviewed every 21 years with the lessees given a perpetually renewable lease and right to compensation for improvements. The West Coast Settlement Reserve Lands
were administered by the Public Trustee until 1920 when they were transferred to the Native Trustee later to be known as the Māori Trustee. Under this system rentals generated from the reserved land blocks were paid to owners of the land blocks. This process changed in 1963. Amalgamation of Title In 1963 the Crown amalgamated the titles of all West Coast Settlement Reserve Lands (by this time comprising 71,969 acres) into what became known as the Parininihi ki Waitotara Mega Reserve. An amalgamation Order dated 11 June 1963 declared all West Coast settlement reserves to be held in common ownership with one equitable