About 3000 hectares of Crown land across Nelson, Tasman, and Golden Bay will be restored to the descendants of its original owners under a settlement of long-running private litigation, with the Crown also agreeing to a $420 million payment.
Attorney-General Judith Collins and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka, with descendants, signed the agreement on Wednesday morning. It is being described as a rare but landmark outcome arising from trust and property law, rather than a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
The land will be transferred to Te Here-ā-Nuku Trust, which was established to hold the assets on behalf of the descendants of the original owners named through historical records and court findings.
Public access to some of the most visited parts of the region is expected to continue as normal, including the Abel Tasman Coast Track Great Walk and the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve.
The agreement includes a 25-year arrangement for parts of the Abel Tasman Coast Track, with an intended review at the end of that period.
The case traces back to the 1830s, when land was being granted to the New Zealand Company for the Nelson settlement.
As part of the arrangement with Te Tauihu, one-tenth of the planned settlement, 15,100 acres, was to be set aside for the benefit of the customary owners and their descendants, and significant sites such as pā, urupā, and cultivation lands were to be excluded.
In 1845, the Crown assumed the New Zealand Company’s obligations but did not reserve and exclude the full land area as agreed.
Kaumātua Rore Stafford and others began private litigation against the Crown in 2010, arguing the Crown had been holding the land on trust for the descendants of the original owners.
In 2017, the Supreme Court concluded the Crown had a duty to reserve the Nelson Tenths land for the benefit of the original owners, and the matter was sent back to the High Court to determine breaches and remedies.
In 2024, the High Court found the Crown held the relevant land on trust, and that it belonged, and always had belonged, to the descendants of the original owners, with the court later removing the Crown as trustee and appointing new trustees.
What the deal includes
The Crown says the agreement does not affect privately owned land, but does involve land that has been used for decades for conservation, roads, and schools.
The deal allows the Crown to lease back some land used for key public purposes, including the continued operation of schools under specific lease agreements.
Te Here-ā-Nuku says the redress will be protected and managed as an endowment in perpetuity, aimed at delivering on the original intent of the Nelson Tenths arrangement, the well-being and advancement of beneficiaries and the wider region.
Te Here-ā-Nuku Project Lead Kerensa Johnston described the settlement as “hugely positive” and said it would provide certainty after generations of fighting for justice.
“It resolves longstanding uncertainty for our people and region, upholds the rule of law and property rights relevant to all New Zealanders, and heals rifts that are generations deep,” Johnston said.
She acknowledged Stafford’s persistence, saying he first raised the issue with the Crown 39 years ago, and said the return of land was a “deep relief” for whānau.
Johnston said some matters still need to be worked through in relation to specific parcels of land, but the agreement now allows the Trust to focus on plans to enhance economic, cultural, and environmental well-being.
Not a Treaty settlement
Both the Crown and the Trust have emphasised that the return is not a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
The litigation is “all about the private law of trusts and property” and confirms the agreement restores land and cash assets to a trust for individual beneficiaries, rather than settling Treaty breaches with iwi as collectives.
The case is considered unique because it stems from specific historical circumstances and a trust law finding that the Crown was holding land on behalf of the customary owners.
