Protection of Māori Interests in
Information
for applicants
Contents
What is the Protection Mechanism?
Outline of Protection of Mechanism
Process
Who May Apply to Landbank
a Property?
Information about the Property
Appendix: Protection Mechanism Criteria
The Protection Mechanism
described in this booklet is an important process for safeguarding Māori interests in property that government agencies and
departments wish to sell. The
Protection Mechanism gives Māori the opportunity to
indicate that particular surplus properties are important to them and may be a
valued part of a future Treaty settlement.
Such properties may be purchased by the Office of Treaty Settlements and
held in a landbank until such time as they maybe
required for use in a settlement.
At the same time, the Protection
Mechanism allows government agencies and departments to sell property surplus
to their needs in an efficient and transparent manner. For successive governments, the
Protection Mechanism has been a tangible sign of good faith towards Māori. It
ensures that the government retains sufficient land for return to Māori through the Treaty settlement process and underlines
a strong commitment to settling the wrongs of the past.
The Government has recently
reviewed the Protection Mechanism to ensure that the most suitable property is
protected for use in Treaty settlements.
This information booklet is updated to reflect those changes.
|
Hon. Mark Burton Minister
in Charge of Treaty |
Hon. Mita Ririnui Associate
Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations |
Introduction
This booklet tells you
about the Protection Mechanism, and how you may apply to have properties
protected under it.
What is the Protection Mechanism?
The Protection
Mechanism is a Cabinet-agreed process for the Crown to consult with Māori when government departments, District Health Boards (DHBs) or Crown Research Institutes (CRIs)
wish to sell surplus land. Māori are invited to express an interest in the Crown
setting aside the surplus land for possible use in a future Treaty of Waitangi
settlement.
If the Crown agrees to
retain ownership of the property, the Office of Treaty Settlements will
purchase the property and hold it in a regional landbank. A diagram of the Protection Mechanism
process is overleaf.
Other forms of protection
Other types of former
Crown property are protected through a different process, namely the various
memorial systems for State-Owned Enterprise land, Crown forestry land and
education land transferred to tertiary institutions. These allow the Waitangi
Tribunal, under specified circumstances, to order the Crown to take back or
ÒresumeÓ a property to be used in settling a Treaty claim.
Another mechanism that
protects Crown-owned land of particular significance to Māori
is the Sites of Significance process. This is administered by Te Puni Kōkiri (the Ministry of Māori Development).
Outline of Protection Mechanism Process
The purpose of the
Protection Mechanism is to balance two aims of government:
a to safeguard the
ability of the Crown to settle Treaty of Waitangi claims with Crown land,
especially land of particular significance to claimants, and
b to allow government to
operate efficiently by disposing of surplus assets.
Land protected is not
held for any particular claim or claimant group, even though it may have been
protected on the basis of one groupÕs application. No claimant group is required to accept
the land in settlement of its claim.
The Protection
Mechanism has already protected some land in most areas of the country. An up to date list of land already
protected in your area is available from the Land and Property section of the
Office of Treaty SettlementsÕ website, www.ots.govt.nz,
or from the Property Analyst Ð Protection Mechanism at the Office of Treaty
Settlements.
Following a review of
the Protection Mechanism conducted during 2004, the former Crown Settlement Portfolio
(which covers areas affected by raupatu, or
confiscations under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863)and
Claim Specific Landbanks have been incorporated into
their respective regional landbanks. Former Crown Settlement Portfolio areas,
now known as Raupatu Areas, remain exempt from
financial limits within their respective regional landbanks. More information about financial limits
is provided on page 11.
When a government
department, District Health Board or Crown Research Institute wishes to dispose
of surplus land, it must complete the necessary statutory obligations and
responsibilities before the land can go through the Protection Mechanism.
The Office of Treaty Settlements
will then advertise the surplus properties on the first Sunday of the month in
the national newspapers, except in January, providing there are a sufficient
number of properties to advertise.
Treaty of Waitangi claimants, or any Māori
group or individual who has previously applied under the Protection Mechanism
or Sites of Significance process, are notified directly. If you would like to be added to the
mailing list for direct notification, please let the Property Analyst Ð
Protection Mechanism at the Office of Treaty Settlements know.
Surplus Crown-owned
land in Raupatu Areas is no longer automatically landbanked, but will be advertised and considered by the
Officials Committee for landbanking. In recognition of the significance of
the breaches of the Treaty associated with raupatu,
surplus properties in Raupatu Areas will be
considered for landbanking whether or not an
application is received. However,
it is still important to make an application over a property that you would
like to be landbanked. The additional information provided in
an application may increase the likelihood that the property will be landbanked.
It is important that
applications provide information that relates to the specific property, not
just the general surrounding area.
If you wish to apply
to have a property landbanked, you have 30 working
days (longer over the holiday season) from the date of the advertisement in
which to complete an application and send it to the Property Analyst Ð
Protection Mechanism at the Office of Treaty Settlements. A sample application form is included at
the back of this booklet.
Additional copies of the form can be obtained from the Office of Treaty
SettlementsÕ website www.ots.govt.nz or
from the Property AnalystÐ Protection Mechanism at the Office of Treaty
Settlements.
Who May Apply to Landbank a Property?
The Protection
Mechanism is designed to protect surplus Crown-owned properties for possible
use in future Treaty of Waitangi settlements. For this reason, applicants must
have a registered Treaty claim with the Waitangi Tribunal. You must be a registered claimant, or
have your application endorsed by the registered claimant.
Exceptions can be made
if your claim is in the process of being registered with the Waitangi Tribunal.
You will need to
include your Waitangi Tribunal claim number, or that of your group, on the
application form. If you are
applying on behalf of a group, you must show that you are authorised
to act on behalf of a registered claimant.
You may be asked to clarify this information. Without proper endorsement
from a registered claimant your application will not meet the landbanking criteria. However, as properties in a regional landbank are not protected for any particular claimant
group, the property may be landbanked on the basis of
another application.
If you or your group are not Treaty claimants but think that a property
should be protected because of its historical, spiritual, or cultural
significance, you can register your interest under the Sites of Significance
process. This process is separate from the settlement of historical Treaty
claims. Please contact your local
Te Puni Kōkiri office for
further information.
Information about the Property
Is the property in the claim
area?
The property you apply
to be protected must be located within the boundaries of the Waitangi Tribunal
claim that you cite. This ensures
that the property is available for the settlement of the claims in that region.
To apply to have a
property protected, you will need to supply information with your application
form. If you provide little or no
supporting information, this will significantly reduce the likelihood of the
property being recommended for landbanking. The
following information is required by the Officials Committee in order to assess
your application against the criteria for landbanking.
Is the property significant or
unique?
You need to supply
detailed information describing the significance of the property to your
claimant group. This information
will be used to assess the overall significance of the property in relation to
other properties in the landbank, and to justify the
costs of holding the property in the regional landbank. It is important that the information
relates to the specific property, not just the general surrounding area.
There are three
headings (on the application form) under which you can give information about
the significance of the property.
You must give site-specific information under one or more of the following
headings:
a the cultural or
historical importance of the property (the information you have may mean it is
appropriate for you also to apply for the protection of the property as a site
of significance under Te Puni KōkiriÕs
process. Alternatively you may only wish to make a Sites of Significance
application)
b a future use of the
property after settlement, and/or
c the uniqueness of the
property. You may consider that
this particular property cannot be replaced because it is the subject of a particular
claim or it is considered highly desirable for settlement because, for example,
it is adjacent to a marae. In such cases, specific details about
how the property relates to your claim would be useful.
Detailed information on
the reasons why the property is essential will assist the Officials Committee
in preparing recommendations. A pro
forma-type application (where the information is minimal, simply refers to
your statement of claim, or where the same information is used for all
applications) is not useful. Such
applications are unlikely to meet the criteria for protection.
The Office of Treaty
Settlements will notify you that it has received your application.
Your application will
be considered by an Officials Committee made up of representatives of sixdepartments:
¥ Office of Treaty
Settlements (Chair)
¥ The Treasury
¥ Crown Company
Monitoring Advisory Unit
¥ Te Puni
Kōkiri
¥ Ministry of Health
¥ Land Information
The Officials Committee
The Officials
Committee will assess your applications against the Cabinet-approved Protection
Mechanism criteria.
For each property, the
Officials Committee assesses whether:
a the reasons given for
the significance of the site or its proposed future use are sufficient evidence
for the Crown to protect it
b the reasons given
justify the cost of holding the property in the regional landbank. This is particularly important if the
property is unable to be tenanted while in the landbank
c if the financial limit
has been reached in the claim area, the property is of such significance that
an exception should be made and the property protected anyway, and
d the property should be
protected because negotiations on a settlement may be in progress or are about
to begin. If claimants are likely
to enter negotiations in the reasonably short term, landbanking
may be recommended even when the financial limit has been reached or the
siteÕs significance has not been established.
The full criteria are outlined
in the attached appendix. The criteria in (2) relate to the setting of
financial limits in each claim area, and are not used to assess individual
properties.
MinistersÕ Decision
The Officials Committee
will recommend to Ministers which properties should be protected or released
for sale by the vendor agency. The
Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Minister of Māori Affairs, and the Minister of Finance make the final
decision.
You will be notified
of the outcome once Ministers have made a decision. This will take approximately 5 months
from when the property was first advertised in the Protection Mechanism. On occasions this could take longer when
the Officials Committee seeks further information before making a
recommendation.
The country is divided
into regional landbank areas. Each regional landbank
has a financial limit, which establishes a maximum total value for properties
to be protected in that area. These
financial limits are reviewed annually and are able to be adjusted.
Unlimited Financial Areas
There is no financial
limit to the total value of properties landbanked in
the East Wairoa, Waiuku, Tauranga,
Exemptions
from Landbanking
Vendor Preference Policy
Cabinet has agreed
that in exceptional circumstances Cabinet may, on a case by case basis,
consider exempting a property from landbanking to
allow it to be sold to a specific third party. This policy may be applied, for example,
when surplus land is required to provide continuing community services. Cabinet will consider such exemptions
taking into account advice from the Officials Committee based on applications
from Māori received and considered under the
Protection Mechanism. Advice to
Cabinet includes assessment by the Officials Committee. You will be advised in writing if
Cabinet decides that the property is to be exempted from landbanking.
Transfer of
This is a consultation
process to deal with the situation when a local authority wants to acquire
Public Works Act land held by the Crown for a local work, for example a road or
sewerage system. As part of this
process the interests of Māori are considered and, if
confirmed, protected. This process
aims to make sure that, if appropriate, the relevant land is not lost to the
Treaty of Waitangi settlement process, and
that matters relating to sites of significance are addressed. It weighs
up the competing interests of local authority requirements for land for a local
work and the interests of Māori.
As part of this
process, the Office of Treaty Settlements and Te Puni
Kōkiri use the Protection Mechanism and Sites of
Significance processes to identify any Māori
interests, and then advise the government on how these interests may be
appropriately taken into account before the land is transferred to the local
authority. The Minister for Land
Information (the Minister) considers this advice in deciding to either approve
or decline the transfer to the local authority under section 50 of the Public
Works Act 1981.
The factors that the
Minister takes into account in making a decision include:
a the nature of the work
and its importance to the community
b the availability of
other sites for the public work, and
c the significance of
the property to Māori and the issue of any
encumbrances or protections that could be placed onthe
land to protect Māori interests.
The Minister balances Māori interests against the wider community interest in the
proposed public work when he or she assesses what, if any, measures should be
adopted to protect those Māori interests.
What do you have to do and why?
The vendor agency
advises the Office of Treaty Settlements of the proposed public work. Land proposed for transfer to a local
authority is advertised at the same time as surplus Crown properties, and
identified separately in that advertisement. OTS seeks your comments on the
significance of the property through the Protection Mechanism so that officials can consider your interests. Please submit your application on
the form at the back of this booklet, just as you would for a property being
proposed for landbanking.
We also invite you to
make any comments about the local public work proposal that relates to the
property advertised.
Any information you
provide will help the Minister consider your interests before making a decision
on whether or not to transfer the land to the local authority. However, you can choose not to make any
comments if you wish.
It is possible that
these properties will not be surplus to the requirements of the Crown
agency. In such cases, if the
property is not transferred to the local authority then the Crown agency will
continue to hold the land for the existing public work. If the property becomes
surplus at some time in the future, the standard processes for the disposal of
surplus Crown land will be applied.
The Office of Treaty
Settlements has compiled a list of properties that have been landbanked. This list is updated regularly, and is
available from the Office of Treaty Settlements website at www.ots.govt.nz and the Property Analyst Ð
Protection Mechanism.
Please direct your
enquiries o the Property Analyst Ð Protection Mechanism at the Office of Treaty
Settlements, who will know more about individual properties and the format for
applications.
04 494-9800 or reception.ots@justice.govt.nz
Appendix: Protection Mechanism Criteria
Eligibility of Properties for
Protection
1 Under the Protection
Mechanism, a property may be protected, if:
a a Treaty
claimant applies for protection of a property that is in the area covered by
the claim. This means that applications must be endorsed by a claimant or a
claimant group having a registered claim with the Waitangi Tribunal, although
allowances may be made for applicants in the process of lodging a claim with
the Waitangi Tribunal
b in requesting
such protection, the claimant provides clear reasons relating to:
i the
cultural or historical importance of the property, or
ii its future use
by the claimant group after settlement, or
iii specific
features of the property mean that the property is not substitutable. These
features may include that the particular property is very specifically the
subject of a claim, and
c on balance,
the Crown accepts the claimantÕs reasons. The Crown may decline a property for
protection if the holding costs are likely to be significant relative to the
importance of the property demonstrated by applicants.
Financial Limits
2 The property
will then be protected unless one, or more, of the following apply:
a the Crown considers that the value
of the properties already being protected in the claim area is becoming high
relative to the CrownÕs assessment of the likely value of settlements in the
area
b the Crown considers that the value
of the properties already being protected in the claim area is becoming high
relative to other claim areas the Crown assesses as similar
c the Crown
considers that sufficient land has been protected already in view of: 2(a) and
(b) above, and
i the
availability of other Crown land in the area that may be used for settlements
ii the need to
allow room for properties of particularly high significance to be protected in
the future
iii how far off
claims are to being settled, and the extent of current knowledge of claims in
the area, and
iv part-settlements
already reached in the claim area.
Prioritisation within Financial Limits
d within what
the Crown considers is affordable in the current year for protecting
properties, the property is not of sufficient priority, in terms of the
property-specific criteria, relative to other
properties for which protection is sought.
In prioritizing properties, the Crown may also take into account:
i the
likely holding costs of the property
ii the stated
significance of the properties
iii the
availability of Crown land within different regions of the claim area, and
iv the date on which the
property was advertised.