Land protest underway in the south of Taranaki for a house “wrongly sold”

A man from southern Taranaki and his supporters are preparing to occupy land he says has been falsely sold because he failed to pay municipal tariffs.

Flags of the United Tribes on bamboo poles fly around the Normanby estate where Herbert Rerekura lives in a trailer on a family plot next to his old home.

He was kicked out following a mortgage sale in December.

A group of family members and supporters held a hui this week to plan their next move, and it was likely that more would join his protest, he said.

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Rerekura, a member of the Maori sovereignty group Matua Karanga Foundation, said he stopped paying his tariffs three or four years ago.

This led to his mortgage holder selling the property and evicting it, as the rate payment was part of the bank mortgage contract.

In March 2020, after three years of legal proceedings, the High Court ruled in favor of the bank to evict Rerekura from the property, but the bank delayed the eviction due to the Covid emergency.

As of February 26, 2020, the outstanding rate balance was $ 28,514.15, according to the High Court ruling.

Rerekura claimed he had offered to buy the property back from the current owner with the help of the foundation, but has had no response.

“It was a fair offer,” he said.

He said he wanted the property back so that he could help his daughters and their children who needed a place to live.

Rerekura was now seeking an injunction in the High Court to suspend any sale or rental of the disputed property until he obtained a decision from the Waitangi Tribunal, which he had asked to review the case with, his lawyer, Barney TÅ«para of Ranfurly Chambers Limited, mentioned.

His 71-year-old client argued that the property was his papakainga (original house) and that he should not be forced to pay taxes on it.

Gerard Langford, communications manager for South Taranaki District Council, said Rerekura stopped paying his tariffs in July 2016.

The decision to sell in this case was made by the bank, not the board.

“Obviously we don’t take this lightly, we are trying to work with people, to organize payment plans,” he said.

“The tariffs are imposed by the city council for services such as roads, trails, water, sewage and garbage collection, they are not a tax.”