Crown to buy Taipa Point

The Government is to buy the culturally significant Taipa Point Reserve in Doubtless Bay for its probable return to mana whenua, Nga¯ti Kahu, who have been occupying the site since October 19 when they learnt it was for sale. Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little and Ma¯ori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis travelled to the Far North yesterday afternoon to make the announcement to Nga¯ti Kahu at the site. Little told Stuff the Crown’s offer to buy 55 Taipa Point Rd had been accepted. ‘‘It will be put in the land bank so it is available on any redress that we reach with Nga¯ti Kahu. Nga¯ti Kahu representatives outlined to me in a letter the great value and significance of this site, which is said to be the place where Kupe first moored his canoe in Aotearoa.’’ The private owner had also expressed his preference that the land return to Ma¯ori ownership given its cultural significance, Little said. The popular 7879-squaremetre coastal site was initially up for auction, before switching to a sale by tender process at an estimated value of $1.4 million.