An East Coast sports field at the centre of community debate over its urupa status should never have been turned into a recreational reserve in the first instance, an inquiry report reveals.
Tokomaru Bay’s Hatea-a-Rangi Memorial Park made headlines this month due to a local sports club seeking a contentious lease renewal from the Gisborne District Council, along with permission to build a new multi-purpose court.
Those in favour of the new lease say the club is a valuable community asset used for a variety of purposes, including emergency response.
But those who object point to the discovery of koiwi (skeletal remains) on the land in 1997, which resulted in a pou whenua rahui.
A 2008 document for the Waitangi Tribunal’s East Coast Inquiry reveals a cricket-loving European settler upset Māori landowners by leasing the land in question and repurposing it without permission.
According to The Impact of the Native Townships Act 1895 on the East Coast (Wai 900), the land was leased in 1907 to William Oates for two pounds per annum.
Around that time, Oates and a number of others unsuccessfully lobbied the government to include additional land within the township as a recreation reserve.
After Oates obtained the lease to the land, he effectively changed its purpose to that of a sports ground.
He then profited from the land by leasing it out.
On one particular occasion, Oates pocketed more than seven pounds from the Māori Patriotic Association who rented it for a sports day — more than three times what he paid for it every year.
The inquiry report noted that sections in Tokomaru Bay had been mopped up for speculative purposes, according to Weihana Delamere, and that Oates’ name appeared on many of the town’s leases.
In 1918, the landowners complained to the Native Land Court that Oates had not used the land for the purpose it had been taken, and that he was unfairly profiting from it.
Two years later, Tamati Poata asked Native Minister Apirana Ngata to help them gain back some authority.
He said the owners were not seeking its return, because they recognised it was useful as a sports ground, but did want it vested in an administration board with equal Māori and Pakeha representation.
But in 1924, the Deputy Commissioner of Crown Lands lashed out at the Māori landowners.
“Had it not been for the efforts of Mr. Oates, there would never have been any recreation reserve of any sort at Tokomaru and I consider it is about time that these Natives were definitely informed that they have no right whatever to interfere or to suggest any change in the administration of the reserve,” he said.
“I do not know of any one individual . . . who could be compared to Mr Oates in his enthusiasm for cricket.”
The inquiry report said the Deputy Commissioner’s antagonism indicated he was unaware the land was originally Māori-owned, and that they had not been compensated for it.
It wasn’t until 1949 that the Māori landowners were able to appoint representatives to an overseeing board for the domain — a year after they gifted it under the condition they would have increased representation.
Tina Olsen-Ratana is a descendant of one of the original owners, and is upset that it was taken by dubious means.
She also believes most people in Tokomaru Bay don’t know of the field’s chequered history.
“William Oates was on a mission to acquire as much land in Tokomaru as he possibly could. And as a consequence of that, lease and take as much rental money for his own personal use,” Olsen-Ratana said.
“It’s a cemetery. There’s enough evidence to support there are still remains in that ground.”
Today, a Gisborne District Council hearings panel will hear from submitters on the sports field lease renewal.
A new lease was approved in principle by the council’s operations committee last September but feedback from the community constituted “significant objection”, prompting the committee hearing.