The Waitangi Tribunal has been told that if a Crown land grant had been used as it was intended Hato Petera College would not be facing closure.
Hato Petera College stands on a portion of the of the Crown Grant of 376 acres given to the Catholic Church in Auckland’s North Shore in 1850 for the purpose of supporting Māori education on the site.
A group of former pupils Ngā Tauira Tāwhito ō Hato Petera lodged a claim with the the Waitangi Tribunal in 2014.
The claim concerns the land awarded by Crown Grant to the Catholic Church in 1850, and the subsequent maladministration of that land.
Lawyer Stuart Kett, of Tamaki Legal – which is representing claimant group – said since then, most of that land had been sold and the proceeds had not been fairly used to fund or support the school.
“The original reason for the grant was for the maintenance and support of Māori education on the Takapuna Crown grant lands,” Mr Kett said.
“Those purposes, those duties, those obligations are for the church to provide that maintenance by way of the Crown grant lands.”
Kett said it was not clear how the proceeds from the Grant land sales were spent, but it wasn’t on Hato Petera.
“The diocese presumably is doing what it can, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to access their financial records in terms of how they expended the proceeds of sale moneys in terms of benefiting Hato Petera.
“What we do know is Hato Petera is on a lot less land than it would have been had the original grant remained intact.”
In the claimant group’s final submissions Mr Kett asked that the Crown fund a new boarding facility and new buildings at the school.
The Catholic Church was contacted for comment but referred questions back to the school.
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