I believe Ella Henry mentioned in the last hui that there are a number of restrictions on the use of the redress land. Ella mentioned that this is to our advantage as we would not have to pay rates for 30 years; which sounds ok on the surface; however perhaps Ella is not aware that Section 108 of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) requires all Councils to introduce policies for the remission and postponement of rates on Maori freehold land; which is what the Far North District Council has done.

Far North District Council – Maori Freehold Land Rates

So, the question I’m asking is perhaps we should re-negotiate these restrictions because we already appear to have the advantage Ella eluded to?