Mau Whenua - the group of Taranaki Whānui members who oppose the controversial development at Wellington's Shelly Bay - have confirmed they will be progressing with renewed legal action to overturn the original land sale.
Shelly Bay. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Dr Catherine Love from Mau Whenua said they will be taking their claim to the Māori Land Court, having secured funding and representation. She said while there is no date set for the hearing, she said their counsel is in judicial conferences with the judge.
"It's a process, but it's under way, and we're very happy that it's underway."
The announcement was made at a hui organised by businesses and Mau Whenua in Kilbirnie on Wednesday.
It comes after Mau Whenua's legal bid in the High Court - scheduled to take place in March - was ended because the major funder pulled out.
The group have been occupying the land at Shelly Bay since November, after Wellington city council voted on selling and leasing their land it owned to The Wellington Company.
Those staying on the land have promised not to move until the matter is resolved.
Renewed legal action at the Māori Land Court
The iwi came to own four sections of land at Shelly Bay in 2009 under its commercial arm, the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust.
The Trust then sold most of that land to the developer, The Wellington Company, in 2016 before selling the rest of it a couple of years later.
Mau Whenua has always disputed the original sale, having argued it never had the permission of iwi members.
Although their case with the High Court was not progressed, Dr Catherine Love said they have now filed action against the Trust and The Wellington Company with the Māori Land Court.
"We're seeking a declaration that the deed of sale and purposes is invalid in English law and Māori law, in order that the land be returned to iwi ownership," she said.
"We believe it's ultra vires, that it was signed outside of the legal authority that people had to sign it."
Love said she was happy that they would now be going to the Māori Land Court.
"We were asking the High Court to do something which is relatively unusual for them - we were asking them to take into consideration both English Law and Māori Law.
"Now the Māori Land Court has a lot more expertise in those dual systems of law, and the principles on which they are based."
She said this action was being funded by a collection of New Zealand residents and businesses, but particularly in Wellington.
Mau Whenua set up camp at Shelly Bay in November in opposition to the planned development. (file photo) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Shelly Bay development no stranger to court action
The proposed housing development has been bogged down by a raft of legal cases and actions over the course of the last few years.
In December 2018, the Court of Appeal quashed the resource consents granted for the $500 million development, after Enterprise Miramar - the Business Improvement District - brought forward the action.
A fresh resource consent was then granted for the development in October 2019. Enterprise Miramar tried to get the consent quashed again at the High Court, but that appeal failed in March.
It will also not be the first time the Māori Land Court looks into the matter.
A report released in August last year found thousands of iwi members did not get a say in the sale of iwi land at Shelly Bay in Wellington due to failings of the iwi membership system.
Sir Wira Gardiner was appointed independent reviewer by the Māori Land Court and found that the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust iwi membership register was a "mess".