A ‘miscommunication’ led to the $138,000 shock removal of two ex-police houses

Two former police houses were unexpectedly taken from a Shannon property after a miscommunication involving government departments.

Ngāti Whakatere, the local iwi, had offered to fix up the old homes as part of a land banking application in a Treaty claim.

Instead, without warning in May this year, the houses were trucked off the land.

Te Meera Hyde, who had applied on behalf of the iwi to land bank the properties, said he only learned they were being removed by chance when a visitor dropped by his house.

"I'm like, you're joking. And yeah, I just jumped in my car, come straight up here (to) have a look."

It started with 'pene raupatu'

The story dates back to 1865, when the land the houses would later be built on was lost to iwi by "pene raupatu" - confiscation by pen.

Under the Native Land Act, the whenua was carved up into small parcels held by just one or two owners, undermining Ngati Whakatere's collective rights.

Years later, the Manawatu Wellington Railway Company took over the land. The company acted like "speculators for the government," says Hyde.

"That's how that land was initially moved from Māori ownership to European ownership."

Part of the block was later acquired under the Public Works Act and two police homes were built in 1989.

But in 2016 it was decided the town didn't need a full-time police officer anymore and the homes were vacated. The empty houses fell into disrepair.

Divesting the properties proved a long process, but in July 2024, they were finally listed by the office for Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti, (now Te Tari Whakatau) as surplus land and invited Ngāti Whakatere to register their interest in land banking the properties.

In October 2024, Hyde did just that, applying to have the whenua returned to Ngāti Whakatere.

"As part of the application I suggested that our iwi would be prepared to help bring [the houses] up to spec and that they would be made liveable. That was in my application, and you can read all of that, it's all clear," Hyde says.

But then in May this year, Hyde rushed to the site after hearing of the house removals. One was already gone and the other was being prepared for relocation.

Hyde says a workman told him they were surplus government houses for demolition.

"He said to me that there's a crowd of people who are house movers that they regularly have contact with and they said then that they have a list of prospective buyers. So they told me they were on-selling them to this other crowd."

Precisely what happened next isn't clear.

The more damaged of the two homes now sits down the road in Shannon township. A local house mover on site told Mata Reports he acquired both houses from the demolition company. He said: "The other one is sitting in our yard... I've got a block of land over in Pahiatua that that one might end up on."

Mata Reports asked how much a house like this would cost. The response was: "Ah, this one was about 60 or 70 grand I think." He had bought them from a demolition company which had ended up shifting and selling them.

The demolition company says no money changed hands between them and the removal company.

None of the companies involved have acted improperly. But it does raise the question: how did houses that should have been land banked for a Treaty claim end up being onsold at the taxpayer's expense?

A costly 'misunderstanding'

Police told Mata Reports it paid around $138,000 for the houses to be demolished. The process involved at least four different companies - the demolition company says it received only a portion of that amount. Saving the houses from landfill reduced overall costs, the company says.

It appears police only became aware of the houses being on sold instead of demolished after the iwi and locals began asking questions.

Police director of property and fleet, Brian Yanko, says it was a complete surprise that the houses had ended up being sold to private owners.

Police were under "time pressure" with it being the end of the financial year and neighbours had been complaining about the properties being in a state of disrepair and vandalised, Yanko says.

A police report into the divesting of the houses blamed "a communication misunderstanding, Police did not appreciate that there was iwi interest in the property."

Yanko acknowledges Police made a mistake and he takes personal responsibility for it.

Te Tari Whakatau declined to be interviewed but in a written statement said it gave advice to the Police's property agent about the process that needed to be followed due to the land banking applications.

"We also asked that they notify us if they decided to remove the houses, so we could let the applicant know before any work commenced. Ultimately, we did not proactively inform the applicant that the houses were being removed, because we were unaware of this ourselves."

Whatever the cause of the misunderstanding, many in Shannon are upset that two state houses that could have housed whanau wound up sold off.

Community disappointment

The whole saga has angered Sharon Williams, the community navigator for Hapai Te Hapori. In 2021, Williams called for the houses to be restored and rented out because there was and is a shortage of housing in Shannon.

"We're not happy at what's happened. We're not happy about the way that the Iwi have been treated, especially in the process," Williams says.

"We need housing here in Shannon. We need available housing. We need affordable housing. And we the iwi to be respected and due process to be followed".

Te Meera Hyde says they have since received an apology from Te Tari Whakatau.

"We apologise to you for what has occurred. The site has now been cleared and the bare land will be considered for land banking in June."

A decision about Ngati Whakatere's land banking application is expected soon, and Hyde is still optimistic for the future.

"We're always hopeful, we're always looking for tino rangatiratanga, put it that way," he says.

"We know who we are, we know where we are and we have whanau that know where we should be going. Prosperity, tino rangatiratanga, kotahitanga"

Hundreds of empty state-owned houses

A survey of agencies by Mata Reports found there are hundreds of state-owned houses sitting empty, in addition to those owned by Kāinga Ora. Of the agencies contacted, at least 400 vacant houses in state ownership were reported, even as families wait for homes.

• Land Information New Zealand has 175 vacant houses and 24 earmarked for demolition.
• Ministry of Education has 89 vacant homes.
• Police has 52 vacant houses.
• Corrections has 5 vacant homes.
• Oranga Tamariki has 6 empty homes with 1 set for demolition.
• Fire and Emergency has 4 empty homes.
• MBIE has 7 portable and 29 cabins sitting idle, held for Civil Defence emergencies.

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