Ngāti Rangi takes stake in Waiouru Defence land under new 50-home deal

A new land and housing deal between the New Zealand Defence Force and central North Island iwi Ngāti Rangi will see 50 homes built for military families at Waiouru.

The land-and-leasing agreement, signed at Waiouru on Wednesday, will give the iwi ownership of land and new housing at Waiouru Military Camp.

Fulfiling commitments made under the 2019 Ngāti Rangi Treaty settlement, the agreement provides for the homes and land they are built on to be sold to Ngāti Rangi and leased back to the Defence Force under a long-term arrangement.

The deal addresses historical grievances associated with Defence (NZDF) land, including damage to Te Onetapu, a site sacred to Ngāti Rangi.

Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi chair Tomairangi Mareikura said the arrangement provided a commercial opportunity for the iwi while also bringing better housing for NZDF personnel and their families.

The state of military housing has been criticised in recent years, with personnel living in damp, cold and mouldy homes.

Mareikura said reconnecting the iwi to the whenua was equally important, with the iwi's relationship with the land pre-dating NZDF's presence and remaining central to its identity.

"What's important for us as Ngāti Rangi is the ability to put ourselves back here at place.

"We have been alienated from this whenua since the early 1900s when the land was taken, and then more land was taken again in the 1930s when the military base was formally established.

"We now can stand with our feet on the ground and say it is ours again."

Chief of Army, Major General Rose King, said the arrangement honours a treaty settlement commitment made by the Crown and the NZDF to Ngāti Rangi, and follows "years of discussion, negotiation, and goodwill by many people on all sides".

"It demonstrates that honouring Tiriti commitments is not separate from advancing national interests. It is part of advancing national interests."

The deal would provide modern housing at the army camp to improve personnel wellbeing, retention and operational effectiveness, King said.

"We expect our people to be pulled away at short notice. We go away for long times. So that support that we provide to our families is really important, and this is going to go a huge way toward that.

"It's a really special day. It's taken a number of years for us to get here. I'm really proud to be part of that."

King said the whenua underlying the NZDF training area on the central plateau belonged to Ngāti Rangi, Mōkai Pātea and Tūwharetoa.

"That's not lost on me, but as the Defence Force we have a role to do, and without looking after our whānau, our people, they won't be able to serve.

"This kaupapa is fundamental to not only giving our people somewhere warm, somewhere healthy to live and enable their families to grow, but also to enable Ngāti Rangi to grow. It's a partnership – a win-win proposition.

"When we work together, we're going to be stronger than the individual parts."

Waiouru has been an important Army training base since it was established in the 1930s.

Defence Minister Paul Goldsmith said at the signing that high-quality housing for the Defence Force was essential.

"Our government is committed to fixing the basics, and that means ensuring our sailors, soldiers and aviators and their families have access to warm, safe, dry homes, for modern living.

"This agreement will strengthen the meaningful partnership NZDF has with Ngāti Rangi and respects the important role the iwi plays in the future of the land."

Goldsmith said the homes would be fully insulated, energy efficient and built to modern standards.

Ngāti Rangi said the development will be called Ururangi Kāinga (Ururangi Estate). It is expected to be completed by mid-2028.

The deal is part of the Government's Homes for Families programme, which includes new homes at military camps and bases in Devonport, Wellington, Whenuapai, Christchurch and Manawatū.