Ownership Proposal for Nga Motu/Sugar Loaf Islands

A proposal to transfer ownership of the Nga Motu/Sugar Loaf Islands to iwi will be consulted on with the public and tangata whenu, says New Plymouth District Council.

At yesterday's (Tuesday) meeting, the Council noted the Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) wishes to transfer ownership of the islands from NPDC and Taranaki Regional Council to Te Atiawa and Taranaki iwi as part of the Crown’s treaty settlement.

If the proposal went ahead, the islands would remain part of the Sugar Loaf Islands Marine Protected Area (SLIMPA) and continue to be administered by the Department of Conservation. In practice, nothing would change for the general public.

Mayor Harry Duynhoven says the proposal is worth discussing with the wider public.

“The transfer of ownership would acknowledge the great historical and cultural importance of the islands to Te Atiawa and Taranaki while continuing the established conservation work and public access,” says the Mayor.

NPDC and TRC will work together on the consultation. Once public submissions have been heard, a final report will go back to both councils for consideration.

In the past Te Atiawa and Taranaki occupied Nga Motu (‘the islands’), and the islands and the adjacent mainland were often the scene of battles. The strategic potential of the islands made them a defensive bastion on several occasions when northern iwi invaded.

Several archaeological sites and two urupa have been identified on the islands and associated reefs.

Captain Cook renamed Nga Motu as the Sugar Loaf Islands in 1770 as they reminded him of how sugar was stored in heaps or loaves in Europe.

When the SLIMPA was established in 1991, Moturoa Island, Motumahanga (Saddleback Island), Waikaranga (Seal Rocks) and Whareumu (Lion Rock), along with the seabed, foreshore and water, became sanctuary areas under the Conservation Act 1987.

The Nga Motu/Sugar Life Islands are the oldest volcanic features in Taranaki, with the last volcanic activity dated to about 1.75 million years ago. Their geology is rated as nationally significant.