The residents of a small lakeside village have until June before their lease runs out on land owned by Ngāi Tahu. Many of them have spent decades at the idyllic spot — and some say they will refuse to leave it. Pierre Nixon reports.

Thomas Macgill was brought up at Greenpark. He spent his childhood in the great outdoors: fishing, duck shooting, and being out on the water.

“It’s a special place,” Macgill says, speaking inside the old, wooden family bach that has his relatives’ childhood heights etched into the doorframes.

Thomas Macgill was brought up at Greenpark. He spent his childhood in the great outdoors, fishing, duck shooting and out on the water. Photo / George Heard

His dad, who recently died, loved Greenpark. He spent every weekend vege gardening and playing outside in the salty fresh air with his children.

The Magills are one of 32 hut owners told by the landowners that they have until June 30 to remove their properties and leave.

In mid-2020, residents of the settlement near Lake Ellesmere were given four years’ notice — in a face to face meeting by landowner Ngāi Tahu — that their leases would not be renewed past mid-2024.

The iwi says the homes are less than 250m from Lake Ellesmere with drinking and waste water systems that are legally non-compliant. “There is a risk untreated wastewater could be discharged into this culturally and ecologically significant lake,” they said.

In 2020, Greenpark residents near Lake Ellesmere, were told by landowner Ngāi Tahu that their leases would not be renewed. Photo / George Heard

In a statement to the Herald, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Strategy & Environment Group Head Jacqui Caine said: “Inadequate wastewater systems, compliance issues, and the lack of a reticulated drinking water supply led Ngāi Tahu to reconsider the viability of the community.”

The situation is similar to what the Peketa Beach Holiday Park in Kaikōura is facing.

But even though the lessees were given a generous four-year notice period, many still haven’t come to grips with the situation.

Homeowner and pensioner Peter Scarrott, whose family had lived in the Greenpark huts for six generations, said he was “devastated” to find out he had to leave.

Peter Scarrott's family had lived in the Greenpark huts for six generations Photo / George Heard

“It’s just madness; there’s a lot of people out here who are old like me, who are pensioners … I’ve got nowhere to go.”

Ross Wilson, who has lived in his Greenpark hut for 30 years, said being told he had to leave felt like his “whole life was gone”.

“I came here 30 years ago for fishing,” Wilson said.

“I was absolutely flattened by it. I just couldn’t believe that they’d come to tell us that; I was absolutely gutted.”

Resident Ross Wilson has lived in his Greenpark hut for 30 years. Photo / George Heard

Wilson doesn’t want to pay for the removal of his home.

“I’m devastated having to demolish this place … I’m looking in the vicinity of probably $30,000 to demolish it… it’s gonna be very tough,” Wilson said.

When asked about the demolition process, Caine said Ngāi Tahu had agreed to pay for project management fees, asbestos testing, capping of water bores and decommissioning septic tanks. “Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has tried to reduce removal costs by engaging a preferred contractor arrangement, which leaseholders can opt into”.

“Each leaseholder is still welcome to make their arrangements to relocate their buildings and clear their sites, which is a condition of their lease,” Caine said in a statement.

A Greenpark resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote to Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg, seeking government compensation.

The small settlement of Greenpark Huts faces the closure. Photo / George Heard

A response from Grigg seen by the Herald said: “They [Minister of Transport] have informed us that this matter does not sit within the Minister’s oversight, nor the oversight of any other Government Minister, as the issue is one of private property between you and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.”

“As the Government does not have any oversight over this matter, we are unable to assist any further with seeking compensation or other assistance for you from government sources,” the letter said.

Greenpark residents meet to discuss their future. Photo / George Heard

A Greenpark resident, who wants to be known as Lee, told the Herald she moved there just a year before Ngāi Tahu confirmed with residents that their lease would end.

“I’d only just bought the place with my inheritance … that was all my money … I just couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“I moved in with a nerve-damage condition, which I need peace to heal from and instead I’m now worse … I had to be checked for Alzheimer’s last year because of the way the stress has affected me.”

Just as residents of Greenpark are affected, so too are those who use the area as a holiday destination.

The Macgill family has used their hut as a bach for 40 years.

“My mum and dad used this place to bring us up; we’ve been fishing, shooting, and using the lake for as long as I can remember … It’s a special place for us,” Thomas Macgill said.

The Macgill family has used their hut as a bach for 40 years. Photo / George Heard

The first huts were erected in the early 1900s, and Ngāi Tahu regained ownership of the land in 1998 under the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act.

Caine said the Greenpark huts are in a roto (location) of great significance for mana whenua.

“For centuries, it has been used by Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki ki Taumutu tīpuna (ancestors) and their uri (descendants) for mahinga kai practices,” Caine said.

Lease conditions allow the huts to be occupied for a maximum of 183 days each year for recreational purposes - unless written permission for more is given.

The first huts were erected in the early 1900s, and Ngāi Tahu regained ownership of the land in 1998 under the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act. Photo / George Heard

However, residents told the Herald that the iwi allowed them to stay and never enforced that condition.

As the clock ticks down to June 30, the Greenpark residents are doing whatever they can to stay in their much-loved homes.

While long-term resident Scarrott is putting his foot down, saying when his lease ends he’s “gonna do nothing.”

“They can’t get blood out of a stone, can they?” he said.

Ngāi Tahu says it is “continuing to engage with leaseholders and Treaty partners to ensure lessees have the right information and support needed to make informed decisions”.​