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Rates remission for Māori freehold land - General application

This remission aims to encourage Māori landowners to retain their land, safeguard waahi tapu (sacred places), and enable the development of land to provide benefits to whānau and hapū. The following types of land are considered as Māori Freehold Land for our rates remission policy:

  • Māori Freehold Land—Land, which is beneficially owned, as determined by the Māori Land Court by freehold order.
  • Former Māori freehold land now General Title—At Council’s discretion, Land whose status was changed to General Land under the Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1967.
  • General land owned by Māori—As defined in Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 and administered by the Māori Land Court. This status is found on the Record of Title.
  • Any land, regardless of its status, returned as redress or compensation—This applies to a Māori trust, iwi, hapū or other entity, by the Crown or Local Government body, for a historic wrongdoing or breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Please complete the following for your application.

Property details

If there are no details showing here, please use the property search.

Valuation reference

Property address

Ratepayer details

If an email address is provided, we will send all correspondence about your rates remission application by email, otherwise we will use the postal address provided.

  • We will require evidence that the land meets the criteria for Māori Freehold Land as described above.
  • Supporting information will need to show how the remission meets our objectives.
  • The following types of land are eligible for remission:
    • Land used for Traditional or Māori cultural purposes, and not suitable for economic or housing purposes.
    • Land subject to cultural considerations, such as waahi tapu, which make it unsuitable for economic or housing purposes.
    • Land that plays a valuable role in preserving the natural character of the coastal environment, protecting outstanding natural features, significant indigenous vegetation, or significant habitats of indigenous fauna.
    • Land that has no identifiable trust, person, or owner benefiting from it.
    • Land that is adjacent to a marae and used for accommodation for Kaumātua who support the marae and its cultural purposes, as validated by the marae trustees.
Supporting information

Please provide the following supporting information to support your application.

  • Documentation that the land that meets the criteria of Māori Freehold land as provided by Bay of Plenty Regional Council definition.
  • Supporting documentation that the land meets one of the general remission criteria as detailed above.
  • If applying for remission for Kaumātua accommodation for individuals that support the adjoining marae, the following conditions must be met.
    • This remission only applies to Kaumātua.
    • Kaumātua who live in adjoining accommodation must take an active role in the marae, such as caretaking, supporting cultural activities.
    • The Marae Trust must provide a written declaration of the activities that are undertaken by the Kaumātua to determine reasonableness of the remission.
    • A declaration must be completed annually to confirm eligibility.
Please upload your supporting documents below. You can add multiple documents to support your application.

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Declaration

I confirm that I am a ratepayer in respect of the above property, or that I am authorised by the ratepayer(s) to make this request

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I agree to the Terms and Conditions

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We would like to use your contact details to inform you of Bay of Plenty Regional Council activities and services that may affect you. If you do not want your contact details to be used by us for this purpose, please contact us at: rates@boprc.govt.nz or on 0800 267 728 (BOP RATES). We will not use your contact details for general marketing purposes.

Please refer to our website for details of our rates remission and postponement policies which include more details on each of our remissions and the criteria and considerations that apply to them.