• Lot 210 was sold in 1915 to Thomas Plummer for £250. After the sale, it was discovered that a Crown grant had never been issued giving Maori title to the land. As a result special legislation was passed to validate the sale to Plummer. Section 10 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act 1918 empowered the District Land Registrar to issue a certificate of title to Thomas Plummer. This legislation went further than a determination made by the Native Land Court, because it effectively declared who were the rightful successors to the original grantee. Those people who had agreed to sell the land were therefore said to be the rightful owners of the land, without the benefit of a full investigation by the Native Land Court, or the opportunity for other claimants to present their case.
• Lot 211 was sold in 1920 to William Francis for £326:18:0. The decision to sell to Francis was made by a resolution of assembled owners, which was confirmed by the Waiariki District Maori Land Board. At this time most of the shareholders were either landless, or unsucceeded to.
• The owner of lot 214 signed a deed in 1908 to sell the section to Herbert Clarke for £9. However, the sale was not confirmed by the Waiariki District Maori Land Board until 1920 by which time the owner had died and it was no longer necessary to prove she had other land interests.
• There are at least three pa sites on Plummers Point, but only one of them, Te Hopuni, was included in the land awarded to Maori. Huharua pa and Ongarahu pa were on land sold by the Crown to a Pakeha fanner, T. Plummer. This had the effect of further alienating Maori from their villages and pa at Huharua. Control, and management of and access to Huharua passed from Maori to the Crown and from there into the hands of a private individual. This was significant for Maori as Huharua was the site of at least three important pa, a number of important battle and burial grounds, and the home of Pirirakau after Ngati Ranginui were defeated by Ngaiterangi.
• Plummer’s ownership and use of this land is an example of the Crown’s failure to recognise the traditional and spiritual significance of this land to Maori. Urupa were desecrated as the result of cultivations. As well, control of the land was considered vitally important to Maori as it provided access to the above mentioned, sites as well as the estuary with its shellfish beds and fishing grounds. Plummer’s control of this land also illustrated the problems of one individual controlling access to a coastal strip of land that is significant to a large group of people. This is illustrated by Plummer’s blocking the road access, which had a detrimental effect on the lives of both Maori and Pakeha on the point.
• Maori attempts to have the Crown intercede on their behalf concerning access to and ownership of this land were unsuccessful, with the Crown clearly feeling itself unable to intervene and protect the traditional cultural significance of the land when the concept of British legal ownership determined that Plummer owned the rights to the land. More recent submissions to local bodies and the Crown demand that Maori cultural values be recognised.
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