George Nicholls appeal to tikanga when occupying Oamaru Bay Holiday Park near Coromandel was described by the Maori Land Court as cover for his selfish behaviour which together with intimidation saw him grabbing land properly belonging to whanau. He was ordered to pay $834,400 compensation; revenue received from campground fees with no deduction for business expenses.
The 23 hectare Oamaru Bay campground together with farms at Paeora and Coromandel plus land at Koputuaki Bay formed part of substantial Maori land holdings inherited by ten children of Wiremu Tawhia Nicholls. Under Maori customary law, they collectively inherited as co-owners. In 2008, George Nicholls, together with his brother, took control of Oamaru Bay, without other co-owners’ consent, using the land to run a holiday park. Attempts to trespass George were unsuccessful; a person cannot be trespassed from land they co-own.
At Maori Land Court suggestion, Wiremu’s land was transferred to an ahu whenua trust: the WT Nicholls Trust. This overcame the common difficulties of multiple-owned Maori land where there is no management structure in place. Elected trustees of the ahu whenua trust take control. The Nicholls Trust then sued George to recover revenue for his use of Trust land at Oamaru Bay to run a business. He was ordered to pay $834,400; identified gross revenue generated by the business. A deduction of $44,000 was allowed; one-tenth of the gross revenue received before the ahu whenua trust was established when the land was held in co-ownership, this being George’s and his siblings’ then share of gross revenue as co-owners.
The Trust also got an injunction ordering George and his supporters off the land.
George appealed without success to the Court of Appeal. He should be allowed to deduct business expenses from the gross revenue used to calculate damages, he claimed. The court said he had been given ample opportunity before the Maori Land Court to detail his expenses but had chosen not to.
Nicholls v. W.T. Nicholls Trust – Court of Appeal (13.08.20)
20.141