Maori Land Court referenced concepts of mana inherent in ownership of Maori Land, departing from English land law concepts of trespass, when ordering Jay Cripps pack up and leave his unauthorised commercial campsite, operating on the Whanganui River near Pipiriki.
The court was told Jay Cripps has been squatting on the site for over a decade. Ownership lies with local Maori incorporation: Pipiriki Township No 1.
The legal difficulty facing Pipiriki Township, seeking to force Mr Cripps out, is that the campsite is on land currently leased for forestry on a 99 year lease to Waimarino Forests Ltd.
Pipiriki Township faced an apparently unsurmountable legal hurdle: land law rules inherited from England hinder owners of leased land seeking to trespass anyone. A lease gives the lessee rights of possession; it is for the lessee to enforce its rights of possession by suing squatters for trespass.
Waimarino Forests told the Maori Land Court that while no permission had been given Mr Cripps to operate his commercial campsite on the leased land, it was not interested as lessee in incurring legal expenses ejecting him. Ultimate ownership of Waimarino lies with investors in British Virgin Islands and Singapore.
In the Maori Land Court, Judge Warren pointed out that the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act imported into New Zealand statute law concepts of Maori tikanga going beyond the English law concept of land ownership simply being control over an economic asset.
For Maori, land in customary ownership is more than just an economic asset; it reflects the genealogy, the history and the mana of its current owners.
Having Mr Cripps operate a business on leased Pipiriki land, without Maori landowners’ consent, caused spiritual and reputational damage to Pipiriki owners, Judge Warren said.
Pipiriki had no control over how Mr Cripps cared for their land or told their stories.
Departing from the general law of trespass, Judge Warren ruled Pipiriki Township could sue to trespass Mr Cripps from his campsite, despite Pipiriki having no rights of possession to the land during Waimarino Forests’ 99 year lease.
Mr Cripps was given two months to clear all structures from the site, and ordered to then leave permanently.
Pipiriki Township No. 1 Inc v. Cripps – Maori Land Court (19.11.25)
26.013