When the tribe negiotated its Treaty of Waitangi settlement three and a half years ago Landcorp wasn’t interested in selling, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson said.
But the farms had since become isolated and could not be clustered with other dairy operations.
Lancorp had aggregated its Shanghai Pengxin Farms and the redevelopment of 8000ha at Wairakei.
Wharere Rd farm near Te Puke, in Bay of Plenty, is a 404ha block that has been milking more than 1300 cows producing more than 500,000 kilograms of milksolids a year at its peak.
It encompassed five blocks operating as two individual units.
Tenders could be made to buy any of the five blocks individually, in any combination or as one combined portfolio.
The combined Wharere Rd unit has a July 2011 rateable valuation of $11.14m.
Infrastructure and buildings on the farm block include five milking sheds, encompassing a 34-aside herringbone shed, three 20-aside herringbone sheds and an 18-aside herringbone shed.
All the sheds were built in the 1980s.
There are six homes – five three-bedroom residences and one four-bedroom dwelling – a consented two-pond effluent system on each farm and an array of enclosed hay barns, half-round barns, calf sheds, implement sheds and workshops.
Ngati Makino’s Treaty settlement and legislation was passed in July 2012.
Landcorp had now agreed to cancel the tender process and allow Ngati Makino and neighbouring iwi a chance to make a formal commercial offer for the farms.
