What a Māori roadway is
A Māori roadway is a strip of land laid out by the Māori Land Court under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. It is not a public road. On an aerial photo it can look exactly like one, and for many blocks it is how people actually get in.
Who may use a Māori roadway is set by the Māori Land Court. The Court holds the authoritative record: maorilandcourt.govt.nz. Get legal advice before you rely on one.
Where they are
Most of the blocks involved are in Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Northland. The table shows the regions where at least one block adjoins a Māori roadway and has no public road frontage.
| Region | Blocks checked | No public road, Māori roadway adjoins | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay of Plenty | 23,519 | 407 | 1.7% |
| Gisborne | 7,800 | 147 | 1.9% |
| Hawke’s Bay | 18,177 | 229 | 1.3% |
| Manawatū-Whanganui | 39,862 | 72 | 0.2% |
| Northland | 46,121 | 148 | 0.3% |
| Southland | 21,847 | 4 | 0.0% |
| Taranaki | 18,349 | 2 | 0.0% |
| Waikato | 58,494 | 266 | 0.5% |
| Wellington | 18,954 | 2 | 0.0% |
How Lotline finds them
We label a parcel a Māori roadway only when the LINZ record itself says so: a Māori block name such as “… Roadway Block”, a Māori Land Court plan, or LINZ’s Māori parcel type. A parcel named just “Roadway” is not labelled, because the record doesn’t say what kind of roadway it is. A roadway is measured the same way as road frontage, but it is never counted as road frontage.
Where a block is Māori land, the report says so at the top, from the Māori Land Court’s national list and LINZ’s title register. Restrictions apply to dealings with Māori land.