Landowners at Welcome Bay near Tauranga are concerned that they may not be able to develop or harvest their own land because it has been declared wahi tapu but the government is downplaying their fears.
The Historic Places Trust has declared, in some cases, a large part of their land on the small mountain of Kopukairoa as wahi tapu or sacred.
Te Kenehi Teira of the Historical Places Trust says the landowners were kept fully informed of the land's status, but they disagree.
"Kopukairoa mountain is sacred because of the traditions and spirituality involved for the iwi," Teira says.
John Aspinall of Federated Farmers says the use of wahi tapu is something which farmers fear across New Zealand.
"The very legitimate fear of farmers is that the land which they bought in good faith for a specific use may now be restricted." says Aspinall.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark says she is comfortable with the process.
"The resource consent goes to the council consults the trust, it takes into account the trust's recommendation it is not obliged to follow them the council's decision making is paramount," says Clark.
Local iwi say they applied for the wahitapu status to keep urban development off 180 hectares of a Bay of Plenty hillside.
The declaration means that because of Maori mythological and historic reasons, the local iwi must be asked before anyone can build a house or harvest a tree.
Greg Padgett owns land restricted by the new wahitapu.
"I'm not being disrespectful... but we know there's nothing here that warrants wahi tapu," says Padgett.
In fact, all four landowners claim there is no evidence of any burial grounds or bones on the mountain.
A former Waitangi Tribunal member, Buddy Mikaere, says the Bay of Plenty wahi tapu is a break from tradition.
"Wahitapu were very small discrete areas which were spiritually significant and dangerous for those reasons. So they became "no-go" areas. Now to have such large areas set aside as wahi tapu does not accord with that traditional approach," says Mikaere.
Mikaere says the best thing is for the parties involved to talk calmly together and find a compromise.
Tony Pararin represents local iwi and has refused to say whether there are in fact any artefacts on the mountain.
"It's not my role or place to answer, that is information or knowledge that is worthy on being on silent file... The mountain contains within itself a whole lot of sites. Some are waterways. They may or may not contain bones. That's our business. If someone wants to use the resource without our knowledge then they must face the consequences."
Barbara Sutton also owns land on the mountain and fears land values will drop.
"We don't seem to have any comeback. We don't appear to have measures available to us to claim against this."
Landowner John Kilpatrick stands more to loose than a dream home. Some 30 of his 40 hectares is now under the wahitapu - including his prized pine forest worth nearly $1 million.
Kilpatrick planted 20 hectares of pine trees 20 years ago and plans to harvest them to pay for his retirement. But unless local iwi approve, he will not be able to harvest.
Local iwi will not say whether they will allow Kilpatrick to harvest his trees.
"The issue of cutting down the tree is not a concern. The issue will be the unnecessary destruction caused by altering the character of the landscape, by opening up what could be an old wound or new wound," says Pararin.
One block of land which Maori sold to Pakeha back in 1965 is now owned by Carl Sutton.
He is frustrated by the new wahitapu on his land.
"Why sell it if it has such strong spiritual and mythological value?" he asks.
