Ngai Tahu appears to be eyeing up a small slab of playing field at Dunedin's Kaikorai Valley College for future use.
While the iwi has not confirmed it will buy the 1.56ha piece of land at the southern end of the school's sports field, bordering Kaikorai Valley Rd, it has surveyed the area for potential uses.
Small holes were dug and surveying stakes were hammered into the ground last week.
Land Information New Zealand (Linz) Crown Property acting group manager John Hook said the property was under offer to Ngai Tahu, under its right of first refusal, as part of the Crown's statutory obligations pursuant to part 9 of the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.
Ngai Tahu spokeswoman Leanne Scott confirmed the property was being ''assessed'' by Ngai Tahu, but declined to say what the land could be used for.
Almost a third of the college's land is being disposed of by the Ministry of Education after being deemed surplus to requirements.
The school's board of trustees wants to shed a total of 5.47ha of its 18.77ha footprint, which includes 3.91ha above the tree line on the northwest side of the school, and two blocks (0.75ha and 0.81ha) of field at the southern end of the playing fields.
The board asked the ministry to declare the land surplus because it was not used by the school for daily education.
Both land and buildings can be sold if they are surplus to the school's educational requirements and are not needed according to long-term roll growth forecasts.
The ministry agreed the areas were no longer needed and the land was entered into the disposal process in May 2013.
The process is controlled by Land Information New Zealand.
School principal Rick Geerlofs said there were positives about the disposal of the surplus land.
The school would no longer be responsible for maintaining the land, which cost up to $3000 a year, and it paved the way for more housing in the area.
If the land was rezoned residential, more houses could bring more pupils into the area, he said.
Rateable value figures for the blocks cannot be obtained separately from the Dunedin City Council because the 18.77ha the school covers is valued as a whole.
The board of trustees stands to receive up to 50% of the net proceeds after all the disposal costs have been deducted.
''Any income generated from the sale will be welcomed and channelled back into the school's budgets,'' Mr Geerlofs said.
