King Country Maori have occupied a former Crafar farm near Benneydale in the King Country, one of the 16 farms involved in the current controversy concerning land sales to foreigners.

The local Iwi say they want back ancestral land that was stolen from them 126 years ago. The group says it has the money to buy the farm.

Rereahu iwi who are linked to the Sir Michael Fay lead Crafar Purchase Group, are engaged in a "last-ditch effort" to halt the sale of two Crafar farms they say are on ancestral land.

Rereahu iwi spokesman Edward Moana-Emery  told the Waikato Times the properties on State Highway 30, around 1900 hectares, were part of the Iwi's Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations.

Mr Moana-Emery said the occupation of around 20 was expected to increase as news spread, but would be peaceful, saying they only plan to occupy one farm and won't disrupt farm workers going about their work.

The group claims to have no animosity toward the Chinese.

In January the Government gave consent for Chinese investor Shanghai Pengxin to buy the 16 in-receivership North Island farms previously owned by Allan Crafar.

This decision was halted last week by the high court, ordering the government to reconsider the Chinese investors offer. The court said Overseas Investment Office (OIO) officials and ministers had not correctly considered the economic benefits of the Overseas Investment Act criteria.

In the meantime Prime Minister John Key has expressed doubts about the OIO’s belief that it could make a new recommendation in just a few days, since Government and the OIO are waiting on legal opinion.