Now, while the township scheme was widely publicised and initially successful in attracting leases, the delay in the establishment of the proposed railway, a national economic downturn as well as a very significant eruption that happened at Mount Tarawera in 1886 led to a string of defaulting leases, contributing to an enormous loss in expected revenue, and the Crown stepped in and took full advantage of the situation at the time. In 1889, the Crown sought to purchase shares from the owners in the block, and the alienation of the block from the last few owners and the vesting of the township block—the Pukeroa Oruawhata block—in the Crown was completed through the compulsory acquisition of shares by the Thermal Springs Districts Act 1910. The Crown later sold these interests between 1930 and 1950, opening up the township lands to private ownership. Over the next few decades, Ngāti Whakaue sought answers from the Crown over the failure of the township scheme and the care of those gifted reserves.