Solving access issues to Rangitikei's land-locked land is seen as having an economic spin-off for the region.
Moves are under way to find an answer and Mayor Andy Watson sees substantial benefits in doing so.
Such land, much of it Maori-owned, is surrounded by other properties and not able to be accessed by road and therefore difficult to use productively.
Mr Watson met Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson last month to discuss the process.
About 20 per cent of Rangitikei's total area was land-locked and full use of it could generate up to $40 million in GDP, Mr Watson said.
"The absence of free and formal access to these lands has presented the Maori owners with an insurmountable challenge in terms of their ability to utilise their whenua for traditional proposes and to unlock the inherent development potential that exists in these properties," he wrote to the minister.
Maori had asked for council help, and it wanted to work with them and other land-owners to do so.
Much of the land is in the north of the district.
"It's very much going to be a long-term process ... There's a very, very complex Maori land court process," Mr Watson said.
"Chris Finlayson is very interested in looking at it and working with us. I'd like to think we could get some progress this year."
Mr Watson estimated regional income that could be generated from the land tied in with the Government's own regional-growth study and would benefit iwi and the wider community.