Having received this report, Colonel Wakefield applied to the Governor to be permitted to place the Nelson settlement at Port Cooper. Hobson left Wellington for Akaroa on 11 September and did not deal with this matter until after his return a fortnight later. He then informed Wakefield that as Banks Peninsula and the lands about Port Cooper were subject to several undecided land claims, including those of the French or Nanto-Bordelaise Company, the Crown was not in a position to appropriate the land for the purposes of a new settlement. He had suggested earlier that a suitable site might be found at the Thames, in the Auckland district. Wakefield rejected this alternative, and decided to place the settlement at Blind Bay, which was already within the company's territory.