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Written by

Trevor Ammundsen

Published on

February 26, 2025

OPINION

BY TREVOR AMMUNDSEN

In a recent edition of The Informer (edition 1144) an article was printed that noted the desire to have a Community Marae established in Whitianga, this being referred to by others as a Public Marae. The article, written by Brandon Amoamo, describes the background to this, and the aims of any such Marae, very well so I will leave it up to the reader to read the back issue if they want more detail.

When discussing this topic many have mentioned there is already a Marae at Wharekaho, so why do we need another one? The answer is simply that the Marae at Wharekaho belongs to Ngati Hei and if they wish to turn it into a Public Marae they can do so, but they do not have to do this. We must therefore presume it is their wish not to and of course this is their right. So, if a Community Marae is to come into being a new one is required.

If any party wants to build a structure such as a Marae there is a process to achieve this. This process involves buying some land and employing builders to erect the necessary structures. I realise this is being simplistic, there being many other contributions required such as the carving of the koruru, but my intention is not to give a detailed description of a Marae, it is just to outline paths to achievement of the aim. The main thing is money is needed and if the proposal backers have the funds, they can of course just start the process.

I suspect that funding is an issue however and the desire for a Community Marae means there is a corresponding desire for the community to pay for it. The Marae is to be community owned, not owned by any Iwi or Hapu, therefore community funding would appear logical and necessary. There is however a lot of competition for ratepayer dollars with most of the capital expenditure budget being soaked up by a wall for Thames, presumably to keep the rising levels of mud in the Firth of Thames from damaging the town. Another large sum is being earmarked for the Whitianga Esplanade project which, nobody seemed to feel we needed, so there will not be much left for buildings we may want or need.

But I digress. As money is tight could we not look at combining projects? We do have a need to replace the Town Hall, and it has been suggested that a Conference Centre would be a benefit for our town. And now the Community Marae proposal has been put forward. Would it be possible to erect one structure that would meet all purposes? Alternatively, if the Town Hall was to be replaced could the old Town Hall be repurposed? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but they are worth discussing and thinking about.

I have long been a supporter of a Town Hall / Conference Centre and believe it would be great if a Community Marae could be incorporated with this. First question is where would it be built? Well, there are a couple of sections on the Esplanade, facing Buffalo Beach, that appear to be land banked. The Council could re-zone these immediately as being for Public Meeting Buildings only, no parking or camping allowed and commence the process to gain ownership. Once owned by the community building could begin.

A location such as this would make a grand display for any seaborne visitors and well organised spaces could make this a delight for community users, concerts, displays, conferences and other meetings. A lot of discussion would be needed to ensure the structures, there could be more than one, meet the various purposes and could be managed by multiple organisations. There are some challenges in a project such as this but if successful what a boost for Whitianga it would be.

The next step could be to put the Project in front of our Community Board to kick off discussions. But firstly, we need to get enough of them to a meeting so that they can form a quorum. Nothing is easy, is it?

▪ Trevor, in his concluding statement is referring to a recent Community Board meeting, scheduled for Wednesday 12 February, which was not held due to only 3 of our 7 community board members and councillors being available to attend. The Informer did ask what were the major agenda items not considered due to there being no meeting. The response was “only a couple of matters”.