Malcolm Dixon: Manipulation behind kura plan

Malcolm Dixon.

Since I last wrote a Talking Point, I have been researching the comments others have been making.

I have come to the following conclusions and have number of questions that need to be answered, via the media, by the Minister of Education.

I have been criticised for going to the media to seek answers.

My response has been that this is a community issue, not a personal issue.

I make no apologies for the approach I have taken.

I said to Minister Foss that I am prepared to work with anyone as long as the final solution meets the needs of the Havelock North community.

My conclusion is that the decision by our National Government to build a kura on the Arataki Motor Camp is a fait accompli, and the community must be given answers as to why this decision has been made.

No1: The Havelock North community has been completely misled and misinformed by the Government and Minister of Education, Hekia Parata.

In 2010, the Ministry of Education applied for resource consent based on the need for another local primary school in Havelock North.

In 2015, without any consultation, they decided to relocate a four-classroom total immersion Maori school with a roll of 70 pupils to the site.

The budget that is allocated for this is between $10 million to $12 million. Later in 2015, the Government approved funding of only $6 million to rebuild nine new classrooms at Khandallah Primary School that is located within the diplomatic zone in Wellington.

This is no relocation at Arataki - it is a completely new school for all age groups.

I have a letter from Minister Parata that states because it is only a relocation no community consultation is required.

They are planning a new facility that will cater for all age ranges in total immersion Maori.

That is not relocating four classrooms and an admin block.

Questions: Why didn't the Minister meet the legislative requirements and consult with the community when the status of the proposed school was changed from local primary school to total immersion Maori education facility?

Why does the proposed relocation of a four-classroom primary school from Hastings to Havelock North require a budget of $10 million to $12 million when a new nine-room classroom block in an exclusive area of Wellington only needs $6 million?

No2: This week I contacted the three local primary school principals and asked them for roll numbers.

At the beginning of 2015, the combined schools' rolls totalled 1279.

They currently stand at 1370 - an increase of 93.

This is already 20 more pupils than the total roll of the kura that the Ministry plans to relocate.

The 2015 end-of-year roll totalled 1498. Estimates for the end of 2016 stand at 1561.

That is of even more concern when one knows about the number of new houses being built in the area.

Back in 2010, when the Ministry made its resource consent application, it predicted the total rolls of the three local schools would be 1081 and the new school at Arataki would have a roll of 300 by the end of 2015. Total 1381.

Currently there is still no fourth school and there is immense pressure on the current three, and the Ministry has reallocated the use of the site.

Questions: If the kura is built on the Arataki site, what plans does the Ministry have for meeting the needs of the Havelock North community? Where will a new local primary school be built?

Would the kura consider changing its status from total immersion to bilingual, so that instead of meeting the needs of 2 per cent of the community it could reach out to the needs of say 20 per cent of the community?

Is the kura prepared to accept an alternative site for their much-deserved new school?

The Ministry is now saying we no longer need a new primary school in Havelock North.

What proof have they got that a new primary school is no longer required in Havelock North?

No3: We have read comments from Horiana Robin that the Arataki site has ancestral claims. Research through the National Library shows that it was part of a purchase of about 14,793 acres (5986ha) of land by John Chambers back in 1863.

Currently the Crown, through what has become a devious purchase back in 2010, owns the Arataki Motor Camp site.

There is nothing to stop the Crown transferring the ownership at a later date from education, Maori affairs, social housing, etc as long as the ownership and usage remains within Crown control.

Questions: What guarantees will the Government give that none of the above will occur?

Finally, is the Government prepared to sacrifice the Tukituki electorate seat by continuing with its plan to build a kura on the Arataki site?

Hopefully you will now better understand the manipulations that lie behind this issue, and the impact it will have on the young learners in Havelock North.

- Malcolm Dixon is a Hastings district councillor.

- Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz