"Projections from Marilyn Scott (Hawke's Bay/Gisborne director of education) did not indicate that there was a need for another mainstream school in Havelock North now, or in the foreseeable future."
The minutes also showed the kura would welcome Pakeha children.
Long-time local resident Jean Te Huia said while she was pro-kura, it was not the right site. The general manager of Kahungunu Health Services in Hastings, said she did not believe the proposed kura would survive.
"I am concerned in regards to the potential harm to the children who will attend," Ms Te Huia said.
"I don't believe many parents will have an opportunity to engage in school activities as they do in our decile-one schools, when they will be living outside of this community."
Mr Dixon said once the minister made her decision she was not prepared to change her mind: "If we had a different person as Minister of Education we would not have had this decision.
"I have worked with Wyatt Creech, a National MP, and he would have put the community first."
He said during the course of the debate he offered up two alternative sites, including Mangateretere School, with four marae around it.
"While it would have been ideal, they would have had to close Mangateretere school, which is bi-lingual, to open the kura, but the Ministry of Education was not prepared to do that.
"We are very disappointed that the minister was not prepared to listen to the local community."
Ms Parata said the process for determining new schools did not change according to which minister held the portfolio.
"Mr Dixon having a different view does not make the decision wrong, it just means we disagree," she said.
She said it was not usual for the ministry to conduct public consultations as communities usually welcomed new schools.
"And so it isn't usual to be discussing whether a new school is established," she said.
"Because if there is a clear education need and we have property, and a school, as is the case with this kura, has been waiting for quite some time for there to be a school, then it is normal for us, once we have the funding, to proceed and for that to be welcomed by the community."
Ms Parata said she imagined the build process would get under way next year.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said he thought the ministry should have been more up front about what it was thinking of using the site for.
"They have reviewed the decision - I am not sure much more can be done now," he said.
What also could be complicating the issue, Mr Yule said, was the fact that the Hastings District Council was looking at potentially not rezoning the land next to The Te Mata Mushroom Company.
"There is a shift potentially in the demand and I need to get to the bottom of that," he said.
Mr Yule added that he believed the demand that had been projected for a primary school in the area was not as great as they first thought.
"They considered this land was surplus and not required as much and that is part of the decision to reaffirm the kura there, as I understand it," he said.
"I understand the concern but we sort of have no decision-making role in this."
