Ōmāhu housing: Ceremony marks opening of 11 relocatable homes at Ōmāhu Marae

The community of Ōmāhu, celebrated for its resilience and help for others amid the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle 21 months ago, is finally getting itself back together with the opening of 11 homes on its marae between Napier and Hastings.

Stemming from a casual discussion in a Hastings gym just days after the February 2023 flooding swept through the area and and many other parts of Hawke’s Bay, the relocatable 1-3 bedroom homes are a roof over the head for whānau who’ve had to live in emergency accommodation, including motels, or bunk down in friends and families’ garages and overcrowded homes.

Jimmy Epps, now “on the Gold Card”, has had to be in emergency accommodation and is now waiting for repairs to the home in which he had been living near the marae. Sitting at the front of his new single-bedroom rented abode, now back next-door to daughter Geraldine, he said: “Look at this. All nice and new. It’s good to be here.”

The Ōmāhu community and those involved with building and placing the 11 relocatable homes on marae land between Napier and Hastings gather to celebrate the milestone. Photo / Doug Laing.

The homes have been erected in a partnership between the Piringa Hapū Authority Trust, Ōmāhu Marae and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated, Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngāi Upokoiri me ōna and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) – Hīkina Whakatutuki have partnered together to deliver temporary homes for whānau displaced by the cyclone.

Te Piringa Hapū general manager Meihana Watson said: “Ōmāhu was one of many small communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle with many people left without homes to live in. Our community members have been deeply involved in the recovery, providing on-the-ground support during the events of the cyclone and continue to support... individuals and whānau affected.”

Jimmy Epps and daughter Geraldine in the new temporary village of relocatable homes at Ōmāhu Marae, enabling Jimmy Epps back into a stable home, living next to whanau, while he awaits repairs to a home vacated in the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. Photo / Doug Laing

“We are pleased that our land can be used for these homes, providing displaced whānau a place to live as close to home as possible to ensure they remain connected to our community,” Watson said.

He said it’s a “pleasure and a privilege” for the people to be living on the marae, and that since the cyclone “our paepae [front threshold of meeting house] has grown from strength to strength”.

Iwi deputy chair Thompson Hokianga spoke of the dreams and aspirations of the people in relation to their own homes, saying the context of how the people related with local and central governments had changed, but “the aspirations haven’t”.

Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Māori Electorate MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel said the moment should be seen “as a beginning, not a conclusion”.

MBIE has entered into a three-year lease of the land for the temporary village. Head of accommodation response Stephanie Greathead said the opening “marks an important milestone in the community’s recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023″ and that MBIE’s Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) had been on the ground supporting those displaced following the event.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.