Overwhelming support for proposed kura designation at Waipatu

The Ministry of Education has purchased a 3ha site on Bennett Rd, Waipatu, on which to build a new, larger facility for Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Wanganga Whare Tapere o Takitimu.

Strong support has been shown for an education designation for the proposed new site for Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Wananga Whare Tapere o Takitimu and associated Kohanga Reo, with 85 submissions in favour and six against.

Submissions closed on November 17 after the Ministry of Education lodged a Notice of Requirement (NOR) with the Hastings District Council in September this year seeking to designate about 3ha of land at Bennett Rd, Waipatu, for educational purposes to build a new school.

Currently located at Albert St in Hastings, the kura had become too small to cater for the growing number of families wanting to enrol their children.

An alternative site at the former Arataki Camping Ground was identified but in September last year the Ministry of Education turned it down because an environmental evaluation of the site found it was likely to experience regular odour emissions from the Te Mata mushroom farm.

In August this year it was announced that a new site for the school has been purchased, with an estimated $12 million to be invested in the land purchase, design and construction of the new facilities and the process to designate the new site for education purposes.

In the NOR the Minister of Education said the designation applied for the kura and the kohanga reo, but not the associated tertiary institution, which would continue to operate from Albert St.

Submissions in support of the designation originated from people living in various areas around Hastings, and most commented that their support was due to the site being "near our local marae and provides what we need for community involvement".

The kura itself put in a submission and said many of its students and graduates traced their whakapapa to Waipatu.

It also described fighting long and hard since 2003 to find a new site that would benefit and nurture its cultural values and enhance the education provided.

"We know our ancestors previously walked and lived here and we feel that connection to them through our songs and stories of the area," the submission said.

This was backed by other submitters who said it was an excellent location that connected the students to the local marae, and spoke of the benefits it would bring the whole community with improved roading, footpaths, sewage, lighting and road speed restrictions.

Some of these factors, however, were behind the opposing views including fears such works would result in increased rates, and concerns about traffic safety.

A few of the opposing submissions noted discrepancies between the NOR and the assessments that had been commissioned.

These included different figures for the number of traffic movements per day ranging from 320 to 420, and proposed alterations to the Bennett Rd and SH2 intersection, when the NOR stated there were no apparent capacity issues or safety concerns.

They also questioned the justification for selecting the Bennett Rd site when it had not been included in initial site investigations.

"There's a lack of clarity to the process of designating this land as the preferred site for this facility," said one.

"It appears that this proposal is being bulldozed through due to the Arataki area in Havelock North being dismissed and the urgency of finding a place to put the school somewhere that doesn't have many residents to object to the proposal," said another.

Five of the six submissions against the designation came from residents of Panapa Rd, and there were also concerns that the area was identified as plains production land, and that such a development could set a precedent for further such enterprises.

There were calls for the designation to be withdrawn and the normal RMA process identified within the NOR for establishing a school with a community be followed.

It was estimated that the designation could be confirmed early next year.