Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom gets cultural grant of over a million

Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Maggie Barry speaking at Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom in Foxton.

Foxton's Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom (TANS) has received a boost of over a million dollars from the government.

At a special announcement at the facilityon Monday, Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Maggie Barry, and Otaki MP Nathan Guy presented the project's representatives with a cheque for $1,026,450 before touring the building, which is due for completion in November.

The under-construction cultural and community centre is designed to celebrate and promote the area's Maori and Dutch heritage, and will be a museum, gallery, library and 'hub' for the district, as well as a tourist attraction.

It's total cost is $7.27 million, with $3.02 million provided by the district's ratepayers.

The government grant came from a Cultural and Heritage fund, which Ms Barry said had recently "had its settings changed" to allow more money to be directed to regional projects.

The cheque for $1,026,450 presented to the Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom project. (L-R) Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Maggie Barry, Dutch Connection Trust representative Arjan van der Boon, Te Taitoa Maori Te Awahou Trust representative Ani Skipper, Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen and Otaki MP Nathan Guy.

She said the available annual fund, totalling $6.5 million, had previously been too narrowly focused, and for the last 15 years 90 percent of it had gone to metro projects.

However the changes meant projects such as TANS were now eligible.

Application for the grant had been made by the five groups involved in the development, including Horowhenua District Council, Te Taitoa Maori o Te Awahou, Dutch Connection Museum Trust, Save Our River Trust and Flax Stripper Museum Trust.

The government considered aspects such as economic development, sustainability over the long-term, enthusiasm for a project and a solid business case.

Council chief executive David Clapperton said it was fantastic the project had received the full amount that had been applied for, and that it was "very rare" for that to happen.

Ms Barry said TANS had been "an easy application" to pick for funding, due to the strong cultural elements and what it would achieve for the district.

"As keepers and kaitiaki of our stories and our precious taonga, the local museums and galleries and whare taonga play an incredibly important role in our sense of identity as New Zealanders in a multi-cultural sense," she said, describing TANS as a "world-class facility".

Maggie Barry and Nathan Guy touring Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom in Foxton.

"Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom will be a part of the vibrant cultural hub that showcases this community's unique culture and heritage."

She said a notable part of the project was that meeting the needs of the local people was "part and parcel" of the design.

Mr Guy acknowledged council and community members who were involved with TANS and said the grant was "an amazing contribution to a fantastic facility."

"This is a very significant achievement that all of you have been involved in, and I have just played a very small part, and that's really just nagging my ministerial colleague to make sure that she knew how important this project was for our local community," he said.

Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen said the name of the project - 'nieuwe stroom' meaning 'new stream' was an apt description as it would be "bringing life back into this area."

"It's all cultures that are represented here in Foxton that are going to gain from having this wonderful facility," he said.

Dutch Connection Trust chair Arjan van der Boon welcomed the grant and said TANS would provide visitors to the area with an authentic experience.

"It's a place of learning and experiencing the importance of mana whenua and the Dutch community in New Zealand," he said.
"Visitors will also be able to see and learn about small-town New Zealand life, [and] be wowed by culture, arts and crafts."

While the grant completed the build-cost of the project, Mr van der Boon said fundraising by the project's partners would continue.

"We need further funding to cover the costs of exhibitions aimed at attracting international, national and local [visitors] into the future," he said.

"Anyone interested in helping should visit www.tans.org."