Housing for Hopuhopu: Tainui team up with Government to develop housing at former Defence site

Plans for the Hopuhopu papakāinga.

Te Arataura Chair Tukoroirangi Morgan is welcoming this morning’s announcement by Minister of Māori Development and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka that will kickstart the iwi’s first stage of its housing development in Hopuhopu.

Morgan said the initiative has been tossed around over many years and that Potaka advocated for the project, which will see 57 new homes built on the whenua.

“This is a game-changer for whānau who need the assurance of a home to raise their children in a community that is safe and aligned to our Kīngitanga values,” he said.

“Minister Potaka has shown real leadership today and we are extremely grateful for his advocacy inside his Cabinet to get this kaupapa over the line.

“It is not lost on us that our late Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII led his final Kīngitanga Accord event with the previous Labour administration last year that made today possible.”

What the homes in Hopuhopu will look like off the plans.

“Hopuhopu was the first land parcel to be given back under our 1995 Waikato Raupatu Lands Settlement. Its significance to our people cannot be understated.”

Morgan said today marked a special occasion.

“We welcome you all here today and also acknowledge that today is Wāhi Pā Poukai and so we won’t be mucking around today, we will be efficient and get this done so we can head to Rāhui Pōkeka [Huntly] before 10am,” Morgan said in his mihi to the minister.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Māori/Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia to pay their respects for Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Kīngitanga

“As we all know, Hopuhopu is a significant site for Waikato-Tainui – it was the first land parcel returned to us under our 1995 Raupatu Land Settlement, so the importance of Hopuhopu for our people cannot be understated. While we have turned the base, which was another former Defence site, also returned under our settlement, into a site for economic development, we had always envisaged that Hopuhopu would be a site for social, cultural, economic and environmental development for our people and with this agreement, we are well on our way to achieving this vision.”

The entire Hopuhopu precinct is 170ha and will include an innovation hub, tribal precinct, and nursery. Waikato-Tainui is also re-developing a sports complex nearby which will be available to the wider public.

Morgan says the minister’s announcement provides opportunities for tribal businesses to be involved across the entire working landscape including infrastructure, engineering, building, plumbing and electricians, among others.