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Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis has defended her council donating $10,000 of ratepayer money to a museum in France, which she visited earlier this month.
Collis this month attended the opening of the museum on a trip paid for out of her own pocket.
But while she was away, concerns were raised around the lack of funds being given to key heritage sites around the community to support issues such as earthquake strengthening of buildings.
Dannevirke Gallery of History president Murray Holden said he didn’t think the council should have granted the money to a museum overseas “when there are museums in the Tararua District that are actually struggling”.
Collis said she felt honoured to have been invited to the event and that it was important to go for professional and personal reasons, with a need to understand the history at Le Quesnoy.
Her visit included official ceremonies and tours of the facility and local cemeteries where many New Zealand soldiers are buried or remembered.
The museum was designed in memory of the New Zealand soldiers who fought to take back the French town on November 4, 1918, which had been under German occupation for four years.
The walled medieval fortress forced Kiwi soldiers to scale ladders to gain access and ultimately force the Germans to surrender.
During the liberation, 142 New Zealand soldiers died yet not a single citizen of Le Quesnoy was killed.
Te Arawhata gets its name from the Māori word ladder which acknowledges the unique methods used by the New Zealand Division to enter the town.
The museum incorporates a mix of sensory and emotive experiences for the museum with a large-scale figure of a New Zealand soldier created by Weta Workshop.
“We have a role to talk and teach the next generation,” Collis said.
It was special for her on a personal level as she described being able to connect with that part of New Zealand’s history.
“When we say ‘we will remember’, Tararua District puts some action behind their words,” she said.
“The care that they give to our people, and the gratitude and love for what they have done, is not just in Le Quesnoy, that’s all over,” she said.
The relationship between France and the country on the “uttermost end of the earth” was highly valued and the people there are forever grateful to those who came to their rescue, Collis said.
Tararua district was one of several other New Zealand towns that donated money to the museum including Timaru, Waipa, Whanganui, and Palmerston North, and other key companies such as Fonterra also contributed funds.
She said that New Zealanders have nothing that is NZ-specific in Europe for people to go and visit, so having this place was a huge step in remembering those who gave their lives on foreign soil.
The NZ Liberation Museum, Te Arawhata in Le Quesnoy, France features soldiers created by Weta Workshop.
She said that the funds are available for heritage needs, throughout the district and the council is careful in the consideration of who receives money as Tararua is comprised of many heritage sites needing financial assistance.
“I think for other museums and locals going through the long-term plan and requesting those funds, the opportunity is there,” she said.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. Michaela covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
