Te Puna Station Rd will remain closed until the council decides on a permanent solution. Photo / John Borren
Te Puna Station Rd will remain closed until the council decides on a permanent solution. Photo / John Borren
A Western Bay of Plenty hapū wants a slip-damaged road in Te Puna to remain closed because it is an “incredible site of value”.
Slips damaged Te Puna Station Rd in the rural settlement of Te Puna in October 2022. Severe weather further eroded the area in January last year, forcing a 600m section of the road to be closed.
Hapū are concerned for Pukewhanake Pā, which sits above the road and has been eroded by the multiple slips. The road runs through the Te Hakao Valley between Te Puna Rd and State Highway 2 alongside the Wairoa River.
Speaking at the long-term plan hearings last week, Pirirākau Tribal Authority representative Julie Shepherd said the hapū supported closing the road because the area was an “incredible site of value”.
Pirirākau kaumātua Neville Bidois says Pukewhanake Pā is one of the oldest in New Zealand. Photo / Alisha Evans
Pukewhanake Pā, which sits above the road and has been eroded by multiple slips, was their primary concern, she said.
The pā was now on private property, but was still a cultural asset and a site Pirirākau sought to protect, Shepherd said.
“The cut face [of the pā], that’s an open wound that our hapū, our kaumātua see.
“So many of our kaumātua have sought and desired the restoration of that cut face.”
There was an opportunity to restore it and the landowners, too, approved of this, she said.
Pukewhanake Pā is at the headland of the valley and the wetland below was once an important food source for mana whenua Pirirākau.
In the 1940s, extensive earthworks occurred in the valley and the Minden Stream was diverted, draining the wetland that meets the Wairoa River for pastoral land. The hapū wanted the slip-damaged land alongside the river to naturally recover, Shepherd said.
“Pirirākau don’t want anything different than what the community wants.”
Pirirākau kaumātua Neville Bidois said: “We totally opposed opening the road on cultural grounds, safety grounds and cost-wise.”
Pukewhanake Pā was one of the oldest in New Zealand, Bidois said.
The area held significant mana for the hapū of Ngāti Ranginui iwi, he said.
It symbolised the common ancestral, traditional and spiritual links between tīpuna (ancestors) and their living descendants, Bidois said.
The pā is also a place where tīpuna were buried and is considered wāhi tapu (sacred).
The council’s preferred option was to close the road to vehicles and relocate the shared cycleway and footpath at a cost of $1m.
Option two was to open one lane for vehicles at a cost of $2m with yearly maintenance cost of $50,000. The most expensive option was to open the road fully at a cost of $5m with yearly maintenance cost of $100,000.
One of the slips on Te Puna Station Rd. Photo / John Borren
Te Puna Heartland spokesperson Beth Bowden said the organisation had no settled opinion on its preferred option for the road.
“This is not a weakness, this is a very strong indication to you of just how divisive such an issue in this community is going to be.”
The organisation was advocating for “close and well-informed” community consultation instead, Bowden said.
A citizens’ assembly would be a good way for the community to get an understanding of the issues surrounding the future of Te Puna Station Rd, she said.
Citizens’ assemblies are made up of randomly selected residents who are tasked with reaching a consensus and providing recommendations, based on local and external evidence, to elected members.
Long-term plan deliberations will take place before the final plan is adopted in September.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
