A Ngāti Whakaue collective has purchased the Rainbow Springs whenua, and its assets will also be transferred. Photo / Andrew Warner
A Ngāti Whakaue collective has purchased the Rainbow Springs whenua, and its assets will also be transferred. Photo / Andrew Warner
It was one of Rotorua’s most devastating Covid-19 casualties, but now there is renewed hope for the city’s “iconic” Rainbow Springs after a local iwi collective struck a deal to take over the closed site.
Ngāti Whakaue announced yesterday the collective was buying the land from Ngāi Tahu Holdings, which closed the 90-year-old tourism business seven months ago.
News of the deal has been greeted with happiness and excitement from Rotorua leaders and locals, with Ngāti Whakaue kaumātua Monty Morrison saying it was a time to “rejoice”.
Rainbow Springs Nature Park opened as a tourism experience in 1931, and Ngāi Tahu had owned it since 2004. With the borders closed and overseas tourists shut out due to the pandemic, it put the business into hibernation in April 2020.
Ngāi Tahu closed the attraction in March this year, saying it had explored the options but decided the operation was no longer financially viable.
A Ngāti Whakaue collective comprising the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust, Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust and Ngāti Whakaue Education Endowment Trust made the purchase after negotiations with Ngāi Tahu.
Assets fixed to the site will also be transferred to the new landowner.
Collective negotiator David Tapsell said in a statement it would take time to consider its options.
“Given its proximity to Skyline, and being strategically located at the northern gateway to Rotorua, a new tourism offering makes sense, and we will look at a range of options.
“Although the tourism market has been less than ideal over the last three years, it is definitely starting to rebound.”
He said the collective was conscious of the immediate opportunity to secure the whenua, rather than risk it being generations before the iwi had another chance.
Morrison said options for the site would be explored in the New Year, but for now, it was a time to “rejoice”.
“It is significant for us and for the time. As you can expect, the return of ancestral land is important to us.”
He congratulated the collective partners for enabling that to happen.
Morrison recalled how he visited the park as a child, and how he had always enjoyed its focus on nature.
Ngāti Whakaue kaumatua Monty Morrison. Photo / Andrew Warner
The possibility it would continue as a similar venture was being considered, as were other options, he said.
He said the park had become “near and dear” to many people over the decades.
“The important thing now is to rejoice in the fact the land has returned, and then we can think seriously of the opportunities it presents in the new year.”
Rotorua’s Marlene Beizlle was happy local iwi were taking over the site.
She first visited the park about 40 years ago when she took her two boys, and recalled spending many hours looking at the animals.
“It’s always been iconic... the fauna, springs. It’s beautiful, really.”
She said no-one liked to see businesses shut, especially when they were part of a place’s heritage, and she was excited to hear it may open again, in whatever form that was.
“It will come alive with time, that’s the way I look at it.”
Ray Punter worked at the park for more than half of the 90 years it was open, and previously told the Rotorua Daily Post how much he had enjoyed passing his knowledge to new generations of conservation enthusiasts.
Ray Punter moved to New Zealand in 1973 to "get in the water". Rainbow Springs granted his wish. Photo / Andrew Warner
Yesterday, he said he had known of the negotiations and was glad the land had returned to the traditional owners, Ngāti Whakaue.
He was glad there would be something continuing at the site in some form, even if he did not know what form it would take.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said it was wonderful news, especially just before Christmas.
He had visited the park many times, including as a child.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to Ngāti Whakaue for deciding to go ahead with this on behalf of wider Rotorua.”
MP for Rotorua Todd McClay. Photo / NZME
He said it had been a very important part of Rotorua history, particularly with the role it played for tourism in Rotorua and during the Covid-19 recovery.
McClay said he would be keen to hear the plans for the future of the site in the New Year.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said it was great news for many in the community who were saddened by the park’s closure.
“I am thrilled to hear a significant site has returned to local ownership, even more so to mana whenua.”
She said it was an exciting new start and opportunity for a new venture that she hoped would bring with it many great memories.
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / Felix Desmarais / LDR
Rotorua NZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said in the statement it was fantastic for Rotorua that Ngāti Whakaue had secured the site.
“Ngāti Whakaue have a solid reputation in business and have other tourism interests, including the iconic Te Puia | NZMACI and the game-changing Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa set to open on the lakefront next year.
“I’m really excited to see what the Ngāti Whakaue collective have planned for the site in the future.”
The statement said the parties involved had agreed Ngāi Tahu would remain on-site for up to a year to enable it to fully re-locate the National Kiwi Hatchery to the Agrodome site.
Once this has occurred, a formal transfer ceremony will take place on a date to be agreed upon next year.
A spokeswoman said other details of the deal, including the price, were confidential to the parties involved.
