New Plymouth Marae Development Grants focuses on health and safety upgrades

The Ngāti Maru whare tupuna Ngarongo at Te Upoko o Te Whenua has a new smoke detection system thanks to NPDC's Marae Development Grants. Photo / Te Korimako o Taranaki

Emergency health and safety upgrades make up most of New Plymouth’s council grants to marae this year.

New Plymouth District Council’s Marae Development Grants make $200,000 available each year to maintain marae infrastructure for hapū and iwi, and for the wider community.

Applications for the 2023-24 year included retrospective bids from Ōākura Pā to power an essential sewerage pump, and from Te Upoko o Te Whenua Marae for a smoke detection system to meet building codes.

Retrospective grants aren’t normally approved under NPDC policy, but the council’s kaitakawaenga (iwi relationships manager) Aroha Chamberlain told its iwi committee Te Huinga Taumatua that the works were urgent.

“They had to happen at the time, otherwise those marae would have been shut down completely and the marae trustees could not use the marae – and that becomes a real issue when we’re talking about tangi or hui.”

Chamberlain said both marae had called about the urgency of the work, and been advised they could be funded if money was available.

“I explained to them that … retrospective funding would only ever be given if there was enough money in the pot after all the other applications had been allocated.”

Chamberlain said they were the first ever retrospective applications to the fund, and she didn’t think a policy change was needed.

Councillors and committee members were concerned not to create a precedent, and Ngāti Mutunga representative Gina MacDonald secured an amendment to make that clear.

Taranaki’s Oākura Pā received $30,630 for the sewerage pump and another $10,377 for stock fencing to protect the marae and State Highway 3.

Ngāti Maru’s Te Upoko o Te Whenua marae got $21,428 for its smoke detection system for the whare tupuna Ngarongo.

Outside of the retrospective applications, Te Ātiawa’s Kairau Marae was funded $17,888 for replacing toilets, new tables and tinting of windows for warmth and security.

The council set up the grants to recognise that marae play a similar role for tangata whenua as rural halls do for their communities, and that marae facilities are important in Civil Defence emergencies.

The fund is due for review and last year Chamberlain told Te Huinga Taumatua of a growing call for non-physical developments.

She said the existing focus on buildings was understandable “but we’re getting more whānau talk to us about increasing capacity and capability of the people within the marae”.

For now, about half of the Marae Development Grants go to cover insurance bills.

The report to the committee noted that although the fund had previously been undersubscribed, insurance premium rises due to severe weather events were likely to squeeze the budget in the future.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.