This article was first published by Stuff.
Reaching a decision to relocate after the damage wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle has been a difficult and lengthy process for the whānau of five Tairāwhiti marae, a councillor who has been in touch with the whānau says.
The Government announced on Thursday that three marae in the Uawa/Tolaga Bay area and two in the Te Karaka area impacted by the North Island weather events of early 2023, had decided to relocate and re-establish at safer sites.
Funding for the move comes from a total of $136.215 million, allocated from the 2023 and 2024 Budgets for the entire Whenua Māori and Marae Relocation Programme that resulted from the damaging early 2023 weather.
Councillor Aubrey Ria, a Māori ward representative on Gisborne District Council, said she had been in contact with whānau members from the marae involved.
“From what I can gather, it’s definitely been a difficult process and it has taken time for whānau to be supportive of the move,” Ria said.
“At this point in time, the marae trustees and a lot of the whānau are very supportive of the opportunity, with the aim of rebuilding something that can have longevity for future generations.”
That decision had been made after the trauma caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
In some cases, floodwaters had been up to 3m deep, and taonga handed down from earlier generations had been destroyed.
Essentially it was like going into your home “and everything you have ever known, and ever loved, and was passed down to you from your parents and grandparents and ancestors is now in a state of disrepair”, Ria said.
“It’s been red-stickered and you can no longer access it.
“Then trying to support your whānau, first to deal with the trauma of losing that cultural asset that has been in your home for generations, then to make the difficult decision to move from your ancestral home.”
Agreeing on where to relocate to, had also been a difficult process. “For some it’s a matter of just down the road, for others it’s quite a few kilometres,” Ria said.
“Based on all of those really long, hard conversations they have had over the last two years, they’ve got to a space where they agree it’s about the next generation, and ensuring they don’t have to deal with what we’ve had to go through.”
The five marae are Puketawai, Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna and Okuri in the Uawa/Tolaga Bay area, and Takipū and Rangatira at Te Karaka.
The cost for each marae relocation was commercially sensitive, a release from the Government said.
Gisborne council had designated all five as Category 3 – high risk, and not safe to occupy because of unacceptable risk to life from future extreme weather.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said relocation works, including the rebuild of wharenui and whare kai where needed, was expected to take place over the next two or so years. For some of the marae, the project was a complete rebuild.
The Crown was also working with two Kahungunu Marae, Tangoio and Petāne in Hawke’s Bay, with support packages available to both marae so they too could re-establish in safer locations after being designated as having an unacceptable risk to life.
- Stuff
