The refurbishment includes laying new pavers developed by tribal artists, which depict the diversity of Hastings and pays tribute to the two war memorials.
Ngā Pou o Heretaunga, which stand on the Civic Square lawn, will also return to their respective marae and carvers for repairs and inspection while the work is being done. Installed in 2012, Ngā Pou o Heretaunga is a unique collection of 18 pou facing their respective marae Heretaunga. One pou from the Cook Islands was also installed in 2015, representing the strong connections between Ngāti Kahungunu and the Takitumu nation.
The $1m of work was intended to be part of a much larger Civic Square revamp, however, Hastings District Council says the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the council’s finances, has seen it limited to required maintenance only.
Hastings District Council spaces manager Rachel Stuart said the cost for the paving maintenance work will be $645,000. “It is made up of concrete and paving at $475,000, plus demolition, earthworks, stormwater, electrical, furniture and landscaping.
“The development of the pou area has a budget of $300,000, mostly for paving and concreting work, ($90,000) and electrical ($90,000) along with earthworks, stormwater and landscaping,” Stuart said. Supporting funds for the renewal of the pou at $2000 each brings the total cost to $981,000.
Stuart said the original paving was increasingly a safety risk, with raised and cracked pavers posing a trip hazard. The design of the pavers had been developed by tribal artists collective Iwi Toi Kahungunu, advised by Hira Huata who worked on the initial Ngā Pou o Heretaunga project.
Stuart said the budgets were set and approved through the Long Term Plan.
Council principal relationships advisor Charles Ropitini said the pou maintenance sits with marae, each of which owns one of the pou. “Council, through the Marae Development Fund, is supporting the renewal at $2000 per marae,” Ropitini said. “This is considered a modest contribution towards the cost, which is anticipated to be in the vicinity of $8000 to $12,000 per pou, depending on the amount of work required, which will differ between pou.
“The work on the pou is directed by the marae committees and other than providing this financial contribution and supporting the logistical movement of the pou the council does not have involvement in their renewal,” he said. Project manager kaumātua Ngahiwi Tomoana said that while individual pou have been removed and inspected over years, this would be the first time the entire collection has been away.
The work is expected to take 10 weeks and be ready for the Matariki New Year on June 19.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Happy that the paving is going to be fixed – they are a trip hazard at present and definitely need maintenance regardless of beautification
This one million spend is disgusting. Sure the LTP might have allowed for it, but Mother Nature through cyclone Gabrielle had the last word. The work should have been adjusted back to zero!! That’s not at all. Pretty but definitely not a must have. That money could go towards water pipe repair so we stop loosing water
Have to agree here!! we as Ratepayers who a lot of us are on fixed incomes like the Pension, are struggling to pay our way in society, we are expected to watch our meagre incomes dissapear in front of our Eyes on things we have no control over.
Should have been a referendum.let the rate payers who are paying for it vote yah or neh.why should these council power and control freaks have the only say.$100,000 could have gone to the frimley pools to save lives ans extend the swim season to fit with the weather paterns. The people from the council dont know what they are doing or maybe they do all hidden agenda stuff.
I look at things and question ‘ is this nice to have, or a necessity?’ It would seem that in the current climate it is a ‘have ‘ not a ‘ necessity’. With all the costs associated with the recent cyclone I would have thought that ratepayers costs would have meant that all unnecessary expenses would have been tightly controlled. Apparently not. I may be missing a lot of reasoning here, but then that may mean that council’s communication is not as good as it should be?
I’m not sure how much a trip hazard the paving is. I agree that our council seems to be still spending or wasting money at a high pace. Water museum and marae, huge loss on building opposite Toi Toi, $1 million on civic square.
Yet Cyclone damage still not fixed, water pipes leaking water faster than the council is leaking money and huge rates increases.
Our council has lost its way and needs to look at priorities.
Totally agree – this should be reduced back to trip hazard fix only and the money allocated to must haves.