New Te Ahu Logo

Te Ahu now has a new logo created by Waikarere Gregory.

Korero (Waikarere Gregory)

This design combines historical and cultural information pertaining to Kaitaia and the Far North, drawing on traditional Maori art forms, resulting in a contemporary piece. This design also has the potential to stand alone as a free-standing sculptural piece or as an art piece to adorn the front of the Te Ahu Complex.

Contained within the design are the ideas of movement, pathways, meeting and a definite forward movement evident in the koru forms. The central kowhaiwhai pattern is what I refer to as the manawa line or heart line - symbolic of what I envision the complex to be. Being the heart of the community, a central hub/meeting place. From which things flow and into which flows much energy. Again, this is symbolic of the blood of our various peoples, connecting us back to our tupuna/ancestors, to ourselves of today and those yet to be born.

I also like to see the fading presence of the manawa line as a reference to our watery surrounds - our beautiful coasts. And this serves as a reminder to the flow of water within and of our own wairua.

The tetekura or unfurling fern fronds represent new growth, progress, potential yet realised, wairua, and as the whakatauki goes as one dies another grows to take its place. The shadow lying below refers back to the words of Nopera Panakareao (famous ancestor of the Kaitaia region who signed the Treaty of Waitangi here at Te Ahu in 1840). Words, it is said, that moved many into signing the document.

The digit like ends of the large koru are as fingers reaching out: to welcome manuhiri, to embrace the locals and stretching up to the heights of Ranginui. And are as toes firmly grounding us on Papatuanuku.
This design pulls together not only the people of the North but their history too, as well as presenting a warm and positive image to visitors to the area.

The site

Te Ahu Charitable Trust originally considered three possible sites via a process that included months of public consultation, including a workshop held on 23 July 2007, and selection of the site has been a rigorous process.

Jaycee Park (Option One) was rejected relatively early, the Trust having accepted the importance of retaining the existing playground and green space provided by the area. Public opinion has been strongly of the view that it was already one of Kaitaia's most-used amenities and should be retained.

The Trust considers it necessary to future-proof this project and a raft of factors were considered in comparing the South Road site (Option Two), currently partially occupied by Te Runanga o Te Rarawa, and the Redan Road site (Option Three), currently occupied by the Far North District Council Service Centre. These included:

• Legal ownership
• Pedestrian and vehicular access
• Visibility
• Proximity to other facilities and the town centre
• Cultural significance
• Parking
• Cost variations
• Room for expansion

On 22 August 2007, Far North Mayor Yvonne Sharp announced that the Trust has chosen the site on South Road (Option Two) adjacent to the existing Far North Community Centre.

The Trust found that the Redan Road site had some appeal but also presented significant issues - not least the recent revelation that it was potentially subject to severe flooding. However, the Trust has recognised that both that site and South Road would require some flood protection. Another factor which counted against the Redan Road site was its commercial potential in an area where such potential was in short supply, a desire not to contribute towards pushing Kaitaia's commercial development north and a wish to preserve the possibility of linking Puckey Avenue with Redan Road at some time in the future. The Trust wants to leave as many opportunities available as it possibly can.

Building in Redan Road would have incurred significant additional costs, however, while the Trust believes that choosing South Road will breath new life into the existing Community Centre. The Trust recognises that there is a huge community investment in the existing Community Centre and wants to see more use made of it. Linking it with a new facility on the scale of the Te Ahu complex should enhance opportunities to use it.

The Te Ahu complex will be built approximately on the current site of the Te Rarawa offices, extending north towards the intersection of South Road and Church Road. The old river bed running along South Road will be filled in - part to be developed for car parking and the remainder to be landscaped as park land. The stretch of South Road adjacent to the complex will be renamed Jim Durbin Drive in memory of the man who originally beautified it. Efforts will be made to build around a large Puriri tree standing on the edge of what is now the Community Centre car park.

The Trust notes that the Far North District Council are holding some funding for work on the Community Centre roof and for interior remodeling. The Trust wishes to see the Community Centre modernised with some more rooms added and the kitchen remodeled to make it much more user-friendly but it is important that any work of that nature be kept separate from the Te Ahu project. They will be separate but complementary facilities. The Trust does not want to see amenities duplicated but does want to get best value for the money spent. The Trust's main objective is to get the new complex up and running but the existing Community Centre is part of the planning equations.

THE SITE BEFORE CONSTRUCTION

Locations of Existing Facilities

Funding

Te Ahu Charitable Trust agreed to proceed with a 4000 sq.m. floor space facility and at this stage, including all development and project management costs, estimates the value of work to be approximately $12 million.

An application was submitted to the ASB Community Trust in January 2007. We were successful in getting through stage 1 and the ASB Community Trust has now confirmed that it will make $3 million available to the project. This huge grant means that over $5.5 million in funding has now been raised for the project and Te Ahu Trust is on track to get full funding in place for the project by the end of this year, with a view to a construction starting in 2008.

On-going consultation will continue until a decision has been reached on the design of the Te Ahu complex. Whatever the outcome, it will ultimately involve the community and be dependent upon the level of funding achieved.

The way forward

The next step will be to commission architectural drawings to give the proposal a shape - drawings that will be put before the community for public comment. Appropriate people will be engaged to come up with concept designs and drawings that will reflect the ideas and wishes that the community envisage as being what the project is able to deliver. At this time, two companies have been approached - Chow Hill and GHD - and right at this moment key stakeholder personnel are being identified so that they can be interviewed by the designers.

Now that the South Road / Community Centre site has been identified as the site that has the optimum number of attributes best suited to the project, there is still a raft of issues to be addressed and resolved. The Trust is working as quickly and as hard as it can to resolve these challenges as they are identified.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, the Trust will have some design concepts ready for public comment.

The Trust also expects to soon finalise an agreement with Te Rarawa regarding a 50-year lease of the South Road site. Some Kaitaia A&P Association land will also be required to be purchased by the Far North District Council and both organisations have been enthusiastic and cooperative.

Funding is still a number one priority that the Trust is grappling with on an ongoing basis and strategies continue to be identified to address this most challenging aspect of the project.

The other immediate objective of the Trust is to play a greater proactive role in addressing community groups and organisations so that they may be better informed as to the progress the project is making towards the day the cornerstone is laid.

Newsletters (PDF documents)

Newsletter No.1 - November 2007