Te 20 o Hanuere 2020 | 20 January 2020

Refurbished training hostel soon to be affordable rental apartments at Rehua Marae

Breathing new life into an iconic Ōtautahi building will revitalise the local community and add to the inner-city housing supply for whānau Māori.

The old Māori Trade training hostel, Te Kooti te Rato, located a Rehua Marae will soon be repurposed into six modern apartments for local Christchurch whānau.

A blessing of the site took place this morning, signalling the next phase of construction for the development.

The old training hostel was in use from the 1950’s to the late 1980’s but has largely sat idle since. A partnership between local Māori and the Government will see this historic building regenerated to serve a new purpose- housing local whānau.

Te Puni Kōkiri Deputy Chief Executive of Regional Partnership, Di Grennell, congratulates the Trust for its forward-thinking attitude towards housing solutions that meet the needs of their whānau and wider community.

“This development provides much needed inner-city housing post-earthquake while also giving whānau the opportunity to live on the grounds of Rehua Marae in a kaupapa Māori environment.

“Papakāinga developments like this have significant yet mostly unrealised potential to improve social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing of Māori communities,” Ms Grennell says.

Te Puni Kōkiri has a long-standing relationship with Te Whatumanawa Māoritanga o Rehua and has committed $2.4 million into the project, with the Trust contributing a further $780,000.

The new apartments will consist of two two-bedroom units, two one-bedroom units and two one-bedroom studios. A common area on the ground floor is likely to be used for wrap around services including a nurse’s clinic and rongoā services which will be available for Rehua whānau.

“It is clear to me that community is at the heart of Rehua Marae, and this style of living will allow whānau to be on the urban marae grounds and engage in a wide variety of marae activities including kapa haka and traditional rongoā practices.”

“A strong and thriving cultural identity is essential to sustainable social and economic development within whānau and communities.”

ENDS

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