Today at dawn (Monday 4th April), a mauri stone has been laid on the grounds of Te Āwhina Marae to mark the significant milestone of the beginning of a $12.3M Papakāinga development in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri that will see 20 new homes built to house whānau.

The location where this mauri stone has been burried is the location marked for the 20 new houses that will be constructed as part of the innovative Papakāinga development, under the partnership between Te Āwhina Marae and Te Puni Kōkiri.

The successful partnership marks the beginning of the overall Te Āwhina Marae Redevelopment Project which is a 10 year vision to completely rebuild the marae facilities that will revitalise the economic and cultural development for whānau and the wider community in the region. The project is expected to cost approximately $28M, which will create jobs and contribute significantly to the local economy through construction, tourism, education, social services, and arts and culture.

Chair of the Te Āwhina Marae Board Rima Piggott said “This is a momentous occassion for the whānau and hapū of Te Āwhina Marae and we have worked hard to get here. This will be a significant step change for our marae that will take us from the 6 current kaumātua flats to 20 homes for whānau to enable intergenerational living on our marae.”

Piggott described the current marae buildings as “humble” and said they had serviced the Motueka and wider Te Tauihu community well for decades but that the Hapū and Iwi of Te Tauihu are on a path of revitalisation of culture and that marae were the focal points of that revitalisation. “This redevelopment gives us the platform to share more of our Te Tauihutanga (culture and identity), connect our whānau to their whakapapa and play an important role in the cultural and economic resillence and regeneration of the region following the pandemic.”

She said the decision to start with housing whānau through Papakāinga was a deliberate one “housing is undoubtedly the most pressing issue for our whānau and by creating homes that can act as pathways to progress to home ownership, we are supporting our whānau to live here in their ancestoral home of Motueka and contribute to the local economy and community. This is a hugely significant project for the whole region.”

We have an excellent project team in place to build the houses in partnernship with Te Puni Kōkiri and the Chair of the project team and the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy, Paul Morgan added that the project also contributes to the ongoing implementation of the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy which identified “new models and smart housing solutions” as one of the 17 priority actions for the region.

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