North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Plans for marae at next stage
The dream of a new marae for an Auckland community is a now a reality as the marae committee takes big step towards development.
Uruamo Maranga Ake is the charitable trust lobbying to build a marae in the heart of Beach Haven.
On February 21, the Kaipa¯tiki Local Board unanimously voted to support the marae development into resource consenting stage.
Uruamo Maranga Ake chairwoman Frances Waaka she was excited and elated at the news.
‘‘Up until this point we had no real evidence that it [the marae] was going to happen,’’ Waaka said.
‘‘Now that this has been approved it will happen as soon as we can make it happen,’’ she said.
‘‘We have a lot of work ahead of us. But we know what we are doing.’’
The proposed marae facilities were situated on a portion of Shepherds Park Reserve accessed by road off Cresta Ave, Beach Haven.
The Kaipa¯tiki Local Board provided the funding for a Feasibility Study in June 2016, which assessed the location and the preliminary design of the marae.
The study showed there was a strong case for the build of a marae in the area and therefore supported the next stage of development.
DesignTRIBE have released initial concept designs as apart of the report.
The Ma¯ ori community in Beach Haven have longed for a space where they could collectively celebrate and enhance their identity which included Ma¯ori customs, practices, language, values and world views.
Especially tangihanga, or funerals, because a lack of appropriate facilities has been forcing funerals into backyards and garages.
Since November 2015, Uruamo Maranga Ake has been consulting to gauge the thoughts of the wider Beach Haven community in relation to a marae for the area.
The estimated development costs for the entire marae complex were $7 million.
Kaipa¯ tiki Local Board chairwoman Danielle Grant said the board looked forward to an exciting future.