Tia Marae gets a power boost
$60,000 electrical upgrade carried out
We have the power — finally. Tia Marae on Rangiuru Rd has, ever since power first came to the marae, had to make do with the equivalent of a one household, single phase, power supply.
Now that has all changed after an upgrade to a three phase supply.
“The entire complex has been running on household-sized power supply since power was added to our marae,” says treasurer Haami Te Aute. “We would have issues with cooking where power would cut out if, for example, we plugged extra appliances in, appliances as small as a second toaster.
“We now have the capability to increase our appliances from small household sized to commercial equipment. In fact, the first piece of three phase cooking equipment will be our new Electrolux Combi Oven with the ability to roast 20 chickens or 10 lamb roasts.”
The total cost for this upgrade was $60,000, put together through marae fund-raising, especially a generous koha from the Kiribati community who frequently use the marae, various lands trusts and TECT, which provided half the cost.
Marae chairman John Dinsdale, who can remember when there was a coin-fed meter, says up until the upgrade, the main oven for the marae was a hangi.
“Which we didn’t mind — it was cool because it gave everybody a job — but I guess it will feel like a bit of luxury to have the power there.”
The upgrade has been configured so the power supply can be run off a generator if mains power fails, making the marae a potential refuge in the event of a natural disaster — something John says is part of the future planning.
He says the marae could become an emergency evacuation centre. It can be accessed via Rangiuru Rd if Te Puke Highway is cut off, and there is plenty of space to set up a camp.
There is now a sign at the marae, provided by and recognising the contribution of TECT to the project.
As a first for the trust, the sign is in te reo Ma¯ori.
When asked to choose a template for the sign, Haami says all the options were in English.
“Because we are a marae and it is going to be displayed at a marae, we said ‘as much as we love to be promoting TECT, do you mind if we have it in te reo Ma¯ori,’ and they agreed,” he says.