Treaty Grounds to be closed on Waitangi Day
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds will not open on Waitangi Day, its chairman Pita Tipene says, following the move to the Covid19 red traffic light setting.
The Waitangi National Trust, which runs the Treaty Grounds and National Marae, had already announced it would not be holding its usual Waitangi Day commemorations in 2022 due to Covid-19.
Those events usually attracted more than 30,000 people each year, Tipene said.
Although the grounds had remained open while Te Tai Tokerau was at red, with vaccine pass checks, Tipene said it would be ‘‘untenable’’ to operate the checks on Waitangi Day itself.
‘‘The trustees fully appreciate that many people want to gather at Waitangi on Waitangi Day, our national day. However, we are in the middle of a global pandemic and with the Omicron variant now in the community and expected to spread quickly, we cannot proceed as if everything was normal,’’ he said.
’’That would be totally irresponsible, not to mention unlawful, and trustees are not prepared to risk the health and safety of the public by breaching the Covid Protection Framework order.’’
The trust was in talks with broadcasters about how to deliver a virtual Waitangi Day to all New Zealanders, broadcast from the Treaty Grounds.
Meanwhile, Te Tii Marae, which was also central to Waitangi Day celebrations – just down the road from the Treaty Grounds – had been planning to go ahead with some events.
Organisers were still assessing on Tuesday whether those events could go ahead on Waitangi Day, with the country likely to be still in the red setting.