The Christchurch City Council began public consultation in Jan 2024 about our proposal to purchase whenua in Waipapa for Te Pā o Rākaihautū.

Te Pā has been on a temporary site since we opened in 2015. After a long search for a permanent home, in June this year the Board identified a site in Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū - across the harbour from Lyttelton on the foothills of Te Ahu Pātiki (named by Rākaihautū for the abundance of flounder in the harbour) above the little settlement of Te Waipapa (Diamond Harbour) and in direct line of sight of Te Poho o Tamatea, effectively bringing us home. 

After a round of consultations with Mana Whenua (Rāpaki) and surrounding Rūnaka in Te Pātaka and Te Kete o Rākaihautū - Koukourārata, Wairewa, Onuku and Taumutu; Diamond Harbour associations and residents;  Te Pā whānau and staff we submitted an Unsolicited Proposal to the Christchurch City Council in October this year. 

The proposal was for Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke to purchase 8 hectares of the block which has been declared surplus by the Christchurch City Council. The Ministry of Education would then lease a portion to build our pā wānanga achieving multiple goals, most importantly returning whenua to Mana Whenua and securing a permanent home for Te Pā. Our team attended a public consultation in Diamond Harbour 31 january where there was a full house. There is of course high community interest and lots of questions particularly around infrastructure, transport and why Diamond Harbour. We spent some time explaining our why including the significance of Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū to our kaupapa and curriculum and also the fact that our marae and hāpori in Te Pātaka me Te Kete o Rākaihautū  -  Rāpaki, Wairewa, Koukourārata, Taumutu and Onuku will for the first time have access to Māori medium provision on the peninsula and the opportunity to support their own kura a Iwi to come home.  

We will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Education on a multi-site delivery model, He Whare Rau, which will see Te Pā maintain a site in the city, a kaika nohoaka, much like we did in the past - details of which are still being finalised. Each site will deliver aspects of our curriculum that suit the environment and transport and logistics planning is well underway.  

In the space of 6 months we have made more progress than we have in the previous 9 years to secure a permanent site for Te Pā. We are excited about the possibilities and the potential to fully realise our moemoea across two sites. 2024 will be all about securing the whenua and then moving in to masterplanning and design. We will be drawing on all our whānau, pononga and staff to help us in the design and build of our pā wānanga.

For more detail you can contact our office for a copy of the Unsolicited Proposal to Christchurch City Council and He Whare Rau - Our multi-site delivery model. We will continue to provide regular updates as we go.