{"id":570305,"date":"2026-08-16T00:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T00:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/570305\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T00:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T00:58:17","slug":"tasman-home-for-historic-waka-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/570305\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasman home for historic waka confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

A T\u0101kaka park has been confirmed as the future home for one of New Zealand\u2019s most significant historical artefacts.<\/p>\n

By Max Frethey for Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Tasman District Council unanimously gave its approval for a new facility to be built on the town\u2019s Pioneer Park in which the Anaweka waka will be housed.<\/p>\n

Found 14 years ago at Anaweka, on Golden Bay\u2019s west coast, the waka fragment has since undergone a lengthy preservation process.<\/p>\n

Preparations are now underway to design and construct a purpose-built home for the artefact \u2013 a wharewaka.<\/p>\n

Chris Hill, the spokesperson for the Anaweka waka project group, said the council decision was \u201cvery pleasing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Working<\/p>\n

Working group spokesperson Chris Hill said that a consent application would soon be lodged now that the site had been confirmed. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a significant milestone\u2026 for the project. Now that that\u2019s come to pass, it opens the way for the next steps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome things have had to wait until this decision. So, we appreciate we\u2019re able now to just make further progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

A consent application was now expected to be lodged by the end of August, and work was continuing to develop the organisational and governance structure for the wharewaka.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 700-year-old Anaweka waka was discovered 14 years ago in Golden Bay and will now have a purpose-built home in the region. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of steps ahead of us yet\u2026 but we\u2019re in good stead in terms of the people we\u2019ve got working on the project are really accomplished, and that gives confidence in us being able to produce this facility,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

The preferred site, approved by the council on Thursday, was 79\u201381 Commercial Street in T\u0101kaka, the current site of Pioneer Park adjacent to the existing Golden Bay Museum.<\/p>\n

Grant Knowles, chair of the Golden Bay Community Board, said it was \u201ca very good move\u201d that would serve as an additional \u201cdrawcard\u201d for the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe waka has to stay in Golden Bay, where it was found. It was a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not think that a national museum, such as Wellington’s Te Papa, would permanently have the waka on display, as it would be in the wharewaka.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of positives going to spin off from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The pioneers’ memorial at the park that was approved for the wharewaka will be relocated to another site, at no cost to the council. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

Now that the site had been confirmed, the community board could begin preparing to relocate Pioneer Park\u2019s memorial, sundial, and other amenities to an alternative location.<\/p>\n

That site has yet to be decided, but Knowles assured the community that they would be able to have their say on several options.<\/p>\n

He added that the current park was underutilised and a hotspot for anti-social behaviour, and that the pioneers\u2019 memorial would likely have a nicer, safer home elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The iwi-led Anaweka waka project group is expected to fund the wharewaka in its entirety, including the relocation of items from the park and any alterations to the Golden Bay Museum, as the two facilities look to synergise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a council expense. It\u2019s not going to take up people\u2019s rates,\u201d reassured Golden Bay councillor Celia Butler.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/p>\n

Golden Bay Community Board chair Grant Knowles said the wharewaka would be a big “drawcard” for Golden Bay. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The land would be leased from the council for 33 years at a rate in line with its still-in-development community leasing policy.<\/p>\n

Should the project not proceed, neither would the lease.<\/p>\n

Ultimate ownership of the wharewaka has not yet been decided, but if the model involved the council, that decision would be made as part of next year\u2019s long-term plan considerations, and subject to further due diligence.<\/p>\n

About three quarters of submitters favoured building a wharewaka in T\u0101kaka, with two thirds supportive of the Pioneer Park site.<\/p>\n

Pioneer Park is classified for cultural heritage use, which was in keeping with the wharewaka proposal.<\/p>\n

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A T\u0101kaka park has been confirmed as the future home for one of New Zealand\u2019s most significant historical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2567,4432,111,43,139,69,2224],"class_list":["post-570305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-maori-issues","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tasman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}