A dawn blessing on Saturday 19 March marked the opening of 14 new affordable whānau homes at Wellington’s Te Aro Pā papakāinga.
Whanāu, friends, new-neighbours and supporters of Te Aro Pā papakāinga gathered in Evans Bay to celebrate a very modern Māori solution to affordable housing.
Te Aro Pā, Wellington’s first urban papakāinga development, is made up of 14 new homes with 10 three-bedroom apartments and four single bedroom kaumātua/disability properties. Led by Te Tumu Paeroa, many people played a part in getting the development off the ground including Wellington City Council, Te Puni Kōkiri’s Māori Housing Network, the Property Group, Homestead Homes and Dwell Housing.
Jamie Tuuta, the Māori Trustee and CEO for Te Tumu Paeroa says “Developing Māori land is not easy, there are often multiple owners with different aspirations which makes decisions harder and even more difficult to finance. This block has over a 1000 owners and was particularly difficult because of its history. This is an outstanding achievement made a lot easier because of the support of the Māori Housing Network and Wellington City Council.”
Old ties to new homes
The people moving into these lovely, light and warm homes might be new to the neighbourhood but some of them will have a long history with Te Whanganui a Tara. Sharing connections back to the original inhabitants of Te Aro Pā.
The original pā was on Wellington’s waterfront at what’s now the intersection of Taranaki and Manners streets until displaced by a growing British settlement in the 1870’s. They were later allocated reserves in Aro Valley (next to the current day Happy Valley landfill and wastewater treatment plant) and more recently swapped this land for the site at Evans Bay.
Almost 200 years later, it’s fair to say the journey home to Evans Bay has been a long and difficult one. The opening of this development is a historic moment that signals the start of a new era and something for its owners and the whole city to be very proud of.
Descendant, owner and Advisory Trustee, Holden Hohaia says, “The original inhabitants of Te Aro Pā were Ngāti Ruanui and Taranaki Iwi and today’s owners are their descendants. My fellow Trustees and I are keen to see this new papakāinga as place for both descendants and the broader Taranaki Whānui tribes to live if they need affordable accommodation.”
The Trustees hope that over time the community of people who come and go in this papakāinga build on the shoulders of their tupuna to create a strong positive foundation for many generations to follow.
Affordable, sustainable and community focussed
Two eye catching blocks of units, separated by a shared garden, have been designed by Wellington architect Roger Walker. His brief was to design housing to support affordable, modern Māori living that looks great and feels like home.
"I wanted the homes to be sustainable and low maintenance, and take advantage of the community focus of a papakāinga and reflect the heritage of the owners. It was a challenging site, but such privilege to work with Te Aro Pā Trust to help them make the best use of their land." Says Roger.
Mayor of Wellington Celia Wade-Brown says Te Aro Pā papakāinga is a very welcome, affordable housing project. "The modular energy efficient design is an exemplar in the city," she says.
Modern Māori solutions
Māori Development Minister, Hon Te Ururoa Flavell who also spoke at the opening, is proud to see Māori providing housing solutions for Māori.
“This Wellington papakāinga development is a great example of the excellent mahi being undertaken by whānau across the motu to create better housing solutions for themselves. And, I’m pleased the Māori Housing Network is supporting whānau by letting them know what funding is available, and offering expert advice, information and support to help improve their housing situation.” he says.
