Waihekepedia - User contributions [en]

User:Villager

2015-02-21T23:40:06Z

Villager: ~~~~

Claude Lewenz, historian by training, resident of Church Bay since 1997

Church Bay

2015-02-21T23:36:48Z

Villager: /* The Return of Ngati Paoa to Hangaura */ add photo ~~~~

[[image:churchbay.jpg|right|300 px]]

Church Bay, just south of Matiatia is fast growing into an exclusive retreat with its sprinkling of vineyards and olive groves including the renowned [[Mudbrick]] and [[Cable Bay Vineyards]].

Church Bay Estate is said to have been the first subdivision of a farm in New Zealand, where the condition of subdivision was to plant half a million native trees to cause the native bush to once again rise. The rules were devised for Church Bay Estates, but applied to all of the western landscape from [[Park Point]] in the south to the northern tip of Matiatia Estates. The resulting bush is now over five metres in some places, and native species of birds becoming abundent.

For a long time, Church Bay remained a place of vacant sections and paddocks until the [[Cable Bay Vineyards]] came up with the idea of leasing land from landowners at a low annual fee and plant vineyards. Within a matter of years, the physical beauty of the area transformed and with it came a few character homes built at approximately the same time. Each of these homes reflected the dream of their owners, and the sum total of the vineyards and character homes turned Church Bay into a premier location. Long standing residents became amused as people began to refer to them as rich, although when the Council's property valuations began to agree, the amusement waned a bit. As the real estate values rose, some of those families who built the character homes began to sell as the capital values kept going up. Others are still holding on. At this time, one of the character homes, Te Rere, an American coastal shingle style mansion is slated to be torn down and replaced by a French Chateau style home.

Church Bay has several eco-homes, including Mudbrick Restaurant using a traditional mud brick, a private home on the Cable Bay property using a poured earth method, and a private home on Motukaha Road using the locally developed Ogletree-Elvy earth-brick method that uses crushed GAP-40 from the local quarry.

Church Bay headlands is the site of the [[Sculpture on the Gulf]] event, held every other year. As a result, the tramping trails in Church Bay are some of the best on the island, as they needed to be upgraded to handle tens of thousands of visitors during the sculpture event.

[[Image:church bay coastline.JPG|frame|right|The Church Bay coastline]]

==History==

During Maori rule, Waiheke was unusual in that tribal rights to land and resources, and the Mana Whenua which accompanied it was shared among several iwi. [[Ngati Paoa]] migrated to Waiheke only in the 18th Century, Even on Te Huruhi, the last Ngati Paoa block, in 1896 census 58 residents were of six other iwi. This multi-tribal, multi-cultural pattern holds today in the [[Piritahi Marae]] in Blackpool, established in 1982 (established by the people of Waiheke County, including many Pakeha, who felt the island needed a marae for all races, provided a peppercorn lease and helped build the wharenui).

Never-the-less by the 19th century, in western Waiheke, Ngati Paoa was in full control. In the early part of the 19th Century, Ngati Paoa was in its golden era. Described by Major R. A. Cruise in his journal “In appearance these people were far superior to any of the New Zealanders we had hitherto seen – they were fairer, taller and more athletic, their canoes were larger and more richly carved and ornamented and their houses, larger and more ornamented with carvings than we had generally observed.”

As the century progressed, intertribal war and land sales eroded Ngati Paoa stature, but throughout the 2,100 acres of Te Huruhi remained in tribal hands. In April 1869 the Land Court declared Te Huruhi a Native reserve with five Ngati Paoa trustees. By keeping communal title, this became the last block remaining in Ngati Paoa ownership.

The period from 1830 to 1890 saw Te Huruhi flourish. Several different families shared the common lands, but all traced their ancestry back to Te Toki, the son of Hura, thus the Hapu was called Ngati Hura of Ngati Paoa. The Hoete/Keepa, Rehutai and Karaka families were prominent, as were the two men given land by the Hapu, the former slave [[Ropata Te Roa]] who was given Matiatia and the whanau of Patena Puhata who was given Kiritapu (see Section No 6 in the survey map, below).

[[image:westernlandmap.jpg|right]]

Three kainga (villages) stood on Te Huruhi, one at Matiatia, one in Blackpool, where the Piritahi Marae now stands, and one in Hangaura, now known as Church Bay Farm. For the most part, the housing in these kainga was weatherboard cabins and native raupo whare except at Hangaura where an exceptionally fine house stood on the land until it was sold in 1921 and moved to [[Matiatia]]. While the supreme chief of Ngati Paoa was a wily man by the name of Hori Pokai, in Te Huruhi, it appears the father and son Wiremu Hoete and Wiremu Hoete Keepa, respectively, carried the high mana. Both appear to be men who had the personal character and qualities to wear the responsibilities which come with being Rangatira and Kaumatua. Their memory remains strong in Hangaura.

==Hangaura - Church Bay Farm==

In addition to a beautiful home and the long-standing presence of a chapel and then a church, Hangaura was known for its exceptional agricultural production.

The families in residence grew, for commercial trade in Auckland, extensive wheat and Indian corn, kumara and potatoes, rock and water melons and extensive fruit trees, producing peaches, apples, figs, and at least one quince tree. We know this because the quince tree remains standing today. A visitor from Cornwall, in 2004, was asked to identify the tree, then in full fruit. He was astounded both to see a quince tree, but also, coincidentally had been visiting someone in another part of the country the week prior, who had proudly shown him his quince tree, speculating that it was probably the last ancient one left in New Zealand. The visitor chuckled with the news he would later deliver, that at least one more stood. Sadly, no one cans the fruit for jam anymore, instead they fall to the ground.

Along the flats of Church Bay equestrian pursuits emerged, where horses were raced from the 1860s onward. Families bred horses with some seriousness, securing Arabian stock to better the bloodlines. Horses have remained a part of Te Huruhi up to the present time, with considerable equestrian activities both in Church Bay and over the hill in Blackpool.

Above the tidal land, the flats of Church Bay contained high grade shingle, mined for the building of Auckland. Indeed the 19th Century marked a period of extraordinary environmental destruction of the area with the consent, and often participation of the Maori owners, as they sold off and stripped first the timber forests and then the very land itself.

As a place of activity, Hangaura seems to have waxed and waned. The golden period under the stewardship of brothers Wiremu Hoete and Rawiri Takurua and the family of Arama Karaka seems to draw to an end with the death of Wiremu Hoete Keepa in 1890.

In 1894, Wiremu Maehe Hoete and others applied to the Native Land Court to subdivide the Te Huruhi block into 13 sections. The lines drawn corresponded with the de-facto lines established by the various whanau. The sense of community, held strong by the bonds of aroha as maintained by Wiremu Hoete and his son Wiremu Hoete Keepa were broken by the grandson Wiremu Maehe Hoete. This was further aggravated by the perpetual question as to loyalty and commitment to the land, as those called tangata whenua (people of the land) in the records often gave different places as their home, and not all were buried on Waiheke .

By 1900 the buildings appear to have begun to deteriorate, and while farming continued, the sense of community in Hangaura appears to have gone. In 1903 Rawiri Puhata the man designed as heir to Wiremu Hoete Keepa’s mana was living in Kerepehi, having moved there in 1893. Wiremu Maehe Hoete, now a Reverend, gave his home as Parawai, Thames and Neho Keepa while still on Waiheke was living in Awaawaroa. The ravages of disease and illness took their toll, and Waiheke was still a long, and sometimes rough boat ride from Auckland. With the transformation of the land into larger fenced grazing lands, the kainga villages gave way to pastoral runs and Te Huruhi eventually became a sheep station. The woolsheds were kept up, but the church was allowed to fall into ruins and by 1920, even the magnificent home moved away.

With the advent of the new century, Ngati Paoa’s role in Te Huruhi faded. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron took out a lease on a seven acre block at Matiatia, where the wharf and car park are now located. In 1906 a lease was taken out by the [[Devonport]] Steam Ferry Company, whose director, Alexander Alison would become an important name in Te Huruhi history. By the end of 1907 Alison was leasing most of Hangaura as well as Matiatia and [[Owhanake Bay]] and his son, Fred, who had begun a career in boat building (as befits a ferry operator) shifted to sheep farming.

By 1911, the rules on sales of Maori land had become less restrictive, and the now subdivided Te Huruhi became a surveyor’s lunch ticket as family after family sought to cash in on land which was obviously not deemed their ancestral place, the place where their whenua (placenta) was buried in their whenua (land). In 1912 with an outbreak of smallpox, and the next year an outbreak of tuberculosis further broke the will of the remaining community. The sheep, horses, cattle and pigs did well, as the community gradually transformed into a farm. As land came up for sale, the primary purchaser was Fred and Anna Francis Alison and by the late 1920’s they owned 2,360 acres, in effect the whole of the Te Huruhi block all the way to Surfdale. All that was left in Maori title was the urupaa in Hangaura where the church had stood and a 9 acre block at the southern headland to Matiatia Harbour

In the middle of Church Bay Farm, now in its fifth Pakeha ownership, is a small section of land which remains owned by Ngati Paoa, tangata whenua. On that site stood the church of Church Bay.

==The Church of Church Bay==

The name Church Bay comes from the Maori Anglican Church erected on the two rood site by Ngati Paoa on the gently sloped rise of land now known as Church Bay Farm.

The first church was built in Church Bay in 1833, believed to be a raupo chapel, built by the Hapu in residence. It was in this year that Rev Henry Williams visited. Similar visits by Samuel Marsden in 1820 and later by Bishop Selwyn in 1842 mark acknowledgement by Anglican religious leaders of the devout nature of the Maori population of Te Huruhi. Curiously, some of this history is explained through intertribal warfare, which had its bloodiest period in this time.

Forty years earlier, in 1793, NgaPuhi, under Te Hotete (father of Hongi Heke), captured Ngati Paoa chiefs and children and took them to the Bay of Islands. Additional captives were taken by Hongi Hika in 1821, the year after Samuel Marsden’s visit. They were released in the early 1830’s, but in their time of captivity some of them, including Wiremu Hoete, had received mission schooling at Paihia. We believe this religious instruction and belief may have inspired the church’s construction upon Hoete’s return to Hangaura, and the subsequent visit by Henry Williams (the translator of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori and brother of William Williams, the author of A Dictionary of the Maori Language). Wiremu Hoete became a deacon in the church and eventually an Anglican priest.

The hapu built the last church in 1881. Hoete’s son Wiremu Hoete Kepa collected the building funds. It was built of kauri timber, measuring approximately 12 feet by 19 feet. Rehutai Pio Karaka, the last Maori owner of Hangaura, and a respected sheep farmer, was the last lay reader in the Church.

Eventually it was blown down in a gale, and the timber burned in a grass fire. The site remains tapu because of the burial grounds which were by the church.

==Pakeha Ownership==

With the Alison purchase of Maori land, Ngati Paoa’s stewardship faded.

In 1911, the Croll Family moved to Matiatia to manage the Fred Alison’s now consolidated farm. John Croll had worked for the Alison family on Browns Island where he ran a thoroughbred horse farm and later became a ticket collector on Alison’s ferry. Fred Alison had suffered a back injury during his boat building days, thus he relied on the Croll family to do much of the heavy farm work. For half a century, the history of Te Huruhi and Hangaura, or Church Bay Farm, became the story of the Alison and Croll families. John Croll and his wife Mary moved to Matiatia bringing with them several children, including Don Croll, who developed a remarkable relationship with the land, fulfilling in some regards, the stewardship which previously was ascribed to tangata whenua. Some of these stories are oral, and permission will be required to record them.

Don’s first memory of Matiatia was sitting on top of a house being shifted on a boat from Auckland. Still standing as the [[Harbour Masters]] building, Alison floated it over to become the Matiatia homestead. It was already 40 years old in 1911.

Don went to school in Te Huruhi, now known as the [[Old Blackpool School]], and on his first day at school found he found the school had 30 Maori children and he and his sister, Agnes, the only Pakeha. Thus, they soon learned Maori fluently, much to the annoyance of their parents when they would speak thus among their elders, who did not know what they were talking about.

Don became close friends with the brothers Tamati and Ngaeiho Kepa, sisters Bella and Ngaronga Araoma and a family named Werama, all of whom lived in a Maori Whare in Church Bay. On the south-western side of Church Bay (perhaps near the Quince Tree?) Croll mentions the home of Rehutai Karaka who owned both the woolshed and the fine house which was shifted to Matiatia Valley where Croll’s two sons later lived. Croll reports almost all these families left in 1916, moving to the Miranda District.

In 1923, work began on the Matiatia wharf and more people began to come to the island. Croll recited what has become a familiar lament “As the island became more populated, the peace and quietness seemed to disappear and the island started to lose some of its charm for me." Croll moved away in 1927, but at the Alison’s request moved back with his bride a few years later. In 1933 ferry service was upgraded with a steamboat known as the Duchess, operated by a company called Watkin Wallace which left Matiatia at 7 am and returned at 7 pm.

One story Don recorded is of note, and worthy of being repeated in full:

''I am now going to relate something which my eldest son and I saw one day when we were mustering and I doubt very much if any other white person has seen this before or heard about it, as up to now I have not spoken about this to anybody and to my knowledge, neither has any other member of my family. I am not going to mention the locality of this sighting as I don’t want this interfered within any way. This day, as we were mustering sheep, my son happened to look down and see this strange formation on the beach. We’d had a terrific storm the night before and the sea had washed the beach clear of shingle exposing this complete Maori burial ground. It was a most remarkable sight. It measured about 30ft by 40ft in area and consisted of row on row of skeletons ranging from children to adults. These were laid out on tea-tree sticks which were absolutely uniform in size, approximately the size of wooden peg and about 5-6 ft long. On top of these were woven flax mats and both sticks and mats looked in perfect condition, although I guess if they’d been touched, they would have disintegrated. The skeletons were more or less imbedded in the sticks and mats. We looked at this some time in awe, but having much respect for the Maori tapu, we did not touch a thing. Next day we went back and the incoming tide had covered it all over and they were in peace once more…''

In the 1960s the Alisons retired and sold the farm. The Southern part was first purchased by the Alexanders, and about a year later sold to [[Mark Week]] and his business partner.

Mark Week and his wife Istima had a choice of purchasing either the north farm (now Matiatia Estates) or the south farm (now everything south of the Ocean View Road, including Church Bay Estate and Park Point). Mark reported preferred the gentle slopes of Church Bay and a particular feeling engendered, which was absent in the northern farm, which was subsequently purchased and held by the Delamore family until it was sold to the Amtrust Pacific Ltd. owned by New York billionaire investor brothers Michael and George Karfunkel and developed as the Matiatia subdivision. Mark owned Church Bay Farm for 17 years until he sold it to Nettie and Nick Johnstone.

Mark was an unusual man, deeply associated with an organisation known as Subud. In the interview that collected the historical information cited herein, at one point he commented about the significance of Waiheke, and in particular Church Bay farm. He said that Waiheke is a very important place in the future of the world, that there is a “very high reason for its being here, and billions of people will be influenced from here.” He said no more on that subject but shifted to discussing the merits of combining sheep and cattle on farms.

Under the stewarship of [[Nick and Nettie Johnstone]], Church Bay once again changed. Originally, the Johnstones purchased all of the farm from Matiatia to the southern tip of Park Point, but shortly after purchasing it, sold Park Point to the Tichner family who are subdividing and selling it as life-style lots. The Johnstones were farmers, but found that as a farm it was not proving sufficiently productive, so over time a subdivision plan evolved for it.

Until that time, subdivisions of farms into life-style sections required the sections be economic units, meaning they had to generate an income, be it a rural panel-beater or a life-styler who planted a few low-maintenance olive trees to meet (or more truthfully, beat) the rules. What Nick Johnstone and his landscape architect [[Dennis Scott]] devised was a new standard whereby subdivision would be possible if half a million native trees were planted on the parts of the land too steep to support reasonable agriculture or a safe building section. In one way, this would, over the next hundred years, bring the role of Pakeha in Church Bay full circle, as once again, the magnificent forests which were standing here when Captain Cook arrived will stand tall, only this time, protected by law and covenant.

==The Return of Ngati Paoa to Hangaura==

Saturday, 24 June 2006. Matariki. Tribunal finds for Hauraki Maori

Jun 24, 2006 – The Waitangi Tribunal has found that substantial restitution is due to Hauraki Maori over the loss of land which has lead to poverty and social dislocation. The Tribunal has released its report on 56 claims covering the southern part of Tikapa Moana, which includes the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, the Coromandel Peninsula and the lower Waihou and Piako Valleys. The first claims were lodged with the Tribunal in 1988. The Waitangi Tribunal says the Crown has acknowledged that Hauraki iwi lost large areas of land during the land confiscation of the 1860s with very little compensation. The report says they have been marginalised by the transfer of land and resources to others, which has caused alienation and frustration. The Waitangi Tribunal says Treaty principles of dealing with utmost good faith have been breached and substantial restitution is due.

25 June, Sunday – As part of the Matariki celebration on Waiheke, beginning at noon, elders and rangatira of Ngati Paoa walked on to the last remaining Maori title land on Hangaura, the square section, landlocked in the Church Bay Farm which once was the site of the church, and remains the urupa-. Accompanied by members of [[Piritahi Marae]] and other citizens of Waiheke, stories were told whilst waiting for the elders to arrive, and then a prayer service was held. All except the elders walked the perimeter of the land, bound on three sides by a fence, and more karakia was said, including Ngati Paoa’s Eugene Rawiri acknowledging and honouring the work of Waiheke’s long-standing kaumatua, [[Kato Kauwhata]], Nga Puhi, from Nga Wha in Northland. This ceremony had the full support of the present owners of Church Bay Farm, and its farm manager attended and offered full cooperation with the Iwi.

[[File:Hangaura25-06-06.jpg]]

Photo of the ceremony taken 25 June 2006 CML
[[Category:Beaches]]
[[Category:History]]

File:Hangaura25-06-06.jpg

2015-02-21T22:40:12Z

Villager: Hanguara Return of Ngati Paoa to their ancestral site of the first Anglican Maori church in Church Bay - still in Ngati Paoa ownership. 25 June 2006. Taken by Claude Lewenz, neighbor. Other photographs of the day are available and can be supplied on r...

Hanguara Return of Ngati Paoa to their ancestral site of the first Anglican Maori church in Church Bay - still in Ngati Paoa ownership. 25 June 2006.

Taken by Claude Lewenz, neighbor. Other photographs of the day are available and can be supplied on request.

CAPOW

2008-10-27T08:52:40Z

Villager: New history

The Community and People of Waiheke (CAPOW) is an organisation formed on 03-03-03 specifically to contest the Proposed Private Plan Change 38, a proposed change to the Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan, that would have altered planning rules at Matiatia, Waiheke's gateway bay to enable development by its owner Waitemata Infrastructure Ltd (WIL).

At the time 5,000 m2 of wharf related and visitor faciity development was permitted on the land, but WIL argued that due to a prior change of wording during a "clean-up" district plan revision, (''changing a standard from "GFA" to "GDA" [gross Floor area to gross Dwelling area])'' while the plan limited dwelling development to 5,000 m2, it permitted a considerably larger (but unspecified) non-dwelling area, which in a wharf zone would mean freight sheds.

Remarkably, they got the Council planning department under manager John Duthie to agree. The planning department drew a map showing dozens of one, two and three storey buildings (presumably hotels and freight sheds) placed side by side to calculate the maximum that could be squeezed in under the rules. To do this, they placed these buildings on wetlands, on streams and other unusual places.

[[image:lu25.jpg]]

The council planner first calculated 22,000 m2 was permitted, and later upped it to 23,000 m2. WIL asked for 29,300 m2, but this was seen as an opening gambit, as it was difficult to figure out where they could realistically put that on about 3 hectares of buildable land. Thus, they had positioned the argument that they were not asking for more development than the plan allowed, but just wanted to change it to "mixed use" activities. When the question finally got to court, the judge not only threw out the GDA becoming GDA argument, but severely rebuked both WIL and Council, hitting them with $18,000 in costs that they had to pay to CAPOW. By the time the costs were assessed, WIL was no longer owned by its three investors, but the Council. Since CAPOW was made up of ratepayers, and the costs paid out of collected rates, in the end, ratepayers paid themselves, and no one was held accountable.

[[image:costs18000.jpg]]

[http://capow.info/CS/CaPoW/Default.htm CAPOW] led a community-based fight against the plan change, which proposed a mix of residential apartments (referred to by opponents as [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow Homes]]), a boutique hotel, a conference centre and a host of upscale activities relating to weddings, parties, and other amusements in what was a wharf zone. CAPOW represented over fifty 271a Parties (people who had made submissions in opposition and then petitioned the court to become a party to the case). CAPOW hired environment lawyer Richard Brabbant and experts Dennis Scott and Brian Putt to give testimony before the court, along with lay witness Gordon Hodson, who had been a planning commissioner when the original rules for Matiatia had been adopted in the 1980's. Gordon Hodson headed CAPOW's Law Committee that managed the court case and was later declared a "Living Legend" by the head of the same organisation (Auckland City Council) that he had so effectively opposed in court.

CAPOW argued the scale and scope of WIL's proposed plan change was inappropriate for the size and character of the land in question. The judge accepted many of CAPOW's arguments, and in the end determined that 10,000 m2 of mixed use activities was an appropriate maximum permitted limit.

While this was going on, and unknown to CAPOW or any of its directors, the mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard, was meeting with WIL's owners, most notably Bill Bernie and Steve Norrie, to negotiate a purchase of WIL's stock and asset of Matiatia. When the court issued its interum decision setting the cap at 10,000 m2, negotiations reportedly moved forward and on 13 July 2005, Auckland City Council announced it would purchase WIL as a company for $12.5 million, which effectively became the purchase price of the land. In doing so, it eliminated a likely lawsuit WIL may have brought against Council as WIL would have had a strong claim that Council made errors which reduced the value of WIL's investment. It eliminated the problems of Council discharging treated waste water from the Owhanake treatment plant into WIL's wetlands and it resolved, or at least centralised, the parking matters on WIL's land.

The mayor and the councillor for the Hauraki Gulf, [[Faye Storer]], sought to secure a unanimous vote for this unbudgeted purchase, but the cost of this was the minority party, Citizens and Ratepayers insisting that carpark charges be levied on what previously was a free carpark, secured by Waiheke County Council prior to amalgamation. This proved to be an asute political ploy as the heroic accolades for taking Matiatia out of investor hands rapidly turned to Waiheke outrage. CAPOW stayed out of this row, as it had stayed out of the purchase matter. It continued to focus on arguing in court over wording of the revised plan for Matiatia, and continued to focus on raising the money to pay the very expensive professionals on the case. In the end, it cost approximately $160,000 and when the court costs were paid by Auckland City Council, all debts were cleared. Had the citizen volunteer time been included in the cost of the case, at normal commercial rates for their levels of expertise, the costs would have been in the millions of dollars.

By the time the costs were finally paid, and the court's ruling made final, the CAPOW directors were exhausted. At the next AGM in June 2007, a new and very different slate of nominees was put forward. Waiheke Island has a population rich in talent, many of whom have international reputations, but keep a low profile at home. Some of these people, whose skills were deemed helpful for the next phase of the incorporated society were asked to stand for election. All agreed and were duly elected.

The new directors agreed while their charter allows a broad portfolio, their mandate focuses primarily on Matiatia. What should happen with it? Under the new rules, it equally can function as a party place or a place of learning. The new board is working on those questions, as well as focusing on maintaining its primary function as a wharf zone. The prior WIL zone would have provided very little commuter parking. The thousand plus daily commuters form the economic foundation of the island. While its image is of tourism, vineyards and real estate, it is primarily the income of the commuters that keeps the island's shops and services solvent.

People have asked, what was the fight really about? As goes Matiatia, so goes Waiheke, is a slogan CAPOW uses. There is strong pressure from the mainland to transform Waiheke into a party place, a place of hollow homes (second homes that do not function like the bach of earlier times, but a place locked up when not occupied by its owners during prime season). [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow home syndrome]] has been seen to devastate local economies in prime parts of the world. When hollow home syndrome hits, the community loses its full time citizens. Those citizens keep local businesses going during the off season; they volunteer for the essential community services, and maintain the social fabric. When they sell to a part-time buyer, the economy and the social fabric of the community is damaged, or it collapses entirely, leaving a skeleton community of security and maintenance contractors, builders and real estate agents. Matiatia was seen as the colonial beachhead for hollow homes. As a party place, it would aggravate the boom-bust seasonal cycles. Thus, the community deemed it important to make this a major contest.

The remarkable characteristic of this opposition was its broad socio-economic base. Most of the 1,500 members of the society came from the rank and file of Waiheke, the ordinary folk who make up the bulk of the island's population. But a substantial amount of the money raised came from Waiheke's wealthy residents, including a number of people who mingled socially with WIL's directors, and did not hesitate to tell them they were opposed. The premier fund raising event, Love Matiatia, held in a private home in Church Bay saw both those constituent groups come together, and many commented that the traditional divisions between those two socio-economic classes melted away that evening. All were here because they loved the island, and all were prepared to take a common stand in its defense, putting forward whatever resources they had at their command.

In the end, that message may prove to have been more important than winning in court.

CAPOW has over 1500 adult members and is an incorporated society.

[[Image:lovematiatai.jpg]],

On 22 October 2008, at the Annual General Meeting, the members voted a formal end to the Matiatia matter regarding Plan Change 38, thanked the 2000 plus supporters and some key leaders, and charted a plan for CAPOW's future. It was resolved that Capow will become a "Vigilant" society, in which it seeks to renew its membership not to take on any particular new issue, but to be placed in legal readiness to instantly respond if an issue arises where the community needs to come together and speak with one voice.

[[Category:Clubs and Organisations]]
[[Category:Politics]]

CAPOW

2008-10-27T08:49:04Z

Villager: add spaces

The Community and People of Waiheke (CAPOW) is an organisation formed on 03-03-03 specifically to contest the Proposed Private Plan Change 38, a proposed change to the Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan, that would have altered planning rules at Matiatia, Waiheke's gateway bay to enable development by its owner Waitemata Infrastructure Ltd (WIL).

At the time 5,000 m2 of wharf related and visitor faciity development was permitted on the land, but WIL argued that due to a prior change of wording during a "clean-up" district plan revision, (''changing a standard from "GFA" to "GDA" [gross Floor area to gross Dwelling area])'' while the plan limited dwelling development to 5,000 m2, it permitted a considerably larger (but unspecified) non-dwelling area, which in a wharf zone would mean freight sheds.

Remarkably, they got the Council planning department under manager John Duthie to agree. The planning department drew a map showing dozens of one, two and three storey buildings (presumably hotels and freight sheds) placed side by side to calculate the maximum that could be squeezed in under the rules. To do this, they placed these buildings on wetlands, on streams and other unusual places.

[[image:lu25.jpg]]

The council planner first calculated 22,000 m2 was permitted, and later upped it to 23,000 m2. WIL asked for 29,300 m2, but this was seen as an opening gambit, as it was difficult to figure out where they could realistically put that on about 3 hectares of buildable land. Thus, they had positioned the argument that they were not asking for more development than the plan allowed, but just wanted to change it to "mixed use" activities. When the question finally got to court, the judge not only threw out the GDA becoming GDA argument, but severely rebuked both WIL and Council, hitting them with $18,000 in costs that they had to pay to CAPOW. By the time the costs were assessed, WIL was no longer owned by its three investors, but the Council. Since CAPOW was made up of ratepayers, and the costs paid out of collected rates, in the end, ratepayers paid themselves, and no one was held accountable.

[[image:costs18000.jpg]]

[http://capow.info/CS/CaPoW/Default.htm CAPOW] led a community-based fight against the plan change, which proposed a mix of residential apartments (referred to by opponents as [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow Homes]]), a boutique hotel, a conference centre and a host of upscale activities relating to weddings, parties, and other amusements in what was a wharf zone. CAPOW represented over fifty 271a Parties (people who had made submissions in opposition and then petitioned the court to become a party to the case). CAPOW hired environment lawyer Richard Brabbant and experts Dennis Scott and Brian Putt to give testimony before the court, along with lay witness Gordon Hodson, who had been a planning commissioner when the original rules for Matiatia had been adopted in the 1980's. Gordon Hodson headed CAPOW's Law Committee that managed the court case and was later declared a "Living Legend" by the head of the same organisation (Auckland City Council) that he had so effectively opposed in court.

CAPOW argued the scale and scope of WIL's proposed plan change was inappropriate for the size and character of the land in question. The judge accepted many of CAPOW's arguments, and in the end determined that 10,000 m2 of mixed use activities was an appropriate maximum permitted limit.

While this was going on, and unknown to CAPOW or any of its directors, the mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard, was meeting with WIL's owners, most notably Bill Bernie and Steve Norrie, to negotiate a purchase of WIL's stock and asset of Matiatia. When the court issued its interum decision setting the cap at 10,000 m2, negotiations reportedly moved forward and on 13 July 2005, Auckland City Council announced it would purchase WIL as a company for $12.5 million, which effectively became the purchase price of the land. In doing so, it eliminated a likely lawsuit WIL may have brought against Council as WIL would have had a strong claim that Council made errors which reduced the value of WIL's investment. It eliminated the problems of Council discharging treated waste water from the Owhanake treatment plant into WIL's wetlands and it resolved, or at least centralised, the parking matters on WIL's land.

The mayor and the councillor for the Hauraki Gulf, [[Faye Storer]], sought to secure a unanimous vote for this unbudgeted purchase, but the cost of this was the minority party, Citizens and Ratepayers insisting that carpark charges be levied on what previously was a free carpark, secured by Waiheke County Council prior to amalgamation. This proved to be an asute political ploy as the heroic accolades for taking Matiatia out of investor hands rapidly turned to Waiheke outrage. CAPOW stayed out of this row, as it had stayed out of the purchase matter. It continued to focus on arguing in court over wording of the revised plan for Matiatia, and continued to focus on raising the money to pay the very expensive professionals on the case. In the end, it cost approximately $160,000 and when the court costs were paid by Auckland City Council, all debts were cleared. Had the citizen volunteer time been included in the cost of the case, at normal commercial rates for their levels of expertise, the costs would have been in the millions of dollars.

By the time the costs were finally paid, and the court's ruling made final, the CAPOW directors were exhausted. At the next AGM in June 2007, a new and very different slate of nominees was put forward. Waiheke Island has a population rich in talent, many of whom have international reputations, but keep a low profile at home. Some of these people, whose skills were deemed helpful for the next phase of the incorporated society were asked to stand for election. All agreed and were duly elected.

The new directors agreed while their charter allows a broad portfolio, their mandate focuses primarily on Matiatia. What should happen with it? Under the new rules, it equally can function as a party place or a place of learning. The new board is working on those questions, as well as focusing on maintaining its primary function as a wharf zone. The prior WIL zone would have provided very little commuter parking. The thousand plus daily commuters form the economic foundation of the island. While its image is of tourism, vineyards and real estate, it is primarily the income of the commuters that keeps the island's shops and services solvent.

People have asked, what was the fight really about? As goes Matiatia, so goes Waiheke, is a slogan CAPOW uses. There is strong pressure from the mainland to transform Waiheke into a party place, a place of hollow homes (second homes that do not function like the bach of earlier times, but a place locked up when not occupied by its owners during prime season). [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow home syndrome]] has been seen to devastate local economies in prime parts of the world. When hollow home syndrome hits, the community loses its full time citizens. Those citizens keep local businesses going during the off season; they volunteer for the essential community services, and maintain the social fabric. When they sell to a part-time buyer, the economy and the social fabric of the community is damaged, or it collapses entirely, leaving a skeleton community of security and maintenance contractors, builders and real estate agents. Matiatia was seen as the colonial beachhead for hollow homes. As a party place, it would aggravate the boom-bust seasonal cycles. Thus, the community deemed it important to make this a major contest.

The remarkable characteristic of this opposition was its broad socio-economic base. Most of the 1,500 members of the society came from the rank and file of Waiheke, the ordinary folk who make up the bulk of the island's population. But a substantial amount of the money raised came from Waiheke's wealthy residents, including a number of people who mingled socially with WIL's directors, and did not hesitate to tell them they were opposed. The premier fund raising event, Love Matiatia, held in a private home in Church Bay saw both those constituent groups come together, and many commented that the traditional divisions between those two socio-economic classes melted away that evening. All were here because they loved the island, and all were prepared to take a common stand in its defense, putting forward whatever resources they had at their command.

In the end, that message may prove to have been more important than winning in court.

CAPOW has over 1500 adult members and is an incorporated society.

[[Image:lovematiatai.jpg]],

[[Category:Clubs and Organisations]]
[[Category:Politics]]

File:Costs18000.jpg

2008-10-27T08:43:06Z

Villager: Court Costs assessed against WIL and Council, paid by Council who owned WIL by the time of the court decision.

Court Costs assessed against WIL and Council, paid by Council who owned WIL by the time of the court decision.

CAPOW

2008-10-27T08:39:58Z

Villager:

The Community and People of Waiheke (CAPOW) is an organisation formed on 03-03-03 specifically to contest the Proposed Private Plan Change 38, a proposed change to the Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan, that would have altered planning rules at Matiatia, Waiheke's gateway bay to enable development by its owner Waitemata Infrastructure Ltd (WIL).

At the time 5,000 m2 of wharf related and visitor faciity development was permitted on the land, but WIL argued that due to a prior change of wording during a "clean-up" district plan revision, (''changing a standard from "GFA" to "GDA" [gross Floor area to gross Dwelling area])'' while the plan limited dwelling development to 5,000 m2, it permitted a considerably larger (but unspecified) non-dwelling area, which in a wharf zone would mean freight sheds.

Remarkably, they got the Council planning department under manager John Duthie to agree. The planning department drew a map showing dozens of one, two and three storey buildings (presumably hotels and freight sheds) placed side by side to calculate the maximum that could be squeezed in under the rules. To do this, they placed these buildings on wetlands, on streams and other unusual places.

[[image:lu25.jpg]]

The council planner first calculated 22,000 m2 was permitted, and later upped it to 23,000 m2. WIL asked for 29,300 m2, but this was seen as an opening gambit, as it was difficult to figure out where they could realistically put that on about 3 hectares of buildable land. Thus, they had positioned the argument that they were not asking for more development than the plan allowed, but just wanted to change it to "mixed use" activities. When the question finally got to court, the judge not only threw out the GDA becoming GDA argument, but severely rebuked both WIL and Council, hitting them with $18,000 in costs that they had to pay to CAPOW. By the time the costs were assessed, WIL was no longer owned by its three investors, but the Council. Since CAPOW was made up of ratepayers, and the costs paid out of collected rates, in the end, ratepayers paid themselves, and no one was held accountable.

[[image:costs18000.jpg]]

[http://capow.info/CS/CaPoW/Default.htm CAPOW] led a community-based fight against the plan change, which proposed a mix of residential apartments (referred to by opponents as [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow Homes]]), a boutique hotel, a conference centre and a host of upscale activities relating to weddings, parties, and other amusements in what was a wharf zone. CAPOW represented over fifty 271a Parties (people who had made submissions in opposition and then petitioned the court to become a party to the case). CAPOW hired environment lawyer Richard Brabbant and experts Dennis Scott and Brian Putt to give testimony before the court, along with lay witness Gordon Hodson, who had been a planning commissioner when the original rules for Matiatia had been adopted in the 1980's. Gordon Hodson headed CAPOW's Law Committee that managed the court case and was later declared a "Living Legend" by the head of the same organisation (Auckland City Council) that he had so effectively opposed in court.

CAPOW argued the scale and scope of WIL's proposed plan change was inappropriate for the size and character of the land in question. The judge accepted many of CAPOW's arguments, and in the end determined that 10,000 m2 of mixed use activities was an appropriate maximum permitted limit.

While this was going on, and unknown to CAPOW or any of its directors, the mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard, was meeting with WIL's owners, most notably Bill Bernie and Steve Norrie, to negotiate a purchase of WIL's stock and asset of Matiatia. When the court issued its interum decision setting the cap at 10,000 m2, negotiations reportedly moved forward and on 13 July 2005, Auckland City Council announced it would purchase WIL as a company for $12.5 million, which effectively became the purchase price of the land. In doing so, it eliminated a likely lawsuit WIL may have brought against Council as WIL would have had a strong claim that Council made errors which reduced the value of WIL's investment. It eliminated the problems of Council discharging treated waste water from the Owhanake treatment plant into WIL's wetlands and it resolved, or at least centralised, the parking matters on WIL's land.

The mayor and the councillor for the Hauraki Gulf, [[Faye Storer]], sought to secure a unanimous vote for this unbudgeted purchase, but the cost of this was the minority party, Citizens and Ratepayers insisting that carpark charges be levied on what previously was a free carpark, secured by Waiheke County Council prior to amalgamation. This proved to be an asute political ploy as the heroic accolades for taking Matiatia out of investor hands rapidly turned to Waiheke outrage. CAPOW stayed out of this row, as it had stayed out of the purchase matter. It continued to focus on arguing in court over wording of the revised plan for Matiatia, and continued to focus on raising the money to pay the very expensive professionals on the case. In the end, it cost approximately $160,000 and when the court costs were paid by Auckland City Council, all debts were cleared. Had the citizen volunteer time been included in the cost of the case, at normal commercial rates for their levels of expertise, the costs would have been in the millions of dollars.

By the time the costs were finally paid, and the court's ruling made final, the CAPOW directors were exhausted. At the next AGM in June 2007, a new and very different slate of nominees was put forward. Waiheke Island has a population rich in talent, many of whom have international reputations, but keep a low profile at home. Some of these people, whose skills were deemed helpful for the next phase of the incorporated society were asked to stand for election. All agreed and were duly elected.

The new directors agreed while their charter allows a broad portfolio, their mandate focuses primarily on Matiatia. What should happen with it? Under the new rules, it equally can function as a party place or a place of learning. The new board is working on those questions, as well as focusing on maintaining its primary function as a wharf zone. The prior WIL zone would have provided very little commuter parking. The thousand plus daily commuters form the economic foundation of the island. While its image is of tourism, vineyards and real estate, it is primarily the income of the commuters that keeps the island's shops and services solvent.

People have asked, what was the fight really about? As goes Matiatia, so goes Waiheke, is a slogan CAPOW uses. There is strong pressure from the mainland to transform Waiheke into a party place, a place of hollow homes (second homes that do not function like the bach of earlier times, but a place locked up when not occupied by its owners during prime season). [[Hollow_House_Syndrome|Hollow home syndrome]] has been seen to devastate local economies in prime parts of the world. When hollow home syndrome hits, the community loses its full time citizens. Those citizens keep local businesses going during the off season; they volunteer for the essential community services, and maintain the social fabric. When they sell to a part-time buyer, the economy and the social fabric of the community is damaged, or it collapses entirely, leaving a skeleton community of security and maintenance contractors, builders and real estate agents. Matiatia was seen as the colonial beachhead for hollow homes. As a party place, it would aggravate the boom-bust seasonal cycles. Thus, the community deemed it important to make this a major contest.

The remarkable characteristic of this opposition was its broad socio-economic base. Most of the 1,500 members of the society came from the rank and file of Waiheke, the ordinary folk who make up the bulk of the island's population. But a substantial amount of the money raised came from Waiheke's wealthy residents, including a number of people who mingled socially with WIL's directors, and did not hesitate to tell them they were opposed. The premier fund raising event, Love Matiatia, held in a private home in Church Bay saw both those constituent groups come together, and many commented that the traditional divisions between those two socio-economic classes melted away that evening. All were here because they loved the island, and all were prepared to take a common stand in its defense, putting forward whatever resources they had at their command.

In the end, that message may prove to have been more important than winning in court.

CAPOW has over 1500 adult members and is an incorporated society.

[[Image:lovematiatai.jpg]],

[[Category:Clubs and Organisations]]
[[Category:Politics]]

Hollow House Syndrome

2008-02-14T22:25:18Z

Villager: Added chart

Hollow House Syndrome is a descriptive term that encompasses the dark side of what real estate professionals breathlessly promote as "Holiday Homes". It began in Switzerland in the 1970s, when urban Swiss discovered they could purchase beautiful ancient homes in small Swiss mountain villages for very low prices, perhaps as low as a month's pay or their company's annual bonus. During prime time - summer when the mountain flowers were in bloom, or around Christmas for the archetypal snow holiday, they would live in their new home. The rest of the year they would lock it up and let it sit empty. The Swiss have attempted to use legislation to curb the problem.

When Peter Mayle wrote his book "A Year in Provence", thousands of chilly Brits followed his lead and bought second homes in the French countryside... using it for about four weeks in August and then locking it up for the other 11 months. As more and more were converted, the local shops and bistros closed because their year-round buyers moved away. Eventually the only locals left were repairmen, maintenance and security people looking after the hollow homes. Locals were all too willing to cash in, selling their homes for twice, thrice or even ten times the price their neighbours could pay. The difference between what a London banker earns and a family farmer or the operator of a bistro in a local French village created a dual market. Whole villages in France were conquered by British... the first conquest of love (as in "Dahling, I just love our little place in Provence, so quaint... you must come visit us). People whose families had inhabited the village for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years were voluntarily displaced. Cultures died and nobody seems to notice.

It happened in the Algarve of Portugal, Cornwall and Devon in England, in much of Scotland. Indeed it seems to happen almost anywhere the land is cheap, the environment has something special and the natives both willing and not overly hostile.

Hollow house syndrome hit Waiheke Island in 2002. Where the average home on the island in 2000 was $200,000 (which requires a household income of about $50,000 to secure a mortgage - at a time when $50,000 was the average household income in Auckland), five years later the average home sale had jumped to $500,000. But the average household income in the 2006 census was about $60,000. What happened?

[[Image:NZ pop by age.jpg]]

New Zealand has a camel hump demographic. It has a huge population in their peak earning and a very small population at the entry level. This peak earning group 40 to 60 has created a luxury market, and after buying the flash car, taking the overseas holidays and adorning with only the best brands, the next status purchase is the holiday home on Waiheke. Given that all have access to the same credit sources, prices rise until they match the purchasing power of this camel hump buyer.

Unlike the old baches of Waiheke, where the price was cheap because everyone in NZ earned about the same amount, hollow homes are expensive. Because they are expensive, and have fancy carpets and nice furniture, the owners have no desire or need to rent them out when they are not in residence. Tenants can't afford to pay a rent that comes near the mortgage, so the owners pull the white curtains, set the burglar alarm and call the security company. They leave it empty... hollow.

This benefits the territorial authority who taxes homes through universal rates. They get the money, but there is no one home to demand services. However, the local government act states the purpose of local government is “'''to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and for the future'''” and this is where the whole thing turns to custard.

Hollow homes destroy the economic, social and cultural well-being of communities.

People who live full time in a community become stakeholders. They have a stake in the well-being of their community and they volunteer their time, their skills, their love and their money to improve and uphold the well-being of their community. They are givers. In contrast, hollow home owners are, for the most part, not there. They may come to the local fund raiser held during prime time, and they may shop in the local stores when they are in residence, but when the local economy needs them the most – during off season, they are not there.

They are useless in civic organisations because they cannot come to meetings or volunteer if they are not in residence. They don’t volunteer for the Fire Brigade, the Red Cross or stand for service on the School Board. When someone gets hurt, or a child suffers a debilitating illness that burdens the family beyond what the state provides, they are not there to chip in. They love the cafés and restaurants filling them to capacity during prime season, crowding out the remaining locals. But during off-season the cafés struggle to survive and many fail because of the boom-bust nature fed by Hollow Home Syndrome.

From a social standpoint, their owners become leaches on the society. They arrive in prime time and expect to be welcomed by the locals – who being friendly folk for the most part, oblige. They are invited to parties where they tell of where they have been… always better places than “here” during the off-season. Because the part-timers represent the normal spectrum of society, locals become friends with them while they are in residence. But then they leave, and the social bonds that naturally form are cut until next year. Most people do not notice this effect, they simply accept it. However, eventually the social fabric of the society becomes weaker… bond-break, bond-break.

The community begins to lose its characters. The artists who were attracted by the beauty and the low prices can’t afford the rent. Those characters who bought in look at the current market price for their home and realise they can get ten times what they paid if they cash in and move to somewhere else that still is cheap. The solo mother who put on the dance classes for young girls moves away, the dance classes end. She also put on community shows, they end. Land that was available for cheap (or free) horse grazing gets bought up by millionaires who prefer to hire mowing companies. Gradually the pony club suffers and the serious riders move away.

The community built an intertribal, interracial marae back when community spirit was strong and the locals felt they needed a place to express mana whenua, given that tangata whenua had for the most part sold up in the early 1900’s. Strong leaders emerge, but then they leave. One deputy chair plainly saw he could not get a toe hold because housing prices were too high. Moved to the Cook Islands where his wife has ancestral lands. Another, an artist, shifted on – again because of the real estate pressure. Members supported on the benefit are somewhat protected, as the state provides adjustments for local cost of rent, but those seeking to stand on their own find the cost pressures simply too great. The biggest threat to the marae over the next decade or two is hollow house syndrome… that they will see their membership base erode because they can’t compete.

The economy becomes one of real estate sales, house builders, home maintenance companies, and others catering to the hollow home owners. The society gradually weakens as the glue that holds it together moves away. The culture loses its flavour as its people, those who hold and create the culture move to a more affordable place. The measurements of well-being show a decline.

In the end, it is a balance. Hollow home syndrome is toxic, but incrementally so. The more hollow homes, the more the community suffers.

There are two antidotes for hollow home syndrome – legislative and economic. Local governments can tax hollow homes higher, in effect putting a value on volunteerism. There are pony clubs in Auckland that have two membership rates. A low one for the traditional member who joins in the working bees to keep the club up, and a much higher one for the families who want to their child to ride, but not do any volunteer work. Many families are happy to pay, because they have the money, but not the time. The same model can be looked at by local government.

The economic model requires the community, and its planning professionals, make a concerted effort to create an economic environment that supports household incomes that can compete with hollow home buyers. If the average household income is $50,000, the average home price of $500,000 is unaffordable. But if the average household income can be increased to $120,000, balance is restored. In this latter case, there will be displacement. People with low incomes will be displaced by people with higher incomes, but the community will regain its strength as it gets full time stakeholding participants.

To earn $120,000 a year, one needs to be a professional or a successful entrepreneur. For such people to be attracted to a place like Waiheke, the economic conditions to make it possible need to be there… a place to work, high speed broadband, good schools, good transport, and a proactive calling. Of these, Waiheke lacks places to work and the schools are still struggling to get there. Both can be addressed.

In the absence of any such concerted effort, hollow house syndrome will respond to market forces. When credit tightens, the global economy retracts or the camel hump of demographics shifts from high demand to over-supply of homes, the prices will crash. Not drop, but crash because the purchase was discretionary and in part a symbol of status rather than an expression of need.

File:NZ pop by age.jpg

2008-02-14T22:23:32Z

Villager: Statistics from NZ Census placed into a bar chart showing population by age as of 2006

Statistics from NZ Census placed into a bar chart showing population by age as of 2006

Hollow House Syndrome

2008-02-14T22:17:33Z

Villager:

Hollow House Syndrome is a descriptive term that encompasses the dark side of what real estate professionals breathlessly promote as "Holiday Homes". It began in Switzerland in the 1970s, when urban Swiss discovered they could purchase beautiful ancient homes in small Swiss mountain villages for very low prices, perhaps as low as a month's pay or their company's annual bonus. During prime time - summer when the mountain flowers were in bloom, or around Christmas for the archetypal snow holiday, they would live in their new home. The rest of the year they would lock it up and let it sit empty. The Swiss have attempted to use legislation to curb the problem.

When Peter Mayle wrote his book "A Year in Provence", thousands of chilly Brits followed his lead and bought second homes in the French countryside... using it for about four weeks in August and then locking it up for the other 11 months. As more and more were converted, the local shops and bistros closed because their year-round buyers moved away. Eventually the only locals left were repairmen, maintenance and security people looking after the hollow homes. Locals were all too willing to cash in, selling their homes for twice, thrice or even ten times the price their neighbours could pay. The difference between what a London banker earns and a family farmer or the operator of a bistro in a local French village created a dual market. Whole villages in France were conquered by British... the first conquest of love (as in "Dahling, I just love our little place in Provence, so quaint... you must come visit us). People whose families had inhabited the village for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years were voluntarily displaced. Cultures died and nobody seems to notice.

It happened in the Algarve of Portugal, Cornwall and Devon in England, in much of Scotland. Indeed it seems to happen almost anywhere the land is cheap, the environment has something special and the natives both willing and not overly hostile.

Hollow house syndrome hit Waiheke Island in 2002. Where the average home on the island in 2000 was $200,000 (which requires a household income of about $50,000 to secure a mortgage - at a time when $50,000 was the average household income in Auckland), five years later the average home sale had jumped to $500,000. But the average household income in the 2006 census was about $60,000. What happened?

New Zealand has a camel hump demographic. It has a huge population in their peak earning and a very small population at the entry level. This peak earning group 40 to 60 has created a luxury market, and after buying the flash car, taking the overseas holidays and adorning with only the best brands, the next status purchase is the holiday home on Waiheke. Given that all have access to the same credit sources, prices rise until they match the purchasing power of this camel hump buyer.

Unlike the old baches of Waiheke, where the price was cheap because everyone in NZ earned about the same amount, hollow homes are expensive. Because they are expensive, and have fancy carpets and nice furniture, the owners have no desire or need to rent them out when they are not in residence. Tenants can't afford to pay a rent that comes near the mortgage, so the owners pull the white curtains, set the burglar alarm and call the security company. They leave it empty... hollow.

This benefits the territorial authority who taxes homes through universal rates. They get the money, but there is no one home to demand services. However, the local government act states the purpose of local government is “'''to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and for the future'''” and this is where the whole thing turns to custard.

Hollow homes destroy the economic, social and cultural well-being of communities.

People who live full time in a community become stakeholders. They have a stake in the well-being of their community and they volunteer their time, their skills, their love and their money to improve and uphold the well-being of their community. They are givers. In contrast, hollow home owners are, for the most part, not there. They may come to the local fund raiser held during prime time, and they may shop in the local stores when they are in residence, but when the local economy needs them the most – during off season, they are not there.

They are useless in civic organisations because they cannot come to meetings or volunteer if they are not in residence. They don’t volunteer for the Fire Brigade, the Red Cross or stand for service on the School Board. When someone gets hurt, or a child suffers a debilitating illness that burdens the family beyond what the state provides, they are not there to chip in. They love the cafés and restaurants filling them to capacity during prime season, crowding out the remaining locals. But during off-season the cafés struggle to survive and many fail because of the boom-bust nature fed by Hollow Home Syndrome.

From a social standpoint, their owners become leaches on the society. They arrive in prime time and expect to be welcomed by the locals – who being friendly folk for the most part, oblige. They are invited to parties where they tell of where they have been… always better places than “here” during the off-season. Because the part-timers represent the normal spectrum of society, locals become friends with them while they are in residence. But then they leave, and the social bonds that naturally form are cut until next year. Most people do not notice this effect, they simply accept it. However, eventually the social fabric of the society becomes weaker… bond-break, bond-break.

The community begins to lose its characters. The artists who were attracted by the beauty and the low prices can’t afford the rent. Those characters who bought in look at the current market price for their home and realise they can get ten times what they paid if they cash in and move to somewhere else that still is cheap. The solo mother who put on the dance classes for young girls moves away, the dance classes end. She also put on community shows, they end. Land that was available for cheap (or free) horse grazing gets bought up by millionaires who prefer to hire mowing companies. Gradually the pony club suffers and the serious riders move away.

The community built an intertribal, interracial marae back when community spirit was strong and the locals felt they needed a place to express mana whenua, given that tangata whenua had for the most part sold up in the early 1900’s. Strong leaders emerge, but then they leave. One deputy chair plainly saw he could not get a toe hold because housing prices were too high. Moved to the Cook Islands where his wife has ancestral lands. Another, an artist, shifted on – again because of the real estate pressure. Members supported on the benefit are somewhat protected, as the state provides adjustments for local cost of rent, but those seeking to stand on their own find the cost pressures simply too great. The biggest threat to the marae over the next decade or two is hollow house syndrome… that they will see their membership base erode because they can’t compete.

The economy becomes one of real estate sales, house builders, home maintenance companies, and others catering to the hollow home owners. The society gradually weakens as the glue that holds it together moves away. The culture loses its flavour as its people, those who hold and create the culture move to a more affordable place. The measurements of well-being show a decline.

In the end, it is a balance. Hollow home syndrome is toxic, but incrementally so. The more hollow homes, the more the community suffers.

There are two antidotes for hollow home syndrome – legislative and economic. Local governments can tax hollow homes higher, in effect putting a value on volunteerism. There are pony clubs in Auckland that have two membership rates. A low one for the traditional member who joins in the working bees to keep the club up, and a much higher one for the families who want to their child to ride, but not do any volunteer work. Many families are happy to pay, because they have the money, but not the time. The same model can be looked at by local government.

The economic model requires the community, and its planning professionals, make a concerted effort to create an economic environment that supports household incomes that can compete with hollow home buyers. If the average household income is $50,000, the average home price of $500,000 is unaffordable. But if the average household income can be increased to $120,000, balance is restored. In this latter case, there will be displacement. People with low incomes will be displaced by people with higher incomes, but the community will regain its strength as it gets full time stakeholding participants.

To earn $120,000 a year, one needs to be a professional or a successful entrepreneur. For such people to be attracted to a place like Waiheke, the economic conditions to make it possible need to be there… a place to work, high speed broadband, good schools, good transport, and a proactive calling. Of these, Waiheke lacks places to work and the schools are still struggling to get there. Both can be addressed.

In the absence of any such concerted effort, hollow house syndrome will respond to market forces. When credit tightens, the global economy retracts or the camel hump of demographics shifts from high demand to over-supply of homes, the prices will crash. Not drop, but crash because the purchase was discretionary and in part a symbol of status rather than an expression of need.

Hollow House Syndrome

2008-02-14T22:14:40Z

Villager: Socio-economic forces at work on Waiheke

Hollow House Syndrome is a descriptive term that encompasses the dark side of what real estate professionals breathlessly promote as "Holiday Homes". It began in Switzerland in the 1970s, when urban Swiss discovered they could purchase beautiful ancient homes in small Swiss mountain villages for very low prices, perhaps as low as a month's pay or their company's annual bonus. During prime time - summer when the mountain flowers were in bloom, or around Christmas for the archetypal snow holiday, they would live in their new home. The rest of the year they would lock it up and let it sit empty. The Swiss have attempted to use legislation to curb the problem.

When Peter Mayle wrote his book "A Year in Provence", thousands of chilly Brits followed his lead and bought second homes in the French countryside... using it for about four weeks in August and then locking it up for the other 11 months. As more and more were converted, the local shops and bistros closed because their year-round buyers moved away. Eventually the only locals left were repairmen, maintenance and security people looking after the hollow homes. Locals were all too willing to cash in, selling their homes for twice, thrice or even ten times the price their neighbours could pay. The difference between what a London banker earns and a family farmer or the operator of a bistro in a local French village created a dual market. Whole villages in France were conquered by British... the first conquest of love (as in "Dahling, I just love our little place in Provence, so quaint... you must come visit us). People whose families had inhabited the village for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years were voluntarily displaced. Cultures died and nobody seems to notice.

It happened in the Algarve of Portugal, Cornwall and Devon in England, in much of Scotland. Indeed it seems to happen almost anywhere the land is cheap, the environment has something special and the natives both willing and not overly hostile.

Hollow house syndrome hit Waiheke Island in 2002. Where the average home on the island in 2000 was $200,000 (which requires a household income of about $50,000 to secure a mortgage - at a time when $50,000 was the average household income in Auckland), five years later the average home sale had jumped to $500,000. But the average household income in the 2006 census was about $60,000. What happened?

New Zealand has a camel hump demographic. It has a huge population in their peak earning and a very small population at the entry level. This peak earning group 40 to 60 has created a luxury market, and after buying the flash car, taking the overseas holidays and adorning with only the best brands, the next status purchase is the holiday home on Waiheke. Given that all have access to the same credit sources, prices rise until they match the purchasing power of this camel hump buyer.

Unlike the old baches of Waiheke, where the price was cheap because everyone in NZ earned about the same amount, hollow homes are expensive. Because they are expensive, and have fancy carpets and nice furniture, the owners have no desire or need to rent them out when they are not in residence. Tenants can't afford to pay a rent that comes near the mortgage, so the owners pull the white curtains, set the burglar alarm and call the security company. They leave it empty... hollow.

This benefits the territorial authority who taxes homes through universal rates. They get the money, but there is no one home to demand services. However, the local government act states the purpose of local government is “to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and for the future” and this is where the whole thing turns to custard.

Hollow homes destroy the economic, social and cultural well-being of communities.

People who live full time in a community become stakeholders. They have a stake in the well-being of their community and they volunteer their time, their skills, their love and their money to improve and uphold the well-being of their community. They are givers. In contrast, hollow home owners are, for the most part, not there. They may come to the local fund raiser held during prime time, and they may shop in the local stores when they are in residence, but when the local economy needs them the most – during off season, they are not there.
They are useless in civic organisations because they cannot come to meetings or volunteer if they are not in residence. They don’t volunteer for the Fire Brigade, the Red Cross or stand for service on the School Board. When someone gets hurt, or a child suffers a debilitating illness that burdens the family beyond what the state provides, they are not there to chip in. They love the cafés and restaurants filling them to capacity during prime season, crowding out the remaining locals. But during off-season the cafés struggle to survive and many fail because of the boom-bust nature fed by Hollow Home Syndrome.

From a social standpoint, their owners become leaches on the society. They arrive in prime time and expect to be welcomed by the locals – who being friendly folk for the most part, oblige. They are invited to parties where they tell of where they have been… always better places than “here” during the off-season. Because the part-timers represent the normal spectrum of society, locals become friends with them while they are in residence. But then they leave, and the social bonds that naturally form are cut until next year. Most people do not notice this effect, they simply accept it. However, eventually the social fabric of the society becomes weaker… bond-break, bond-break.

The community begins to lose its characters. The artists who were attracted by the beauty and the low prices can’t afford the rent. Those characters who bought in look at the current market price for their home and realise they can get ten times what they paid if they cash in and move to somewhere else that still is cheap. The solo mother who put on the dance classes for young girls moves away, the dance classes end. She also put on community shows, they end. Land that was available for cheap (or free) horse grazing gets bought up by millionaires who prefer to hire mowing companies. Gradually the pony club suffers and the serious riders move away.

The community built an intertribal, interracial marae back when community spirit was strong and the locals felt they needed a place to express mana whenua, given that tangata whenua had for the most part sold up in the early 1900’s. Strong leaders emerge, but then they leave. One deputy chair plainly saw he could not get a toe hold because housing prices were too high. Moved to the Cook Islands where his wife has ancestral lands. Another, an artist, shifted on – again because of the real estate pressure. Members supported on the benefit are somewhat protected, as the state provides adjustments for local cost of rent, but those seeking to stand on their own find the cost pressures simply too great. The biggest threat to the marae over the next decade or two is hollow house syndrome… that they will see their membership base erode because they can’t compete.

The economy becomes one of real estate sales, house builders, home maintenance companies, and others catering to the hollow home owners. The society gradually weakens as the glue that holds it together moves away. The culture loses its flavour as its people, those who hold and create the culture move to a more affordable place. The measurements of well-being show a decline.

In the end, it is a balance. Hollow home syndrome is toxic, but incrementally so. The more hollow homes, the more the community suffers.

There are two antidotes for hollow home syndrome – legislative and economic. Local governments can tax hollow homes higher, in effect putting a value on volunteerism. There are pony clubs in Auckland that have two membership rates. A low one for the traditional member who joins in the working bees to keep the club up, and a much higher one for the families who want to their child to ride, but not do any volunteer work. Many families are happy to pay, because they have the money, but not the time. The same model can be looked at by local government.

The economic model requires the community, and its planning professionals, make a concerted effort to create an economic environment that supports household incomes that can compete with hollow home buyers. If the average household income is $50,000, the average home price of $500,000 is unaffordable. But if the average household income can be increased to $120,000, balance is restored. In this latter case, there will be displacement. People with low incomes will be displaced by people with higher incomes, but the community will regain its strength as it gets full time stakeholding participants.

To earn $120,000 a year, one needs to be a professional or a successful entrepreneur. For such people to be attracted to a place like Waiheke, the economic conditions to make it possible need to be there… a place to work, high speed broadband, good schools, good transport, and a proactive calling. Of these, Waiheke lacks places to work and the schools are still struggling to get there. Both can be addressed.

In the absence of any such concerted effort, hollow house syndrome will respond to market forces. When credit tightens, the global economy retracts or the camel hump of demographics shifts from high demand to over-supply of homes, the prices will crash. Not drop, but crash because the purchase was discretionary and in part a symbol of status rather than an expression of need.

Peace Vigil 2003

2007-11-15T08:36:32Z

Villager:

This photo is as recorded on the camera. No editing. No scientific explantion. None of the adjoining photos show this.

World Peace Vigil 16 March 2003.
[[Image:Vigil DSC05183.jpg]]

Your thoughts please.

File:Vigil DSC05183.jpg

2007-11-15T08:33:12Z

Villager:

Kato Kauwhata

2007-11-15T08:11:33Z

Villager: Typo fixed

Whakaita (Kato) Kauwhata (Ngapuhi) was the venerable and much-loved chairman of [[Piritahi Marae]] and the island's most widely recognised kaumatua. He died on 11 November 2007 at his home in Rocky Bay with his family around him. He was taken that first night to lie on Piritahi Marae before being taken north to lie for 2 nights on his home marae in Nga Wha, Kaikohe. He was buried on the 14th of November in the Nga Wha urupa alongside his wife.

Kato is survived by both his son and daughter and over 40 grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. He moved to Waiheke in 1970 after the death of his wife and purchased his section in Rocky Bay where he lived for the rest of his life. He was Chairman of Piritahi Marae for much of the time from its start in 1971 through to his death. Kato was a long time member of the Buffalo Lodge and a member of the 28th Maori Battalion.

For many years Kato grew crops that he distributed to the community through the Marae. He was famous for his Kumara harvests that would provide the Marae annually with a full storehouse. He passed on his legacy to the children of Waiheke by involving them with annual plantings. As Kaumatua of both the bilingual units Nga Purapura Akoranga and Piringakau in the local schools, the love and respect for Kato held by the children of the island was demonstrated on the day of his leaving the island by the lining of the main road to the car ferry by all of the children from the Kindergarten, Waiheke High School and Te Huruhi Primary school. As his hearse passed spontaneous haka carried like a wave along the road carrying him on his journey.

His legacy still lives on in a healthy thriving Marae acting as a turangawaewae for the local Maori community as well as any one else wanting to spend time there. His grandson, Tomi Ropata, continues in the work started under Kato, of carving the Wharenui, Kia Piritahi.

<p>
[[Image:Kato.jpg]]
[[Category: People]]

Waiheke Island

2007-11-12T09:01:22Z

Villager:

[[Image:island.jpg|frame|left|Waiheke Island]]Waiheke Island is situated in the [[Hauraki Gulf]].

Latitude (DMS): 36° 47' 60 S
Longitude (DMS): 175° 5' 60 E

The 175th meridian passes through the island in Church Bay and Matiatia, not far from Mud Brick Restaurant. The apogee of Waiheke Island is in Spain, not far from Gibraltar.

Only 17km from central [[Auckland]], Waiheke is an easy 35-40 minute ferry ride from the city's downtown piers. It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after [[Great Barrier Island]]. Its proximity to Auckland means it has become New Zealand third most populated island (first is North Island, second is South Island).

The climate is often said to be generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain, and more sunshine hours. The evidence for this claim has not been supplied, although in the summer locals note with frustration the dark rainclouds over the Ithsmus whilst the island remains parched and smaller water tanks run dry.

Waiheke Island has an area of 9324 hectares and a permanent population of around 8000 residents. Visitors at the peak of summer are said to bring numbers on the island up to 25,000 to 30,000 but there is no real proof. According to former City Councillor, Faye Storer, an earlier community board made up that number when they were pressed to provide a number. The actual estimate could easily be calculated by the ferry counts (inbound minus outbound over a six week period).

For many years considered something of a refuge for anyone in need of refuge, Waiheke has these days become an eclectic community, made of all social strata. [[Image:Arrival.jpg|frame|right|Arrival at Matiatia]]Luxury homes pepper the hills and coastline, while the valleys are still full of modest homes and baches.

Tangata whenua for the island is [[Ngati Paoa]], one of the tribes in the Hauraki Confederation. The island's marae, however, is [[Piritahi Marae]], a pan-cultural centre established on a city council reserve at the western end of Blackpool. Its long-term chairman and prominent kaumatua was [[Kato Kauwhata]] who died on 11 November 2007.

===History===

According to local historian Paul Monin, no evidence can be found as to what the name "Waiheke" means. Anecdotal stories circulated by tourism groups are urban legends. Monin explained that because of the Maori wars in the area, by the time Pakeha began recording local history, those Maori who would have known the original meaning were dead. The conventional explanation is that it means "Cascading Waters" with an attached story relating to a modest waterfall on the island. This explanation is doubtful in part because except in storms, most water on Waiheke drips - the island does not have cascading rivers. However, Wai also means a form of memory, explained by some Maori scholars as the memory of all that was and will be, and Heke means a migrant or party of migrants. Could this be the island of migrants remembering who they are? Seems to accurately describe many folk on the island.

Note: Some Maori from Ngati Whatua suggest ''Waiheke'' may have been a family name. This needs to be investigated.

[[Category:Islands]]

Waiheke Island

2007-11-12T08:50:16Z

Villager:

[[Image:island.jpg|frame|left|Waiheke Island]]Waiheke Island is situated in the [[Hauraki Gulf]].

Latitude (DMS): 36° 47' 60 S
Longitude (DMS): 175° 5' 60 E

The 175th meridian passes through the island in Church Bay and Matiatia, not far from Mud Brick Restaurant. The apogee of Waiheke Island is in Spain, not far from Gibraltar.

Only 17km from central [[Auckland]], Waiheke is an easy 35-40 minute ferry ride from the city's downtown piers. It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after [[Great Barrier Island]]. Its proximity to Auckland means it has become New Zealand third most populated island.

The climate is often said to be generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain, and more sunshine hours. There is no real evidence of this.

Waiheke Island has an area of 9324 hectares and a permanent population of around 8000 residents. Visitors at the peak of summer are said to bring numbers on the island up to 25,000 to 30,000 but, again, there is no real proof. According to former City Councillor, Faye Storer, an earlier community board made up that number when they were pressed to provide a number. The actual estimate could easily be calculated by the ferry counts (inbound minus outbound over a six week period).

For many years considered something of a refuge for anyone in need of refuge, Waiheke has these days become an eclectic community, made of all social strata. [[Image:Arrival.jpg|frame|right|Arrival at Matiatia]]Luxury homes pepper the hills and coastline, while the valleys are still full of modest homes and baches.

Tangata whenua for the island is [[Ngati Paoa]], one of the tribes in the Hauraki Confederation. The island's marae, however, is [[Piritahi Marae]], a pan-cultural centre established on a city council reserve at the western end of Blackpool. Its long-term chairman and prominent kaumatua was [[Kato Kauwhata]] who died on 11 November 2007.

===History===

According to local historian Paul Monin, no evidence can be found as to what the name "Waiheke" means. Anecdotal stories circulated by tourism groups are urban legends. Monin explained that because of the Maori wars in the area, by the time Pakeha began recording local history, those Maori who would have known the original meaning were dead. The conventional explanation is that it means "Cascading waters" with an attached story relating to a modest waterfall on the island. However, Wai also means a form of memory, explained by some Maori scholars as the memory of all that was and will be, and Heke means a migrant or party of migrants. Could this be the island of migrants remembering who they are? Seems to accurately describe many folk on the island.

Note: Some Maori from Ngati Whatua suggest it may have been a family name. This needs to be investigated.

[[Category:Islands]]

Waiheke Island

2007-11-12T08:48:25Z

Villager:

[[Image:island.jpg|frame|left|Waiheke Island]]Waiheke Island is situated in the [[Hauraki Gulf]].

Latitude (DMS): 36° 47' 60 S
Longitude (DMS): 175° 5' 60 E

The 175th meridian passes through the island in Church Bay and Matiatia, not far from Mud Brick Restaurant. The apogee of Waiheke Island is in Spain, not far from Gibraltar.

Only 17km from central [[Auckland]], Waiheke is an easy 35-40 minute ferry ride from the city's downtown piers. It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after [[Great Barrier Island]]. Its proximity to Auckland means it has become New Zealand third most populated island.

The climate is often said to be generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain, and more sunshine hours. There is no real evidence of this.

Waiheke Island has an area of 9324 hectares and a permanent population of around 8000 residents. Visitors at the peak of summer are said to bring numbers on the island up to 25,000 to 30,000 but, again, there is no real proof. According to former City Councillor, Faye Storer, an earlier community board made up that number when they were pressed to provide a number. The actual estimate could easily be calculated by the ferry counts (inbound minus outbound over a six week period).

For many years considered something of a refuge for anyone in need of refuge, Waiheke has these days become an eclectic community, made of all social strata. [[Image:Arrival.jpg|frame|right|Arrival at Matiatia]]Luxury homes pepper the hills and coastline, while the valleys are still full of modest homes and baches.

Tangata whenua for the island is [[Ngati Paoa]], one of the tribes in the Hauraki Confederation. The island's marae, however, is [[Piritahi Marae]], a pan-cultural centre established on a city council reserve at the western end of Blackpool. Its long-term chairman and prominent kaumatua was [[Kato Kauwhata]] who died on 11 November 2007.

===History===

According to local historian Paul Monin, no evidence can be found as to what the name "Waiheke" means. Anecdotal stories circulated by tourism groups are urban legends. Monin explained that because of the Maori wars in the area, by the time Pakeha began recording local history those Maori who would have known the original meaning were dead. The conventional explanation is that it means "Cascading waters" with an attached story relating to a modest waterfall on the island. However, Wai also means a form of memory, explained by some Maori scholars as the memory of all that was and will be, and Heke means a migrant or party of migrants. Could this be the island of migrants remembering who they are? Seems to accurately describe many folk on the island.

Note: Some Maori from Ngati Whatua suggest it may have been a family name. This needs to be investigated.

[[Category:Islands]]

Waiheke Island

2007-11-12T08:46:48Z

Villager:

[[Image:island.jpg|frame|left|Waiheke Island]]Waiheke Island is situated in the [[Hauraki Gulf]].

Latitude (DMS): 36° 47' 60 S
Longitude (DMS): 175° 5' 60 E

Only 17km from central [[Auckland]], Waiheke is an easy 35-40 minute ferry ride from the city's downtown piers. It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after [[Great Barrier Island]]. Its proximity to Auckland means it has become New Zealand third most populated island.

The climate is often said to be generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain, and more sunshine hours. There is no real evidence of this.

Waiheke Island has an area of 9324 hectares and a permanent population of around 8000 residents. Visitors at the peak of summer are said to bring numbers on the island up to 25,000 to 30,000 but, again, there is no real proof. According to former City Councillor, Faye Storer, an earlier community board made up that number when they were pressed to provide a number. The actual estimate could easily be calculated by the ferry counts (inbound minus outbound over a six week period).

For many years considered something of a refuge for anyone in need of refuge, Waiheke has these days become an eclectic community, made of all social strata. [[Image:Arrival.jpg|frame|right|Arrival at Matiatia]]Luxury homes pepper the hills and coastline, while the valleys are still full of modest homes and baches.

Tangata whenua for the island is [[Ngati Paoa]], one of the tribes in the Hauraki Confederation. The island's marae, however, is [[Piritahi Marae]], a pan-cultural centre established on a city council reserve at the western end of Blackpool. Its long-term chairman and prominent kaumatua was [[Kato Kauwhata]] who died on 11 November 2007.

===History===

According to local historian Paul Monin, no evidence can be found as to what the name "Waiheke" means. Anecdotal stories circulated by tourism groups are urban legends. Monin explained that because of the Maori wars in the area, by the time Pakeha began recording local history those Maori who would have known the original meaning were dead. The conventional explanation is that it means "Cascading waters" with an attached story relating to a modest waterfall on the island. However, Wai also means a form of memory, explained by some Maori scholars as the memory of all that was and will be, and Heke means a migrant or party of migrants. Could this be the island of migrants remembering who they are? Seems to accurately describe many folk on the island.

Note: Some Maori from Ngati Whatua suggest it may have been a family name. This needs to be investigated.

[[Category:Islands]]

Waiheke Island

2007-11-12T08:46:19Z

Villager: Add pics and text

[[Image:island.jpg|frame|left|Waiheke Island]]Waiheke Island is situated in the [[Hauraki Gulf]].

Latitude (DMS): 36° 47' 60 S
Longitude (DMS): 175° 5' 60 E

Only 17km from central [[Auckland]], Waiheke is an easy 35-40 minute ferry ride from the city's downtown piers. It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after [[Great Barrier Island]]. Its proximity to Auckland means it has become New Zealand third most populated island.

The climate is often said to be generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain, and more sunshine hours. There is no real evidence of this.

Waiheke Island has an area of 9324 hectares and a permanent population of around 8000 residents. Visitors at the peak of summer are said to bring numbers on the island up to 25,000 to 30,000 but, again, there is no real proof. According to former City Councillor, Faye Storer, an earlier community board made up that number when they were pressed to provide a number. The actual estimate could easily be calculated by the ferry counts (inbound minus outbound over a six week period).

For many years considered something of a refuge for anyone in need of refuge, Waiheke has these days become an eclectic community, made of all social strata. [[Image:Arrival.jpg|frame|right|Arrival at Matiatia]]Luxury homes pepper the hills and coastline, while the valleys are still full of modest homes and baches.

Tangata whenua for the island is [[Ngati Paoa]], one of the tribes in the Hauraki Confederation. The island's marae, however, is [[Piritahi Marae]], a pan-cultural centre established on a city council reserve at the western end of Blackpool. Its long-term chairman and prominent kaumatua was [[Kato Kauwhata]] who died on 11 November 2007.

According to local historian Paul Monin, no evidence can be found as to what the name "Waiheke" means. Anecdotal stories circulated by tourism groups are urban legends. Monin explained that because of the Maori wars in the area, by the time Pakeha began recording local history those Maori who would have known the original meaning were dead. The conventional explanation is that it means "Cascading waters" with an attached story relating to a modest waterfall on the island. However, Wai also means a form of memory, explained by some Maori scholars as the memory of all that was and will be, and Heke means a migrant or party of migrants. Could this be the island of migrants remembering who they are? Seems to accurately describe many folk on the island.

Note: Some Maori from Ngati Whatua suggest it may have been a family name. This needs to be investigated.

===History===

[[Category:Islands]]

File:Arrival.jpg

2007-11-12T08:26:12Z

Villager:

Onetangi Beach Races

2007-11-12T08:21:01Z

Villager: Add picture

'''Waiheke’s big day out at the beach'''[[Image:Beachrace1.jpg|thumb|320px|right|a day at the races]]

This famous Waiheke event happens every year in March on beautiful [[Onetangi Beach]].
Events include horse races with an on beach tote, tractor, wheelbarrow and waiters races, Waiheke’s Fastest Man and Speediest Woman, Tug-o-war and Fashion-in-the-field competition. For the kids there are running races, sand sculpture and contests.

==History==
This famous annual event began 100 years ago but authorities put a stop to it in 1924 as a result of too much gambling! The [[Waiheke Rotary Club]] have successfully run the event, raising funds for charity since 1998.

[[Category:Events]]
[[Image:Horserace.jpg]]

Onetangi Beach Races

2007-11-12T08:19:09Z

Villager:

'''Waiheke’s big day out at the beach'''

[[Image:Beachrace1.jpg|thumb|320px|right|a day at the races]]
This famous Waiheke event happens every year in March on beautiful [[Onetangi Beach]].
Events include horse races with an on beach tote, tractor, wheelbarrow and waiters races, Waiheke’s Fastest Man and Speediest Woman, Tug-o-war and Fashion-in-the-field competition. For the kids there are running races, sand sculpture and contests.

[[Image:Horserace.jpg]]

==History==
This famous annual event began 100 years ago but authorities put a stop to it in 1924 as a result of too much gambling! The [[Waiheke Rotary Club]] have successfully run the event, raising funds for charity since 1998.

[[Category:Events]]

File:Horserace.jpg

2007-11-12T08:16:54Z

Villager: Onetangi Beach Horse Race

Onetangi Beach Horse Race

Speed Humps

2007-11-12T07:58:09Z

Villager:

[[Image:Speed_humps.jpg]]

Auckland City Council decided the complaints by pensioners about safe road crossing on the Ostend straightaway would be best addressed by installing speed humps instead of a zebra crosswalk (they claimed the traffic count did not support the need for the protected crossing). The first set of speed humps damaged the bus axles. So they installed a new set of narrower rubber ones. This created a new slalom sport on Waiheke, where the challenge was to avoid the humps entirely, but not damage wheel rims by hitting the curb.

In this photo the Auckland City mayor and councillor for the Gulf look on as a Honda City demonstrates the precision moves.

The humps were later stolen in the wee hours of the night. Rumours suggest they were removed by prominent citizens associated with one of the most reputable service clubs on the island. (The mayor and councillor in the photo were removed by ordinary citizens in the next election).

After this second theft, Council caved in and gave the pensioners what they asked for in the beginning... a crosswalk.

Ratepayers paid thrice.

[[Image:Humpsign.jpg]]

[[Image:Humpslalom.jpg]]

Speed Humps

2007-11-12T07:56:52Z

Villager:

[[Image:Speed_humps.jpg]]
Auckland City Council decided the complaints by pensioners about safe road crossing on the Ostend straightaway would be best addressed by installing speed humps instead of a zebra crosswalk (they claimed the traffic count did not support the need for the protected crossing). The first set of speed humps damaged the bus axles. So they installed a new set of narrower rubber ones. This created a new slalom sport on Waiheke, where the challenge was to avoid the humps entirely, but not damage wheel rims by hitting the curb.

In this photo the Auckland City mayor and councillor for the Gulf look on as a Honda City demonstrates the precision moves.

The humps were later stolen in the wee hours of the night. Rumours suggest they were removed by prominent citizens associated with one of the most reputable service clubs on the island. (The mayor and councillor in the photo were removed by ordinary citizens in the next election).

After this second theft, Council caved in and gave the pensioners what they asked for in the beginning... a crosswalk.

Ratepayers paid thrice.

[[Image:Humpsign.jpg]]

[[Image:Humpslalom.jpg]]

Speed Humps

2007-11-12T07:54:44Z

Villager:

[[Image:Speed_humps.jpg]] [[Image:Humpsign.jpg]]

Auckland City Council decided the complaints by pensioners about safe road crossing on the Ostend straightaway would be best addressed by installing speed humps instead of a zebra crosswalk (they claimed the traffic count did not support the need for the protected crossing). The first set of speed humps damaged the bus axles. So they installed a new set of narrower rubber ones. This created a new slalom sport on Waiheke, where the challenge was to avoid the humps entirely, but not damage wheel rims by hitting the curb.

In this photo the Auckland City mayor and councillor for the Gulf look on as a Honda City demonstrates the precision moves.

The humps were later stolen in the wee hours of the night. Rumours suggest they were removed by prominent citizens associated with one of the most reputable service clubs on the island. (The mayor and councillor in the photo were removed by ordinary citizens in the next election).

After this second theft, Council caved in and gave the pensioners what they asked for in the beginning... a crosswalk.

Ratepayers paid thrice.

[[Image:Humpslalom.jpg]]

Speed Humps

2007-11-12T07:53:56Z

Villager:

[[Image:Speed_humps.jpg]] [[Image:Humpsign.jpg]]

Auckland City Council decided the complaints by pensioners about safe road crossing on the Ostend straightaway would be best addressed by installing speed humps instead of a zebra crosswalk (they claimed the traffic count did not support the need for the protected crossing). The first set of speed humps damaged the bus axles. So they installed a new set of narrower rubber ones. This created a new slalom sport on Waiheke, where the challenge was to avoid the humps entirely, but not damage wheel rims by hitting the curb.

In this photo the Auckland City mayor and councillor for the Gulf look on as a Honda City demonstrates the precision moves.

The humps were later stolen in the wee hours of the night. Rumours suggest they were removed by prominent citizens associated with one of the most reputable service clubs on the island.

The mayor and councillor in the photo were removed by ordinary citizens in the next election.

After this, Council caved in and gave the pensioners what they asked for in the beginning.

Ratepayers paid thrice.

[[Image:Humpslalom.jpg]]

Speed Humps

2007-11-12T07:52:57Z

Villager: New history of Bureaucracy in Action (BIA)

[[Image:Speed_humps.jpg]] [[Image:Humpsign.jpg]]

Auckland City Council decided the complaints by pensioners about safe road crossing on the Ostend straightaway would be best addressed by installing speed humps instead of a zebra crosswalk (they claimed the traffic count did not support the need for the protected crossing). The first set of speed humps damaged the bus axles. So they installed a new set of narrower rubber ones. This created a new slalom sport on Waiheke, where the challenge was to avoid the humps entirely, but not damage wheel rims by hitting the curb.

In this photo the Auckland City mayor and councillor for the Gulf look on as a Honda City demonstrates the precision moves.

The humps were later stolen in the wee hours of the night. Rumours suggest they were removed by prominent citizens associated with one of the most reputable service clubs on the island.

The mayor and councillor were removed by ordinary citizens in the next election.

After this, Council caved in and gave the pensioners what they asked for in the beginning.

Ratepayers paid thrice.

[[Image:Humpslalom.jpg]]

File:Humpslalom.jpg

2007-11-12T07:51:32Z

Villager:

File:Humpsign.jpg

2007-11-12T07:24:42Z

Villager:

File:Speed humps.jpg

2007-11-12T07:22:20Z

Villager: The infamous and soon to disappear Ostend speed humps. The Auckland City Mayor and Hauraki Gulf Councillor look on.

The infamous and soon to disappear Ostend speed humps. The Auckland City Mayor and Hauraki Gulf Councillor look on.

Matiatia

2007-11-12T07:11:27Z

Villager: Added photos of urupa of Ropata Roa (aka Ropata Te Roa)

[[Image:Matiatia.JPG|right]]

= Matiatia =

About Matiatia

Matiatia Bay is located at the western end of Waiheke Island and features the [[Matiatia Ferry Terminal]] which is the arrival point for the passenger ferries from downtown Auckland.

== History ==
Several wahi tapu along the foreshore, each with human remains confirmed by ground-penetrating radar, attest to the use of Matiatia by Maori in pre-European days.

The site of Mokemoke Pa on the northern headlands is clearly visible. In 1840 its inhabitants are said to have moved to the Matiatia flat, neary to their gardens.

Island historian [[Paul Monin]], in a series in [[Gulf News]], said:

:"People from two very different descent lines settled at Matiatia in the late 1830s: tangata whenua and Taranaki.

:"Wiremu Keepa, brother of Wiremu Hoete of Te Huruhi, led a whanau of Ngati Hura of Ngati Paoa. [[Image:Ropata.jpg|right]]Ropata Te Roa led a few Taranaki former slaves whom Hoete’s wife had brought back to Waiheke.

:"Ropata Te Roa was an exceptionally productive resident of Matiatia until his sudden death in July 1894. The driving force behind the bay’s farming ventures, he also conveyed much of its produce to Auckland as owner-operator of five sailing vessels at various times. He is buried in the picket fence enclosure, next to the karaka tree on the foreshore."

[http://www.waihekegulfnews.co.nz/other-news/waihekes-historic-places-matiatia-in-quieter-times.html Here] you can read Paul's piece on the history of the island's gateway bay in full.

Later the land at Matiatia was owned by the Alison family.

[[Image:matiatia 1920s.JPG|frame|right| Matiatia 1920s]]
Local legend has it that Hollywood belle Vivienne Leigh visited Matiatia on board the mayor of Auckland's yacht.

== The controversy ==
Auckland City acknowledges on its own [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/matiatia/default.asp web page] for Matiatia that the gateway bay "should be home to a world-class sustainable development". However, since Waitemata Infrastructure Ltd launched its plans for a
$35 million commercial and residential development in 2000, proposals for developing the bay have been dogged with controversy. The three key directors of WIL were Stephen Norrie, Graham Jull and Bill Birnie.

WIL, who had bought the land for $3.5 million, proposed a conference centre, apartments and retail complex. The proposal was championed by Auckland mayor John Banks, who described it as moving Auckland forward. But opposition from Waiheke residents saw the formation of the Community and People of Waiheke ([[CAPOW]]), which before long had 1500 members. High profile residents like former newsreader John Hawkesby became the public face of the campaign against WIL's proposal. A fundraising concert, dubbed [http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/arohanet/lovematiatia/index.html Love Matiatia], was held at the home of Claude and Gabrielle Lewenz. Among high profile performers were actor Michael Hirst and opera singer Helen Medlyn. About $40,000 was raised, money allowed [[CAPOW]] to engage barrister Richard Brabant for court action that reached the High Court.

In the last days of the campaign for the 2003 local body elections, it became clear Mr Banks was in business elsewhere with the investors, although he strongly rejected allegations of a conflict of interest. Mr Banks was succeeded as mayor of Auckland by breakfast cereal businessman Dick Hubbard, who had promised publicly to support islanders in the struggle for Matiatia.

In 2005 Mr Hubbard, by his own admission, made a lonely walk to the offices of WIL with a proposal that Auckland City should buy the strategic Harbourmasters property from the developers. After some negotiation, a deal was struck. Auckland City ratepayers would pay $12.5m for the company itself, turning WIL into a council-controlled organisation.

== Current development plans from Auckland City Council ==

Auckland City now has plans to keep ownership of the property and lease some of it to developers for a return of $7.5 million.

The following is from the council's [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/matiatia/default.asp website]:

:::"Matiatia, Waiheke Island, New Zealand is an important strategic asset that needs to be developed in a way that is inspirational and extraordinary.

:::"The landscape of the 4.25 hectare Matiatia Valley serves as the gateway to Waiheke Island and should be home to a world-class sustainable development.

:::"In a bid to see such a development on site, Auckland City launched an international search for ideas to develop Matiatia. Cash prizes were offered for finalists and the designer of the final concept chosen by the council will have the opportunity to help develop their design on the site.

:::"To guide designers, the council engaged a working party to develop a design brief for the site. The working party was made up of

::::::*architects
::::::*designers
::::::*property developers
::::::*councillors and
::::::*community representatives.

:::"The brief, 'A vision for Matiatia', incorporated both the design principles established by the Waiheke community and the elements Auckland City wants to see included in any development.
:::"'A Vision for Matiatia' was a two stage process.

:::"The first stage was open to any interested party and 75 designs were submitted. These entries went on public display and about 400 visitors completed a feedback form. An assessment panel (made up of built environment professionals and community representatives) selected five finalists from these 75 and further refined the design brief taking into account the public feedback. These finalists then submitted more detailed designs for stage two, which were also displayed for public feedback. The assessment panel then met again to select a preferred concept .

:::"[http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/matiatia/detail.asp#201 Design 201] was recommended by the assessors to the committee as the preferred concept.

:::"This concept will be further developed by a working party, in association with the preferred design team and passed to the council's Property Enteprise Board for implementation."

[[Category:Transport]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Commercial]]

File:Ropata sign.jpg

2007-11-12T07:04:12Z

Villager: 2002 Urupa sign for Ropata Roa at Matiatia

2002 Urupa sign for Ropata Roa at Matiatia

File:Ropata.jpg

2007-11-12T07:00:57Z

Villager:

Vince Ogletree

2007-11-12T06:55:07Z

Villager:

Waiheke Island has dozens of earth brick buildings. Many were built by the late Vince Ogletree (d. 5 April 2005), who brought his knowledge from the American Southwest and then improved on it. Ranging in size from the classic 12.9 x 6.6 single story to a large earth brick compound in Church Bay, all were made from local gap 40 aggregate delivered from Stoney Ridge Quarry. The mix was very similar to that used in building Waiheke's roads... about 10 parts gap 40 to one part cement. Vince trained Gordon Elvy in the earth brick business, and Gordon continues the Waiheke tradition today. See http://www.adobebuilding.com for Vince's work.

Vince did not just build homes. Here is a horse jump he built for the Waiheke Island Pony Club in Blackpool

[[Image:Ogletree horse jump.jpg]]

----

Earth Building Tribute to Vince Ogletree

By Lisa Morey

“Nice work boys!” in his charming American Southern accent, was something Vince always said to his hard-working crew when making and laying mud bricks. He’d always have the radio on at the jobsite (classic rock only), he’d stop for “smoko” at least twice a day and serve up sweet coffee and tea, and he simply made the job heaps of fun with his jokes and positive attitude. Generous to all his workers, Vince taught them how to create and build mindfully. “If a job was worth doing, it was worth doing right” was something he learned from his grandfather.

His keen eye for detail and talented craftsmanship enabled him to oversee the construction of over 50 earthen structures worldwide. His work took him from NZ to the Fiji Islands, USA, and lastly Afghanistan in 2004, where he assisted an earth building project for USAID (US Agency for International Development) using his unique molding system. The passion in his work was to provide housing and shelter for those who needed it most, and he believed building with mud bricks was the simplest construction method for all people to learn.

Vince’s last project was a DIY manual on the making and laying of mud bricks utilizing his 12 years of experience. The manual started as a school project while I was in architectural design school, and is now nearly 100 pages of comprehensive step-by-step guidelines. My job is to complete the manual by adding photos of his work, illustrations, and detailed drawings. The book will be ready for sale soon by visiting www.adobebuilding.com.

I plan to carry on with the business that Vince started in 1993 by fulfilling the dream we both had for earth building. Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd. is now Adobe Building Consultants & Contractors, LLC based in Florida, USA. Vince had hope for the future of earth building, believing it was the most sound and honest way to build. I will do my best to honor his intentions and his work. For those of us who knew Vince well, he was loved very much and will be missed greatly.

Vince Ogletree, founder of Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd., passed away on April 5, 2005 after his five-year battle with cancer. He was forty years old. He is survived by his three daughters, Alexa, Niki and Sasha, his partner Lisa and their baby son, Dillon.
http://www.adobebuilding.com/downloads/ebanz_tribute_to_vince_ogletree.doc

Vince Ogletree

2007-11-12T06:53:50Z

Villager: New story. Nice if people would add earth brick homes

Waiheke Island has dozens of earth brick buildings. Many were built by the late Vince Ogletree (d. 5 April 2005), who brought his knowledge from the American Southwest and then improved on it. Ranging in size from the classic 12.9 x 6.6 single story to a large earth brick compound in Church Bay, all were made from local gap 40 aggregate delivered from Stoney Ridge Quarry. The mix was very similar to that used in building Waiheke's roads... about 10 parts gap 40 to one part cement. Vince trained Gordon Elvy in the earth brick business, and Gordon continues the Waiheke tradition today. See www.adobebuilding.com for Vince's work.

Vince did not just build homes. Here is a horse jump he built for the Waiheke Island Pony Club in Blackpool

[[Image:Ogletree horse jump.jpg]]

----

Earth Building Tribute to Vince Ogletree

By Lisa Morey

“Nice work boys!” in his charming American Southern accent, was something Vince always said to his hard-working crew when making and laying mud bricks. He’d always have the radio on at the jobsite (classic rock only), he’d stop for “smoko” at least twice a day and serve up sweet coffee and tea, and he simply made the job heaps of fun with his jokes and positive attitude. Generous to all his workers, Vince taught them how to create and build mindfully. “If a job was worth doing, it was worth doing right” was something he learned from his grandfather.

His keen eye for detail and talented craftsmanship enabled him to oversee the construction of over 50 earthen structures worldwide. His work took him from NZ to the Fiji Islands, USA, and lastly Afghanistan in 2004, where he assisted an earth building project for USAID (US Agency for International Development) using his unique molding system. The passion in his work was to provide housing and shelter for those who needed it most, and he believed building with mud bricks was the simplest construction method for all people to learn.

Vince’s last project was a DIY manual on the making and laying of mud bricks utilizing his 12 years of experience. The manual started as a school project while I was in architectural design school, and is now nearly 100 pages of comprehensive step-by-step guidelines. My job is to complete the manual by adding photos of his work, illustrations, and detailed drawings. The book will be ready for sale soon by visiting www.adobebuilding.com.

I plan to carry on with the business that Vince started in 1993 by fulfilling the dream we both had for earth building. Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd. is now Adobe Building Consultants & Contractors, LLC based in Florida, USA. Vince had hope for the future of earth building, believing it was the most sound and honest way to build. I will do my best to honor his intentions and his work. For those of us who knew Vince well, he was loved very much and will be missed greatly.

Vince Ogletree, founder of Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd., passed away on April 5, 2005 after his five-year battle with cancer. He was forty years old. He is survived by his three daughters, Alexa, Niki and Sasha, his partner Lisa and their baby son, Dillon.
http://www.adobebuilding.com/downloads/ebanz_tribute_to_vince_ogletree.doc

File:Ogletree horse jump.jpg

2007-11-12T06:50:37Z

Villager:

Vince Ogletree

2007-11-12T06:46:13Z

Villager:

Waiheke Island has dozens of mud brick buildings. Many were built by Vince Ogletree, who brought his knowledge from the American Southwest and then improved on it. Ranging in size from the classic 12.9 x 6.6 single story to a large earth brick compound in Church Bay, all were made from local gap 40 aggregate delivered from Stoney Ridge Quarry. The mix was very similar to that used in building Waiheke's roads... about 10 parts gap 40 to one part cement.

Earth Building Tribute to Vince Ogletree

By Lisa Morey

“Nice work boys!” in his charming American Southern accent, was something Vince always said to his hard-working crew when making and laying mud bricks. He’d always have the radio on at the jobsite (classic rock only), he’d stop for “smoko” at least twice a day and serve up sweet coffee and tea, and he simply made the job heaps of fun with his jokes and positive attitude. Generous to all his workers, Vince taught them how to create and build mindfully. “If a job was worth doing, it was worth doing right” was something he learned from his grandfather.

His keen eye for detail and talented craftsmanship enabled him to oversee the construction of over 50 earthen structures worldwide. His work took him from NZ to the Fiji Islands, USA, and lastly Afghanistan in 2004, where he assisted an earth building project for USAID (US Agency for International Development) using his unique molding system. The passion in his work was to provide housing and shelter for those who needed it most, and he believed building with mud bricks was the simplest construction method for all people to learn.

Vince’s last project was a DIY manual on the making and laying of mud bricks utilizing his 12 years of experience. The manual started as a school project while I was in architectural design school, and is now nearly 100 pages of comprehensive step-by-step guidelines. My job is to complete the manual by adding photos of his work, illustrations, and detailed drawings. The book will be ready for sale soon by visiting www.adobebuilding.com.

I plan to carry on with the business that Vince started in 1993 by fulfilling the dream we both had for earth building. Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd. is now Adobe Building Consultants & Contractors, LLC based in Florida, USA. Vince had hope for the future of earth building, believing it was the most sound and honest way to build. I will do my best to honor his intentions and his work. For those of us who knew Vince well, he was loved very much and will be missed greatly.

Vince Ogletree, founder of Earth Building Consultants & Contractors, Ltd., passed away on April 5, 2005 after his five-year battle with cancer. He was forty years old. He is survived by his three daughters, Alexa, Niki and Sasha, his partner Lisa and their baby son, Dillon.
http://www.adobebuilding.com/downloads/ebanz_tribute_to_vince_ogletree.doc

Kato Kauwhata

2007-11-11T09:28:20Z

Villager:

Kato Kauwhata (Ngapuhi) was the venerable and much-loved chairman of [[Piritahi Marae]] and the island's most widely recognised kaumatua. He died on 11 November 2007. His tangi was held that day through noon the next day, after which his body was returned to his hapu at Nga Wha.
<p>
[[Image:Kato.jpg]]
[[Category: People]]

File:Kato.jpg

2007-11-11T09:25:58Z

Villager: Kato Kauwhata

Kato Kauwhata

2007-11-11T09:17:51Z

Villager: Death Notice

Gabriella Lewenz

2007-10-12T09:06:19Z

Villager:

Gabriella Lewenz is an artist with a studio gallery in Church Bay. Her works can be seen at http://www.lewenz.net [[Category:Arts]][[category:People]]

Gabriella Lewenz

2007-10-12T09:05:12Z

Villager:

[[Category:Arts]] Gabriella Lewenz is an artist with a studio gallery in Church Bay. Her works can be seen at http://www.lewenz.net

Gabriella Lewenz

2007-10-12T09:02:06Z

Villager:

Gabriella Lewenz is an artist with a studio gallery in Church Bay. Her works can be seen at http://www.lewenz.net

Church Bay

2007-09-28T06:09:00Z

Villager: add word for clarification (3rd para "Council's)

[[image:churchbay.jpg]]

Church Bay, just south of Matiatia is fast growing into an exclusive retreat with its sprinkling of vineyards and olive groves including the renowned [[Mudbrick]] and [[Cable Bay Vineyards]].

Church Bay Estate is said to have been the first subdivision of a farm in New Zealand, where the condition of subdivision was to plant half a million native trees to cause the native bush to once again rise. The rules were devised for Church Bay Estates, but applied to all of the western landscape from Park Point in the south to the northern tip of Matiatia Estates. The resulting bush is now over five metres in some places, and native species of birds becoming abundent.

For a long time, Church Bay remained a place of vacant sections and paddocks until the [[Cable Bay Vineyard]] came up with the idea of leasing land from landowners at a low annual fee and plant vineyards. Within a matter of years, the physical beauty of the area transformed and with it came a few character homes built at approximately the same time. Each of these homes reflected the dream of their owners, and the sum total of the vineyards and character homes turned Church Bay into a premier location. Long standing residents became amused as people began to refer to them as rich, although when the Council's property valuations began to agree, the amusement waned a bit. As the real estate values rose, some of those families who built the character homes began to sell as the capital values kept going up. Others are still holding on. At this time, one of the character homes, Te Rere, an American coastal shingle style mansion is slated to be torn down and replaced by a French Chateau style home.

Church Bay has several eco-homes, including Mudbrick Restaurant using a traditional mud brick, a private home on the Cable Bay property using a poured earth method, and a private home on Motukaha Road using the locally developed Ogletree-Elvy earth-brick method that uses crushed GAP-40 from the local quarry.

Church Bay headlands is the site of the [[Sculpture on the Gulf]] event, held every other year. As a result, the tramping trails in Church Bay are some of the best on the island, as they needed to be upgraded to handle tens of thousands of visitors during the sculpture event.

'''Church Bay History'''

During Maori rule, Waiheke was unusual in that tribal rights to land and resources, and the Mana Whenua which accompanied it was shared among several iwi. [[Ngati Paoa]] migrated to Waiheke only in the 18th Century, Even on Te Huruhi, the last Ngati Paoa block, in 1896 census 58 residents were of six other iwi. This multi-tribal, multi-cultural pattern holds today in the [[Piritahi Marae]] in Blackpool, established in 1982 (established by the people of Waiheke County, including many Pakeha, who felt the island needed a marae for all races, provided a peppercorn lease and helped build the wharenui).

Never-the-less by the 19th century, in western Waiheke, Ngati Paoa was in full control. In the early part of the 19th Century, Ngati Paoa was in its golden era. Described by Major R. A. Cruise in his journal “In appearance these people were far superior to any of the New Zealanders we had hitherto seen – they were fairer, taller and more athletic, their canoes were larger and more richly carved and ornamented and their houses, larger and more ornamented with carvings than we had generally observed.”

As the century progressed, intertribal war and land sales eroded Ngati Paoa stature, but throughout the 2,100 acres of Te Huruhi remained in tribal hands. In April 1869 the Land Court declared Te Huruhi a Native reserve with five Ngati Paoa trustees. By keeping communal title, this became the last block remaining in Ngati Paoa ownership.

The period from 1830 to 1890 saw Te Huruhi flourish. Several different families shared the common lands, but all traced their ancestry back to Te Toki, the son of Hura, thus the Hapu was called Ngati Hura of Ngati Paoa. The Hoete/Keepa, Rehutai and Karaka families were prominent, as were the two men given land by the Hapu, the former slave [[Ropata Te Roa]] who was given Matiatia and the whanau of Patena Puhata who was given Kiritapu (see Section № 6 in the survey map, below).

[[image:westernlandmap.jpg]]

Three kainga (villages) stood on Te Huruhi, one at Matiatia, one in Blackpool, where the Piritahi Marae now stands, and one in Hangaura, now known as Church Bay Farm. For the most part, the housing in these kainga was weatherboard cabins and native raupo whare except at Hangaura where an exceptionally fine house stood on the land until it was sold in 1921 and moved to [[Matiatia]]. While the supreme chief of Ngati Paoa was a wily man by the name of Hori Pokai, in Te Huruhi, it appears the father and son Wiremu Hoete and Wiremu Hoete Keepa, respectively, carried the high mana. Both appear to be men who had the personal character and qualities to wear the responsibilities which come with being Rangatira and Kaumatua. Their memory remains strong in Hangaura.

'''Hangaura - Church Bay Farm'''

In addition to a beautiful home and the long-standing presence of a chapel and then a church, Hangaura was known for its exceptional agricultural production.

The families in residence grew, for commercial trade in Auckland, extensive wheat and Indian corn, kumara and potatoes, rock and water melons and extensive fruit trees, producing peaches, apples, figs, and at least one quince tree. We know this because the quince tree remains standing today. A visitor from Cornwall, in 2004, was asked to identify the tree, then in full fruit. He was astounded both to see a quince tree, but also, coincidentally had been visiting someone in another part of the country the week prior, who had proudly shown him his quince tree, speculating that it was probably the last ancient one left in New Zealand. The visitor chuckled with the news he would later deliver, that at least one more stood. Sadly, no one cans the fruit for jam anymore, instead they fall to the ground.

Along the flats of Church Bay equestrian pursuits emerged, where horses were raced from the 1860s onward. Families bred horses with some seriousness, securing Arabian stock to better the bloodlines. Horses have remained a part of Te Huruhi up to the present time, with considerable equestrian activities both in Church Bay and over the hill in Blackpool.

Above the tidal land, the flats of Church Bay contained high grade shingle, mined for the building of Auckland. Indeed the 19th Century marked a period of extraordinary environmental destruction of the area with the consent, and often participation of the Maori owners, as they sold off and stripped first the timber forests and then the very land itself.

As a place of activity, Hangaura seems to have waxed and waned. The golden period under the stewardship of brothers Wiremu Hoete and Rawiri Takurua and the family of Arama Karaka seems to draw to an end with the death of Wiremu Hoete Keepa in 1890.

In 1894, Wiremu Maehe Hoete and others applied to the Native Land Court to subdivide the Te Huruhi block into 13 sections. The lines drawn corresponded with the de-facto lines established by the various whanau. The sense of community, held strong by the bonds of aroha as maintained by Wiremu Hoete and his son Wiremu Hoete Keepa were broken by the grandson Wiremu Maehe Hoete. This was further aggravated by the perpetual question as to loyalty and commitment to the land, as those called tangata whenua (people of the land) in the records often gave different places as their home, and not all were buried on Waiheke .

By 1900 the buildings appear to have begun to deteriorate, and while farming continued, the sense of community in Hangaura appears to have gone. In 1903 Rawiri Puhata the man designed as heir to Wiremu Hoete Keepa’s mana was living in Kerepehi, having moved there in 1893. Wiremu Maehe Hoete, now a Reverend, gave his home as Parawai, Thames and Neho Keepa while still on Waiheke was living in Awaawaroa. The ravages of disease and illness took their toll, and Waiheke was still a long, and sometimes rough boat ride from Auckland. With the transformation of the land into larger fenced grazing lands, the kainga villages gave way to pastoral runs and Te Huruhi eventually became a sheep station. The woolsheds were kept up, but the church was allowed to fall into ruins and by 1920, even the magnificent home moved away.

With the advent of the new century, Ngati Paoa’s role in Te Huruhi faded. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron took out a lease on a seven acre block at Matiatia, where the wharf and car park are now located. In 1906 a lease was taken out by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company, whose director, Alexander Alison would become an important name in Te Huruhi history. By the end of 1907 Alison was leasing most of Hangaura as well as Matiatia and [[Owhanake Bay]] and his son, Fred, who had begun a career in boat building (as befits a ferry operator) shifted to sheep farming.

By 1911, the rules on sales of Maori land had become less restrictive, and the now subdivided Te Huruhi became a surveyor’s lunch ticket as family after family sought to cash in on land which was obviously not deemed their ancestral place, the place where their whenua (placenta) was buried in their whenua (land). In 1912 with an outbreak of smallpox, and the next year an outbreak of tuberculosis further broke the will of the remaining community. The sheep, horses, cattle and pigs did well, as the community gradually transformed into a farm. As land came up for sale, the primary purchaser was Fred and Anna Francis Alison and by the late 1920’s they owned 2,360 acres, in effect the whole of the Te Huruhi block all the way to Surfdale. All that was left in Maori title was the urupaa in Hangaura where the church had stood and a 9 acre block at the southern headland to Matiatia Harbour

In the middle of Church Bay Farm, now in its fifth Pakeha ownership, is a small section of land which remains owned by Ngati Paoa, tangata whenua. On that site stood the church of Church Bay.

'''The Church of Church Bay'''

The name Church Bay comes from the Maori Anglican Church erected on the two rood site by Ngati Paoa on the gently sloped rise of land now known as Church Bay Farm.

The first church was built in Church Bay in 1833, believed to be a raupo chapel, built by the Hapu in residence. It was in this year that Rev Henry Williams visited. Similar visits by Samuel Marsden in 1820 and later by Bishop Selwyn in 1842 mark acknowledgement by Anglican religious leaders of the devout nature of the Maori population of Te Huruhi. Curiously, some of this history is explained through intertribal warfare, which had its bloodiest period in this time.

Forty years earlier, in 1793, NgaPuhi, under Te Hotete (father of Hongi Heke), captured Ngati Paoa chiefs and children and took them to the Bay of Islands. Additional captives were taken by Hongi Hika in 1821, the year after Samuel Marsden’s visit. They were released in the early 1830’s, but in their time of captivity some of them, including Wiremu Hoete, had received mission schooling at Paihia. We believe this religious instruction and belief may have inspired the church’s construction upon Hoete’s return to Hangaura, and the subsequent visit by Henry Williams (the translator of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori and brother of William Williams, the author of A Dictionary of the Maori Language). Wiremu Hoete became a deacon in the church and eventually an Anglican priest.

The hapu built the last church in 1881. Hoete’s son Wiremu Hoete Kepa collected the building funds. It was built of kauri timber, measuring approximately 12 feet by 19 feet. Rehutai Pio Karaka, the last Maori owner of Hangaura, and a respected sheep farmer, was the last lay reader in the Church.

Eventually it was blown down in a gale, and the timber burned in a grass fire. The site remains tapu because of the burial grounds which were by the church.

'''Pakeha Ownership'''

With the Alison purchase of Maori land, Ngati Paoa’s stewardship faded.

In 1911, the Croll Family moved to Matiatia to manage the Fred Alison’s now consolidated farm. John Croll had worked for the Alison family on Browns Island where he ran a thoroughbred horse farm and later became a ticket collector on Alison’s ferry. Fred Alison had suffered a back injury during his boat building days, thus he relied on the Croll family to do much of the heavy farm work. For half a century, the history of Te Huruhi and Hangaura, or Church Bay Farm, became the story of the Alison and Croll families. John Croll and his wife Mary moved to Matiatia bringing with them several children, including Don Croll, who developed a remarkable relationship with the land, fulfilling in some regards, the stewardship which previously was ascribed to tangata whenua. Some of these stories are oral, and permission will be required to record them.

Don’s first memory of Matiatia was sitting on top of a house being shifted on a boat from Auckland. Still standing as the [[Harbour Masters]] building, Alison floated it over to become the Matiatia homestead. It was already 40 years old in 1911.

Don went to school in Te Huruhi, now known as the [[Old Blackpool School]], and on his first day at school found he found the school had 30 Maori children and he and his sister, Agnes, the only Pakeha. Thus, they soon learned Maori fluently, much to the annoyance of their parents when they would speak thus among their elders, who did not know what they were talking about.

Don became close friends with the brothers Tamati and Ngaeiho Kepa, sisters Bella and Ngaronga Araoma and a family named Werama, all of whom lived in a Maori Whare in Church Bay. On the south-western side of Church Bay (perhaps near the Quince Tree?) Croll mentions the home of Rehutai Karaka who owned both the woolshed and the fine house which was shifted to Matiatia Valley where Croll’s two sons later lived. Croll reports almost all these families left in 1916, moving to the Miranda District.

In 1923, work began on the Matiatia wharf and more people began to come to the island. Croll recited what has become a familiar lament “As the island became more populated, the peace and quietness seemed to disappear and the island started to lose some of its charm for me." Croll moved away in 1927, but at the Alison’s request moved back with his bride a few years later. In 1933 ferry service was upgraded with a steamboat known as the Duchess, operated by a company called Watkin Wallace which left Matiatia at 7 am and returned at 7 pm.

One story Don recorded is of note, and worthy of being repeated in full:

''I am now going to relate something which my eldest son and I saw one day when we were mustering and I doubt very much if any other white person has seen this before or heard about it, as up to now I have not spoken about this to anybody and to my knowledge, neither has any other member of my family. I am not going to mention the locality of this sighting as I don’t want this interfered within any way. This day, as we were mustering sheep, my son happened to look down and see this strange formation on the beach. We’d had a terrific storm the night before and the sea had washed the beach clear of shingle exposing this complete Maori burial ground. It was a most remarkable sight. It measured about 30ft by 40ft in area and consisted of row on row of skeletons ranging from children to adults. These were laid out on tea-tree sticks which were absolutely uniform in size, approximately the size of wooden peg and about 5-6 ft long. On top of these were woven flax mats and both sticks and mats looked in perfect condition, although I guess if they’d been touched, they would have disintegrated. The skeletons were more or less imbedded in the sticks and mats. We looked at this some time in awe, but having much respect for the Maori tapu, we did not touch a thing. Next day we went back and the incoming tide had covered it all over and they were in peace once more…''

In the 1960s the Alisons retired and sold the farm. The Southern part was first purchased by the Alexanders, and about a year later sold to [[Mark Week]] and his business partner.

Mark Week and his wife Estima had a choice of purchasing either the north farm (now Matiatia Estates) or the south farm (now everything south of the Ocean View Road, including Church Bay Estate and Park Point). Mark reported preferred the gentle slopes of Church Bay and a particular feeling engendered, which was absent in the northern farm, which was subsequently purchased and held by the Delamore family until it was sold to the Amtrust Pacific Ltd. owned by New York billionaire investor brothers Michael and George Karfunkel and developed as the Matiatia subdivision. Mark owned Church Bay Farm for 17 years until he sold it to Nettie and Nick Johnstone.

Mark was an unusual man, deeply associated with an organisation known as Subud. In the interview that collected the historical information cited herein, at one point he commented about the significance of Waiheke, and in particular Church Bay farm. He said that Waiheke is a very important place in the future of the world, that there is a “very high reason for its being here, and billions of people will be influenced from here.” He said no more on that subject but shifted to discussing the merits of combining sheep and cattle on farms.

Under the stewarship of [[Nick and Nettie Johnstone]], Church Bay once again changed. Originally, the Johnstones purchased all of the farm from Matiatia to the southern tip of Park Point, but shortly after purchasing it, sold Park Point to the Tichner family who are subdividing and selling it as life-style lots. The Johnstones were farmers, but found that as a farm it was not proving sufficiently productive, so over time a subdivision plan evolved for it.

Until that time, subdivisions of farms into life-style sections required the sections be economic units, meaning they had to generate an income, be it a rural panel-beater or a life-styler who planted a few low-maintenance olive trees to meet (or more truthfully, beat) the rules. What Nick Johnstone and his landscape architect [[Dennis Scott]] devised was a new standard whereby subdivision would be possible if half a million native trees were planted on the parts of the land too steep to support reasonable agriculture or a safe building section. In one way, this would, over the next hundred years, bring the role of Pakeha in Church Bay full circle, as once again, the magnificent forests which were standing here when Captain Cook arrived will stand tall, only this time, protected by law and covenant.

'''The Return of Ngati Paoa to Hangaura'''

Saturday, 24 June 2006. Matariki. Tribunal finds for Hauraki Maori

Jun 24, 2006 – The Waitangi Tribunal has found that substantial restitution is due to Hauraki Maori over the loss of land which has lead to poverty and social dislocation. The Tribunal has released its report on 56 claims covering the southern part of Tikapa Moana, which includes the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, the Coromandel Peninsula and the lower Waihou and Piako Valleys. The first claims were lodged with the Tribunal in 1988. The Waitangi Tribunal says the Crown has acknowledged that Hauraki iwi lost large areas of land during the land confiscation of the 1860s with very little compensation. The report says they have been marginalised by the transfer of land and resources to others, which has caused alienation and frustration. The Waitangi Tribunal says Treaty principles of dealing with utmost good faith have been breached and substantial restitution is due.

25 June, Sunday – As part of the Matariki celebration on Waiheke, beginning at noon, elders and rangatira of Ngati Paoa walked on to the last remaining Maori title land on Hangaura, the square section, landlocked in the Church Bay Farm which once was the site of the church, and remains the urupā. Accompanied by members of [[Piritahi Marae]] and other citizens of Waiheke, stories were told whilst waiting for the elders to arrive, and then a prayer service was held. All except the elders walked the perimeter of the land, bound on three sides by a fence, and more karakia was said, including Ngati Paoa’s Eugene Rawiri acknowledging and honouring the work of Waiheke’s long-standing kaumatua, [[Kato Kauwhata]], Nga Puhi, from Nga Wha in Northland. This ceremony had the full support of the present owners of Church Bay Farm, and its farm manager attended and offered full cooperation with the Iwi.

[[Category:Beaches]]
[[Category:History]]

File:Churchbay.jpg

2007-09-27T11:39:14Z

Villager:

Thanks to the pilot for going overhead Waiheke and to Nature for arranging a break in the clouds, and to the stewardess for letting me sit on this side to take snaps, hoping for a good one.

Church Bay

2007-09-27T11:35:27Z

Villager:

[[image:churchbay.jpg]]

Church Bay, just south of Matiatia is fast growing into an exclusive retreat with its sprinkling of vineyards and olive groves including the renowned [[Mudbrick]] and [[Cable Bay Vineyards]].

Church Bay Estate is said to have been the first subdivision of a farm in New Zealand, where the condition of subdivision was to plant half a million native trees to cause the native bush to once again rise. The rules were devised for Church Bay Estates, but applied to all of the western landscape from Park Point in the south to the northern tip of Matiatia Estates. The resulting bush is now over five metres in some places, and native species of birds becoming abundent.

For a long time, Church Bay remained a place of vacant sections and paddocks until the Cable Bay Vineyard came up with the idea of leasing land from landowners at a low annual fee and plant vineyards. Within a matter of years, the physical beauty of the area transformed and with it came a few character homes built at approximately the same time. Each of these homes reflected the dream of their owners, and the sum total of the vineyards and character homes turned Church Bay into a premier location. Long standing residents became amused as people began to refer to them as rich, although when the property valuations began to agree, the amusement waned a bit. As the real estate values rose, some of those families who built the character homes began to sell as the capital values kept going up. Others are still holding on. At this time, one of the character homes, Te Rere, an American coastal shingle style mansion is slated to be torn down and replaced by a French Chateau style home.

Church Bay has several eco-homes, including Mudbrick Restaurant using a traditional mud brick, a private home on the Cable Bay property using a poured earth method, and a private home on Motukaha Road using the locally developed Ogletree-Elvy earth-brick method that uses crushed GAP-40 from the local quarry.

Church Bay headlands is the site of the Sculpture on the Gulf event, held every other year. As a result, the tramping trails in Church Bay are some of the best on the island, as they needed to be upgraded to handle tens of thousands of visitors during the sculpture event.

'''Church Bay History'''

During Maori rule, Waiheke was unusual in that tribal rights to land and resources, and the Mana Whenua which accompanied it was shared among several iwi. Ngati Paoa migrated to Waiheke only in the 18th Century, Even on Te Huruhi, the last Ngati Paoa block, in 1896 census 58 residents were of six other iwi. This multi-tribal, multi-cultural pattern holds today in the Piritahi Marae in Blackpool, established in 1982 (established by the people of Waiheke County, including many Pakeha, who felt the island needed a marae for all races, provided a peppercorn lease and helped build the wharenui).

Never-the-less by the 19th century, in western Waiheke, Ngati Paoa was in full control. In the early part of the 19th Century, Ngati Paoa was in its golden era. Described by Major R. A. Cruise in his journal “In appearance these people were far superior to any of the New Zealanders we had hitherto seen – they were fairer, taller and more athletic, their canoes were larger and more richly carved and ornamented and their houses, larger and more ornamented with carvings than we had generally observed.”

As the century progressed, intertribal war and land sales eroded Ngati Paoa stature, but throughout the 2,100 acres of Te Huruhi remained in tribal hands. In April 1869 the Land Court declared Te Huruhi a Native reserve with five Ngati Paoa trustees. By keeping communal title, this became the last block remaining in Ngati Paoa ownership.

The period from 1830 to 1890 saw Te Huruhi flourish. Several different families shared the common lands, but all traced their ancestry back to Te Toki, the son of Hura, thus the Hapu was called Ngati Hura of Ngati Paoa. The Hoete/Keepa, Rehutai and Karaka families were prominent, as were the two men given land by the Hapu, the former slave Ropata Te Roa who was given Matiatia and the whanau of Patena Puhata who was given Kiritapu (see Section № 6 in the survey map, below).

[[image:westernlandmap.jpg]]

Three kainga (villages) stood on Te Huruhi, one at Matiatia, one in Blackpool, where the Piritahi Marae now stands, and one in Hangaura, now known as Church Bay Farm. For the most part, the housing in these kainga was weatherboard cabins and native raupo whare except at Hangaura where an exceptionally fine house stood on the land until it was sold in 1921 and moved to Matiatia. While the supreme chief of Ngati Paoa was a wily man by the name of Hori Pokai, in Te Huruhi, it appears the father and son Wiremu Hoete and Wiremu Hoete Keepa, respectively, carried the high mana. Both appear to be men who had the personal character and qualities to wear the responsibilities which come with being Rangatira and Kaumatua. Their memory remains strong in Hangaura.

'''Hangaura - Church Bay Farm'''

In addition to a beautiful home and the long-standing presence of a chapel and then a church, Hangaura was known for its exceptional agricultural production.

The families in residence grew, for commercial trade in Auckland, extensive wheat and Indian corn, kumara and potatoes, rock and water melons and extensive fruit trees, producing peaches, apples, figs, and at least one Quince tree. We know this because the quince tree remains standing today. A visitor from Cornwall, in 2004, was asked to identify the tree, then in full fruit. He was astounded both to see a quince tree, but also, coincidentally had been visiting someone in another part of the country the week prior, who had proudly shown him his quince tree, speculating that it was probably the last ancient one left in New Zealand. The visitor chuckled with the news he would later deliver, that at least one more stood. Sadly, no one cans the fruit for jam anymore, instead they fall to the ground.

Along the flats of Church Bay equestrian pursuits emerged, where horses were raced from the 1860s onward. Families bred horses with some seriousness, securing Arabian stock to better the bloodlines. Horses have remained a part of Te Huruhi up to the present time, with considerable equestrian activities both in Church Bay and over the hill in Blackpool.

Above the tidal land, the flats of Church Bay contained high grade shingle, mined for the building of Auckland. Indeed the 19th Century marked a period of extraordinary environmental destruction of the area with the consent, and often participation of the Maori owners, as they sold off and stripped first the timber forests and then the very land itself.

As a place of activity, Hangaura seems to have waxed and waned. The golden period under the stewardship of brothers Wiremu Hoete and Rawiri Takurua and the family of Arama Karaka seems to draw to an end with the death of Wiremu Hoete Keepa in 1890.

In 1894, Wiremu Maehe Hoete and others applied to the Native Land Court to subdivide the Te Huruhi block into 13 sections. The lines drawn corresponded with the de-facto lines established by the various whanau. The sense of community, held strong by the bonds of aroha as maintained by Wiremu Hoete and his son Wiremu Hoete Keepa were broken by the grandson Wiremu Maehe Hoete. This was further aggravated by the perpetual question as to loyalty and commitment to the land, as those called tangata whenua (people of the land) in the records often gave different places as their home, and not all were buried on Waiheke .

By 1900 the buildings appear to have begun to deteriorate, and while farming continued, the sense of community in Hangaura appears to have gone. In 1903 Rawiri Puhata the man designed as heir to Wiremu Hoete Keepa’s mana was living in Kerepehi, having moved there in 1893. Wiremu Maehe Hoete, now a Reverend, gave his home as Parawai, Thames and Neho Keepa while still on Waiheke was living in Awaawaroa. The ravages of disease and illness took their toll, and Waiheke was still a long, and sometimes rough boat ride from Auckland. With the transformation of the land into larger fenced grazing lands, the kainga villages gave way to pastoral runs and Te Huruhi eventually became a sheep station. The woolsheds were kept up, but the church was allowed to fall into ruins and by 1920, even the magnificent home moved away.

With the advent of the new century, Ngati Paoa’s role in Te Huruhi faded. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron took out a lease on a seven acre block at Matiatia, where the wharf and car park are now located. In 1906 a lease was taken out by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company, whose director, Alexander Alison would become an important name in Te Huruhi history. By the end of 1907 Alison was leasing most of Hangaura as well as Matiatia and Owhanake Bays and his son, Fred, who had begun a career in boat building (as befits a ferry operator) shifted to sheep farming.

By 1911, the rules on sales of Maori land had become less restrictive, and the now subdivided Te Huruhi became a surveyor’s lunch ticket as family after family sought to cash in on land which was obviously not deemed their ancestral place, the place where their whenua (placenta) was buried in their whenua (land). In 1912 with an outbreak of smallpox, and the next year an outbreak of tuberculosis further broke the will of the remaining community. The sheep, horses, cattle and pigs did well, as the community gradually transformed into a farm. As land came up for sale, the primary purchaser was Fred and Anna Francis Alison and by the late 1920’s they owned 2,360 acres, in effect the whole of the Te Huruhi block all the way to Surfdale. All that was left in Maori title was the urupaa in Hangaura where the church had stood and a 9 acre block at the southern headland to Matiatia Harbour

In the middle of Church Bay Farm, now in its fifth Pakeha ownership, is a small section of land which remains owned by Ngati Paoa, tangata whenua. On that site stood the church of Church Bay.

'''The Church of Church Bay'''

The name Church Bay comes from the Maori Anglican Church erected on the two rood site by Ngati Paoa on the gently sloped rise of land now known as Church Bay Farm.

The first church was built in Church Bay in 1833, believed to be a raupo chapel, built by the Hapu in residence. It was in this year that Rev Henry Williams visited. Similar visits by Samuel Marsden in 1820 and later by Bishop Selwyn in 1842 mark acknowledgement by Anglican religious leaders of the devout nature of the Maori population of Te Huruhi. Curiously, some of this history is explained through intertribal warfare, which had its bloodiest period in this time.

40 years earlier, in 1793, NgaPuhi, under Te Hotete (father of Hongi Heke), captured Ngati Paoa chiefs and children and took them to the Bay of Islands. Additional captives were taken by Hongi Hika in 1821, the year after Samuel Marsden’s visit. They were released in the early 1830’s, but in their time of captivity some of them, including Wiremu Hoete, had received mission schooling at Paihia. We believe this religious instruction and belief may have inspired the church’s construction upon Hoete’s return to Hangaura, and the subsequent visit by Henry Williams (the translator of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori and brother of William Williams, the author of A Dictionary of the Maori Language). Wiremu Hoete became a deacon in the church and eventually an Anglican priest.

The hapu built the last church in 1881. Hoete’s son Wiremu Hoete Kepa collected the building funds. It was built of kauri timber, measuring approximately 12 feet by 19 feet. Rehutai Pio Karaka, the last Maori owner of Hangaura, and a respected sheep farmer, was the last lay reader in the Church.

Eventually it was blown down in a gale, and the timber burned in a grass fire. The site remains tapu because of the burial grounds which were by the church.

'''Pakeha Ownership'''

With the Alison purchase of Maori land, Ngati Paoa’s stewardship faded.

In 1911, the Croll Family moved to Matiatia to manage the Fred Alison’s now consolidated farm. John Croll had worked for the Alison family on Browns Island where he ran a thoroughbred horse farm and later became a ticket collector on Alison’s ferry. Fred Alison had suffered a back injury during his boat building days, thus he relied on the Croll family to do much of the heavy farm work. For half a century, the history of Te Huruhi and Hangaura, or Church Bay Farm, became the story of the Alison and Croll families. John Croll and his wife Mary moved to Matiatia bringing with them several children, including Don Croll, who developed a remarkable relationship with the land, fulfilling in some regards, the stewardship which previously was ascribed to tangata whenua. Some of these stories are oral, and permission will be required to record them.

Don’s first memory of Matiatia was sitting on top of a house being shifted on a boat from Auckland. Still standing as the Harbourmaster building, Alison floated it over to become the Matiatia homestead. It was already 40 years old in 1911.

Don went to school in Te Huruhi, now known as the old Blackpool School, and on his first day at school found he found the school had 30 Maori children and he and his sister, Agnes, the only Pakeha. Thus, they soon learned Maori fluently, much to the annoyance of their parents when they would speak thus among their elders, who did not know what they were talking about.

Don became close friends with the brothers Tamati and Ngaeiho Kepa, sisters Bella and Ngaronga Araoma and a family named Werama, all of whom lived in a Maori Whare in Church Bay. On the south-western side of Church Bay (perhaps near the Quince Tree?) Croll mentions the home of Rehutai Karaka who owned both the woolshed and the fine house which was shifted to Matiatia Valley where Croll’s two sons later lived. Croll reports almost all these families left in 1916, moving to the Miranda District.

In 1923, work began on the Matiatia wharf and more people began to come to the island. Croll recited what has become a familiar lament “As the island became more populated, the peace and quietness seemed to disappear and the island started to lose some of its charm for me." Croll moved away in 1927, but at the Alison’s request moved back with his bride a few years later. In 1933 ferry service was upgraded with a steamboat known as the Duchess, operated by a company called Watkin Wallace which left Matiatia at 7 am and returned at 7 pm.

One story Don recorded is of note, and worthy of being repeated in full:

''I am now going to relate something which my eldest son and I saw one day when we were mustering and I doubt very much if any other white person has seen this before or heard about it, as up to now I have not spoken about this to anybody and to my knowledge, neither has any other member of my family. I am not going to mention the locality of this sighting as I don’t want this interfered within any way. This day, as we were mustering sheep, my son happened to look down and see this strange formation on the beach. We’d had a terrific storm the night before and the sea had washed the beach clear of shingle exposing this complete Maori burial ground. It was a most remarkable sight. It measured about 30ft by 40ft in area and consisted of row on row of skeletons ranging from children to adults. These were laid out on tea-tree sticks which were absolutely uniform in size, approximately the size of wooden peg and about 5-6 ft long. On top of these were woven flax mats and both sticks and mats looked in perfect condition, although I guess if they’d been touched, they would have disintegrated. The skeletons were more or less imbedded in the sticks and mats. We looked at this some time in awe, but having much respect for the Maori tapu, we did not touch a thing. Next day we went back and the incoming tide had covered it all over and they were in peace once more…''

In the 1960’s the Alisons retired and sold the farm. The Southern part was first purchased by the Alexanders, and about a year later sold to Mark Week and his business partner.

Mark Week and his wife Estima had a choice of purchasing either the north farm (now Matiatia Estates) or the south farm (now everything south of the Ocean View Road, including Church Bay Estate and Park Point). Mark reported preferred the gentle slopes of Church Bay and a particular feeling engendered, which was absent in the northern farm, which was subsequently purchased and held by the Delamore family until it was sold to the Amtrust Pacific Ltd. owned by New York billionaire investor brothers Michael and George Karfunkel and developed as the Matiatia subdivision. Mark owned Church Bay Farm for 17 years until he sold it to Nettie and Nick Johnstone.

Mark was an unusual man, deeply associated with an organisation known as Subud. In the interview that collected the historical information cited herein, at one point he commented about the significance of Waiheke, and in particular Church Bay farm. He said that Waiheke is a very important place in the future of the world, that there is a “very high reason for its being here, and billions of people will be influenced from here.” He said no more on that subject but shifted to discussing the merits of combining sheep and cattle on farms.

Under the stewarship of Nick and Nettie Johnstone, Church Bay once again changed. Originally, the Johnstones purchased all of the farm from Matiatia to the southern tip of Park Point, but shortly after purchasing it, sold Park Point to the Tichner family who are subdividing and selling it as life-style lots. The Johnstones were farmers, but found that as a farm it was not proving sufficiently productive, so over time a subdivision plan evolved for it.

Until that time, subdivisions of farms into life-style sections required the sections be economic units, meaning they had to generate an income, be it a rural panel-beater or a life-styler who planted a few low-maintenance olive trees to meet (or more truthfully, beat) the rules. What Nick Johnstone and his landscape architect Dennis Scott devised was a new standard whereby subdivision would be possible if half a million native trees were planted on the parts of the land too steep to support reasonable agriculture or a safe building section. In one way, this would, over the next hundred years, bring the role of Pakeha in Church Bay full circle, as once again, the magnificent forests which were standing here when Captain Cook arrived will stand tall, only this time, protected by law and covenant.

'''The Return of Ngati Paoa to Hangaura'''

Saturday, 24 June 2006. Matariki. Tribunal finds for Hauraki Maori

Jun 24, 2006 – The Waitangi Tribunal has found that substantial restitution is due to Hauraki Maori over the loss of land which has lead to poverty and social dislocation. The Tribunal has released its report on 56 claims covering the southern part of Tikapa Moana, which includes the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, the Coromandel Peninsula and the lower Waihou and Piako Valleys. The first claims were lodged with the Tribunal in 1988. The Waitangi Tribunal says the Crown has acknowledged that Hauraki iwi lost large areas of land during the land confiscation of the 1860s with very little compensation. The report says they have been marginalised by the transfer of land and resources to others, which has caused alienation and frustration. The Waitangi Tribunal says Treaty principles of dealing with utmost good faith have been breached and substantial restitution is due.

25 June, Sunday – As part of the Matariki celebration on Waiheke, beginning at noon, elders and rangatira of Ngati Paoa walked on to the last remaining Maori title land on Hangaura, the square section, landlocked in the Church Bay Farm which once was the site of the church, and remains the urupā. Accompanied by members of Piritahi Marae and other citizens of Waiheke, stories were told whilst waiting for the elders to arrive, and then a prayer service was held. All except the elders walked the perimeter of the land, bound on three sides by a fence, and more karakia was said, including Ngati Paoa’s Eugene Rawiri acknowledging and honouring the work of Waiheke’s long-standing kaumatua, Kato Kauwhata, Nga Puhi, from Nga Wha in Northland. This ceremony had the full support of the present owners of Church Bay Farm, and its farm manager attended and offered full cooperation with the Iwi.

[[Category:Beaches]]

File:Churchbay.jpg

2007-09-27T11:34:32Z

Villager:

Church Bay

2007-09-27T11:23:11Z

Villager: detail and history added

Church Bay, just south of Matiatia is fast growing into an exclusive retreat with its sprinkling of vineyards and olive groves including the renowned [[Mudbrick]] and [[Cable Bay Vineyards]].

Church Bay Estate is said to have been the first subdivision of a farm in New Zealand, where the condition of subdivision was to plant half a million native trees to cause the native bush to once again rise. The rules were devised for Church Bay Estates, but applied to all of the western landscape from Park Point in the south to the northern tip of Matiatia Estates. The resulting bush is now over five metres in some places, and native species of birds becoming abundent.

For a long time, Church Bay remained a place of vacant sections and paddocks until the Cable Bay Vineyard came up with the idea of leasing land from landowners at a low annual fee and plant vineyards. Within a matter of years, the physical beauty of the area transformed and with it came a few character homes built at approximately the same time. Each of these homes reflected the dream of their owners, and the sum total of the vineyards and character homes turned Church Bay into a premier location. Long standing residents became amused as people began to refer to them as rich, although when the property valuations began to agree, the amusement waned a bit. As the real estate values rose, some of those families who built the character homes began to sell as the capital values kept going up. Others are still holding on. At this time, one of the character homes, Te Rere, an American coastal shingle style mansion is slated to be torn down and replaced by a French Chateau style home.

Church Bay has several eco-homes, including Mudbrick Restaurant using a traditional mud brick, a private home on the Cable Bay property using a poured earth method, and a private home on Motukaha Road using the locally developed Ogletree-Elvy earth-brick method that uses crushed GAP-40 from the local quarry.

Church Bay headlands is the site of the Sculpture on the Gulf event, held every other year. As a result, the tramping trails in Church Bay are some of the best on the island, as they needed to be upgraded to handle tens of thousands of visitors during the sculpture event.

'''Church Bay History'''

During Maori rule, Waiheke was unusual in that tribal rights to land and resources, and the Mana Whenua which accompanied it was shared among several iwi. Ngati Paoa migrated to Waiheke only in the 18th Century, Even on Te Huruhi, the last Ngati Paoa block, in 1896 census 58 residents were of six other iwi. This multi-tribal, multi-cultural pattern holds today in the Piritahi Marae in Blackpool, established in 1982 (established by the people of Waiheke County, including many Pakeha, who felt the island needed a marae for all races, provided a peppercorn lease and helped build the wharenui).

Never-the-less by the 19th century, in western Waiheke, Ngati Paoa was in full control. In the early part of the 19th Century, Ngati Paoa was in its golden era. Described by Major R. A. Cruise in his journal “In appearance these people were far superior to any of the New Zealanders we had hitherto seen – they were fairer, taller and more athletic, their canoes were larger and more richly carved and ornamented and their houses, larger and more ornamented with carvings than we had generally observed.”

As the century progressed, intertribal war and land sales eroded Ngati Paoa stature, but throughout the 2,100 acres of Te Huruhi remained in tribal hands. In April 1869 the Land Court declared Te Huruhi a Native reserve with five Ngati Paoa trustees. By keeping communal title, this became the last block remaining in Ngati Paoa ownership.

The period from 1830 to 1890 saw Te Huruhi flourish. Several different families shared the common lands, but all traced their ancestry back to Te Toki, the son of Hura, thus the Hapu was called Ngati Hura of Ngati Paoa. The Hoete/Keepa, Rehutai and Karaka families were prominent, as were the two men given land by the Hapu, the former slave Ropata Te Roa who was given Matiatia and the whanau of Patena Puhata who was given Kiritapu (see Section № 6 in the survey map, below).

[[image:westernlandmap.jpg]]

Three kainga (villages) stood on Te Huruhi, one at Matiatia, one in Blackpool, where the Piritahi Marae now stands, and one in Hangaura, now known as Church Bay Farm. For the most part, the housing in these kainga was weatherboard cabins and native raupo whare except at Hangaura where an exceptionally fine house stood on the land until it was sold in 1921 and moved to Matiatia. While the supreme chief of Ngati Paoa was a wily man by the name of Hori Pokai, in Te Huruhi, it appears the father and son Wiremu Hoete and Wiremu Hoete Keepa, respectively, carried the high mana. Both appear to be men who had the personal character and qualities to wear the responsibilities which come with being Rangatira and Kaumatua. Their memory remains strong in Hangaura.

'''Hangaura - Church Bay Farm'''

In addition to a beautiful home and the long-standing presence of a chapel and then a church, Hangaura was known for its exceptional agricultural production.

The families in residence grew, for commercial trade in Auckland, extensive wheat and Indian corn, kumara and potatoes, rock and water melons and extensive fruit trees, producing peaches, apples, figs, and at least one Quince tree. We know this because the quince tree remains standing today. A visitor from Cornwall, in 2004, was asked to identify the tree, then in full fruit. He was astounded both to see a quince tree, but also, coincidentally had been visiting someone in another part of the country the week prior, who had proudly shown him his quince tree, speculating that it was probably the last ancient one left in New Zealand. The visitor chuckled with the news he would later deliver, that at least one more stood. Sadly, no one cans the fruit for jam anymore, instead they fall to the ground.

Along the flats of Church Bay equestrian pursuits emerged, where horses were raced from the 1860s onward. Families bred horses with some seriousness, securing Arabian stock to better the bloodlines. Horses have remained a part of Te Huruhi up to the present time, with considerable equestrian activities both in Church Bay and over the hill in Blackpool.

Above the tidal land, the flats of Church Bay contained high grade shingle, mined for the building of Auckland. Indeed the 19th Century marked a period of extraordinary environmental destruction of the area with the consent, and often participation of the Maori owners, as they sold off and stripped first the timber forests and then the very land itself.

As a place of activity, Hangaura seems to have waxed and waned. The golden period under the stewardship of brothers Wiremu Hoete and Rawiri Takurua and the family of Arama Karaka seems to draw to an end with the death of Wiremu Hoete Keepa in 1890.

In 1894, Wiremu Maehe Hoete and others applied to the Native Land Court to subdivide the Te Huruhi block into 13 sections. The lines drawn corresponded with the de-facto lines established by the various whanau. The sense of community, held strong by the bonds of aroha as maintained by Wiremu Hoete and his son Wiremu Hoete Keepa were broken by the grandson Wiremu Maehe Hoete. This was further aggravated by the perpetual question as to loyalty and commitment to the land, as those called tangata whenua (people of the land) in the records often gave different places as their home, and not all were buried on Waiheke .

By 1900 the buildings appear to have begun to deteriorate, and while farming continued, the sense of community in Hangaura appears to have gone. In 1903 Rawiri Puhata the man designed as heir to Wiremu Hoete Keepa’s mana was living in Kerepehi, having moved there in 1893. Wiremu Maehe Hoete, now a Reverend, gave his home as Parawai, Thames and Neho Keepa while still on Waiheke was living in Awaawaroa. The ravages of disease and illness took their toll, and Waiheke was still a long, and sometimes rough boat ride from Auckland. With the transformation of the land into larger fenced grazing lands, the kainga villages gave way to pastoral runs and Te Huruhi eventually became a sheep station. The woolsheds were kept up, but the church was allowed to fall into ruins and by 1920, even the magnificent home moved away.

With the advent of the new century, Ngati Paoa’s role in Te Huruhi faded. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron took out a lease on a seven acre block at Matiatia, where the wharf and car park are now located. In 1906 a lease was taken out by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company, whose director, Alexander Alison would become an important name in Te Huruhi history. By the end of 1907 Alison was leasing most of Hangaura as well as Matiatia and Owhanake Bays and his son, Fred, who had begun a career in boat building (as befits a ferry operator) shifted to sheep farming.

By 1911, the rules on sales of Maori land had become less restrictive, and the now subdivided Te Huruhi became a surveyor’s lunch ticket as family after family sought to cash in on land which was obviously not deemed their ancestral place, the place where their whenua (placenta) was buried in their whenua (land). In 1912 with an outbreak of smallpox, and the next year an outbreak of tuberculosis further broke the will of the remaining community. The sheep, horses, cattle and pigs did well, as the community gradually transformed into a farm. As land came up for sale, the primary purchaser was Fred and Anna Francis Alison and by the late 1920’s they owned 2,360 acres, in effect the whole of the Te Huruhi block all the way to Surfdale. All that was left in Maori title was the urupaa in Hangaura where the church had stood and a 9 acre block at the southern headland to Matiatia Harbour

In the middle of Church Bay Farm, now in its fifth Pakeha ownership, is a small section of land which remains owned by Ngati Paoa, tangata whenua. On that site stood the church of Church Bay.

'''The Church of Church Bay'''

The name Church Bay comes from the Maori Anglican Church erected on the two rood site by Ngati Paoa on the gently sloped rise of land now known as Church Bay Farm.

The first church was built in Church Bay in 1833, believed to be a raupo chapel, built by the Hapu in residence. It was in this year that Rev Henry Williams visited. Similar visits by Samuel Marsden in 1820 and later by Bishop Selwyn in 1842 mark acknowledgement by Anglican religious leaders of the devout nature of the Maori population of Te Huruhi. Curiously, some of this history is explained through intertribal warfare, which had its bloodiest period in this time.

40 years earlier, in 1793, NgaPuhi, under Te Hotete (father of Hongi Heke), captured Ngati Paoa chiefs and children and took them to the Bay of Islands. Additional captives were taken by Hongi Hika in 1821, the year after Samuel Marsden’s visit. They were released in the early 1830’s, but in their time of captivity some of them, including Wiremu Hoete, had received mission schooling at Paihia. We believe this religious instruction and belief may have inspired the church’s construction upon Hoete’s return to Hangaura, and the subsequent visit by Henry Williams (the translator of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori and brother of William Williams, the author of A Dictionary of the Maori Language). Wiremu Hoete became a deacon in the church and eventually an Anglican priest.

The hapu built the last church in 1881. Hoete’s son Wiremu Hoete Kepa collected the building funds. It was built of kauri timber, measuring approximately 12 feet by 19 feet. Rehutai Pio Karaka, the last Maori owner of Hangaura, and a respected sheep farmer, was the last lay reader in the Church.

Eventually it was blown down in a gale, and the timber burned in a grass fire. The site remains tapu because of the burial grounds which were by the church.

'''Pakeha Ownership'''

With the Alison purchase of Maori land, Ngati Paoa’s stewardship faded.

In 1911, the Croll Family moved to Matiatia to manage the Fred Alison’s now consolidated farm. John Croll had worked for the Alison family on Browns Island where he ran a thoroughbred horse farm and later became a ticket collector on Alison’s ferry. Fred Alison had suffered a back injury during his boat building days, thus he relied on the Croll family to do much of the heavy farm work. For half a century, the history of Te Huruhi and Hangaura, or Church Bay Farm, became the story of the Alison and Croll families. John Croll and his wife Mary moved to Matiatia bringing with them several children, including Don Croll, who developed a remarkable relationship with the land, fulfilling in some regards, the stewardship which previously was ascribed to tangata whenua. Some of these stories are oral, and permission will be required to record them.

Don’s first memory of Matiatia was sitting on top of a house being shifted on a boat from Auckland. Still standing as the Harbourmaster building, Alison floated it over to become the Matiatia homestead. It was already 40 years old in 1911.

Don went to school in Te Huruhi, now known as the old Blackpool School, and on his first day at school found he found the school had 30 Maori children and he and his sister, Agnes, the only Pakeha. Thus, they soon learned Maori fluently, much to the annoyance of their parents when they would speak thus among their elders, who did not know what they were talking about.

Don became close friends with the brothers Tamati and Ngaeiho Kepa, sisters Bella and Ngaronga Araoma and a family named Werama, all of whom lived in a Maori Whare in Church Bay. On the south-western side of Church Bay (perhaps near the Quince Tree?) Croll mentions the home of Rehutai Karaka who owned both the woolshed and the fine house which was shifted to Matiatia Valley where Croll’s two sons later lived. Croll reports almost all these families left in 1916, moving to the Miranda District.

In 1923, work began on the Matiatia wharf and more people began to come to the island. Croll recited what has become a familiar lament “As the island became more populated, the peace and quietness seemed to disappear and the island started to lose some of its charm for me." Croll moved away in 1927, but at the Alison’s request moved back with his bride a few years later. In 1933 ferry service was upgraded with a steamboat known as the Duchess, operated by a company called Watkin Wallace which left Matiatia at 7 am and returned at 7 pm.

One story Don recorded is of note, and worthy of being repeated in full:

''I am now going to relate something which my eldest son and I saw one day when we were mustering and I doubt very much if any other white person has seen this before or heard about it, as up to now I have not spoken about this to anybody and to my knowledge, neither has any other member of my family. I am not going to mention the locality of this sighting as I don’t want this interfered within any way. This day, as we were mustering sheep, my son happened to look down and see this strange formation on the beach. We’d had a terrific storm the night before and the sea had washed the beach clear of shingle exposing this complete Maori burial ground. It was a most remarkable sight. It measured about 30ft by 40ft in area and consisted of row on row of skeletons ranging from children to adults. These were laid out on tea-tree sticks which were absolutely uniform in size, approximately the size of wooden peg and about 5-6 ft long. On top of these were woven flax mats and both sticks and mats looked in perfect condition, although I guess if they’d been touched, they would have disintegrated. The skeletons were more or less imbedded in the sticks and mats. We looked at this some time in awe, but having much respect for the Maori tapu, we did not touch a thing. Next day we went back and the incoming tide had covered it all over and they were in peace once more…''

In the 1960’s the Alisons retired and sold the farm. The Southern part was first purchased by the Alexanders, and about a year later sold to Mark Week and his business partner.

Mark Week and his wife Estima had a choice of purchasing either the north farm (now Matiatia Estates) or the south farm (now everything south of the Ocean View Road, including Church Bay Estate and Park Point). Mark reported preferred the gentle slopes of Church Bay and a particular feeling engendered, which was absent in the northern farm, which was subsequently purchased and held by the Delamore family until it was sold to the Amtrust Pacific Ltd. owned by New York billionaire investor brothers Michael and George Karfunkel and developed as the Matiatia subdivision. Mark owned Church Bay Farm for 17 years until he sold it to Nettie and Nick Johnstone.

Mark was an unusual man, deeply associated with an organisation known as Subud. In the interview that collected the historical information cited herein, at one point he commented about the significance of Waiheke, and in particular Church Bay farm. He said that Waiheke is a very important place in the future of the world, that there is a “very high reason for its being here, and billions of people will be influenced from here.” He said no more on that subject but shifted to discussing the merits of combining sheep and cattle on farms.

Under the stewarship of Nick and Nettie Johnstone, Church Bay once again changed. Originally, the Johnstones purchased all of the farm from Matiatia to the southern tip of Park Point, but shortly after purchasing it, sold Park Point to the Tichner family who are subdividing and selling it as life-style lots. The Johnstones were farmers, but found that as a farm it was not proving sufficiently productive, so over time a subdivision plan evolved for it.

Until that time, subdivisions of farms into life-style sections required the sections be economic units, meaning they had to generate an income, be it a rural panel-beater or a life-styler who planted a few low-maintenance olive trees to meet (or more truthfully, beat) the rules. What Nick Johnstone and his landscape architect Dennis Scott devised was a new standard whereby subdivision would be possible if half a million native trees were planted on the parts of the land too steep to support reasonable agriculture or a safe building section. In one way, this would, over the next hundred years, bring the role of Pakeha in Church Bay full circle, as once again, the magnificent forests which were standing here when Captain Cook arrived will stand tall, only this time, protected by law and covenant.

'''The Return of Ngati Paoa to Hangaura'''

Saturday, 24 June 2006. Matariki. Tribunal finds for Hauraki Maori

Jun 24, 2006 – The Waitangi Tribunal has found that substantial restitution is due to Hauraki Maori over the loss of land which has lead to poverty and social dislocation. The Tribunal has released its report on 56 claims covering the southern part of Tikapa Moana, which includes the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, the Coromandel Peninsula and the lower Waihou and Piako Valleys. The first claims were lodged with the Tribunal in 1988. The Waitangi Tribunal says the Crown has acknowledged that Hauraki iwi lost large areas of land during the land confiscation of the 1860s with very little compensation. The report says they have been marginalised by the transfer of land and resources to others, which has caused alienation and frustration. The Waitangi Tribunal says Treaty principles of dealing with utmost good faith have been breached and substantial restitution is due.

25 June, Sunday – As part of the Matariki celebration on Waiheke, beginning at noon, elders and rangatira of Ngati Paoa walked on to the last remaining Maori title land on Hangaura, the square section, landlocked in the Church Bay Farm which once was the site of the church, and remains the urupā. Accompanied by members of Piritahi Marae and other citizens of Waiheke, stories were told whilst waiting for the elders to arrive, and then a prayer service was held. All except the elders walked the perimeter of the land, bound on three sides by a fence, and more karakia was said, including Ngati Paoa’s Eugene Rawiri acknowledging and honouring the work of Waiheke’s long-standing kaumatua, Kato Kauwhata, Nga Puhi, from Nga Wha in Northland. This ceremony had the full support of the present owners of Church Bay Farm, and its farm manager attended and offered full cooperation with the Iwi.

[[Category:Beaches]]

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2007-09-27T10:51:50Z

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