Kia ora whanau.recently there have been some patai about the selling or moving of the Marae for the roading project that replaces the tahaenui bridge.As whanau you do have a voice so kei te pai with the patai. To clarify over the patai raised.At no time have we in the last 6 years during my involvement had a formal offer from Transit NZ over selling or moving the Marae to renew/repair the road or bridge.QRS have nothing to do with the proposal as Transit manages the State Highways.What we have had nearly 5 years ago is a formal meeting at Manutai where they presented 6 possible options to consider around the project.Manutai Marae trustees and whanau on the day(was a big turn out) made it very clear that going through the Marae or behind the Marae was not an option.A follow up meeting with Transit was held and Derek Fox facilitated and we had legal counsel on the day too.Once again we all made it clear that going through the Marae or behind the Marae was not an option however we would support the building of a new road that takes the hill across the road and the paddock opposite that predominantly is owned by John Bayley but does include some Maori land(which Transit have not formally approached those owners).Some informal meetings with a Transit rep were had 2 years ago at the Wairoa Council building with the then Maori liaison officer and our stance remained the same.Transit keep reporting that our preferred option of taking the hill is too expensive due to the earthworks.We believe if theyd followed that option to start with the whole project would have saved them in the longterm.Transit have not been very transparent by trying to find other ways to gain favour for their preferred option without our involvement nor have they been supportive of our stance, however we remain firm. So in short we are not selling anything and never were.Please share this with your whanau as the story has grown somewhat and we want our whanau to rest assured. In the interim we will update you soon on the Marae Development plan and where we are with stage 1 and Lotteries. Mihi nui Sonya Smith.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:39:11 +0000
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