Council committed to Waipā stories
Waipa District Council remains committed to telling the district’s stories, including those of the New Zealand Land Wars, says Mayor Jim Mylchreest.
Last month the Council agreed to scale back plans for Te Ara Wai, a new museum and discovery centre planned for Te Awamutu. Council rejected a $40 million “aspirational” option and instead agreed to consider a more modest, $16.6 million option as part of the Council’s 2021-2031 Long Term Plan.
A final decision on whether or not to retain Te Ara Wai, or some version of it, in the Council’s Long Term Plan budget will be made in June 2021 following community consultation.
Mylchreest said the decision to put Te Ara Wai “on hold” simply reflected reality.
“The more modest option still offers all the core components and visitor experience we had envisaged but will mean staff have to be more flexible in terms of back-room functions,” he said.
“The fact is, Covid-19 has turned everything upside down and that means the fundraising environment as well. From the get-go, this project has relied on a big chunk of external funding and that hasn’t changed. But philanthropic and corporate money is simply not there anymore; we have to accept that and in the meantime not incur any further costs for ratepayers.”
The decision means that, apart from minor safety improvements on Market St, the streetscaping planned for the Te Awamutu hub area would also go on hold until there was more certainty around the project.
Mylchreest said staff would continue to pursue fundraising opportunities where they saw them. Councillors have also directed staff to continue with a $5 million application to the Provincial Growth Fund, he said.
Meanwhile Council’s desire to tell Waipā stories had not diminished.
“The last few years has shown there is a huge appetite to hear New Zealand’s stories so we have tapped into something important and we won’t be letting that go.”
Te Ara Wai Journeys, a unique self-guided tour of Waipa sites, including New Zealand Land Wars sites, was attracting about 1,000 people each month. The free bi-lingual, mobile App included stories from those with direct links to the Land Wars battles as well as narratives from historians, writers, military experts, archaeologists and more.
The Te Awamutu Museum is continuing to market Te Ara Wai Journeys through its networks, and online, and encourages visitors to the museum to explore culturally significant sites across the district, including Pirongia, Ngāroto, Cambridge, Karāpiro, Kakepuku and Rangiaowhia / O-Rākau.