August 03, 2020
Far North heritage preserved through PGF grants
A site connected to a major battle in the Northern War will benefit from an $8.75 million investment in Far North projects.
Just over $1.7 million will go the Ōhaeawai Community Cultural Centre to restore and rejuvenate sites on Te Haara farm connected to the 1845 Battle of Ōhaeawai at what is now Ngāwhā.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcements following a service at the historic St Michael’s Anglican Church at Ōhaeawai yesterday.
The actual pā at the centre of the battle belonged to the Ngāti Rangi chief Pene Taui and was fortified by the Ngāti Hine chief Te Ruki Kāwiti.
In the 1870s St Michael’s Anglican church was erected on the pā site and the graveyard contains the remains of many of the British soldiers who died during the Battle of Ōhaeawai.
Mr Jones says the battle was seen as the first serious challenge to the Crown in the years following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the design of the ‘gunfighter pa’ was copied by other iwi.
Funding is also going to renovate and repair buildings on marae at Tāheke, Parawhenua, Te Rito and Tuhirangi, which will create 33 jobs for local tradespeople and contractors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ngāti Rangi Ahuwhenua Trust will receive $2.25 million as a grant and loan to establish a mānuka plantation and harvest wild plants on Māori-owned land for a planned mānuka oil distillery at Ngāwhā, and the Reconnecting Northland Trust will receive $3.2 million for fencing waterways and riparian planting.
This will create jobs for workers displaced by COVID-19 while improving freshwater quality.
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