Consultation at Waipiro

The minutes of the meeting held at Iritekura Marae, Waipiro Bay, 10am 10 February 2010

Names of the attendees

1. Meeting opened with a mihi and karakia;
2. Councillor responded to the welcome and invited those in attendance to grab refreshments before the workshop started;
3. Council staff facilitated the workshop and began with a few introductory notes about the purpose of the township plans and details about the workshop;
4. The workshop was broken into 3 parts that explored the participants thoughts on the current, past and future of the area;

Current (here and now)

• Council staff asked the group to move out to the front of Tangimangaone, and prompted participants to think about what Waipiro Bay is like now, who lives in the Bay, what is here now such as services and infrastructure -  are they adequate for those living here;
• Everyone was asked to think about these questions before returning inside;

Past (back in the day)

• The group was shown a powerpoint presentation that featured old photos relating to Waipiro and Te Puia featuring people, activities, infrastructure and places. 

Future

• People were asked about the kinds of things they would like to see in Waipiro over the next 20 years. 
• The group was then invited to share and record their thoughts about the now, past and future in small groups.  
• This part of the workshop went for approximately 1 hour and some very good korero was collected.  At the end of the workshop the groups shared their korero with each other, before the floor was opened for any further korero.

1. Councillor took questions from the floor before Wiki gave a mihi to all in attendance for their support of the kaupapa and closed with a karakia.

Korero from the hui

(The following notes are taken from the workshop group discussions)

Waipiro in the past

More employment; more farms; fishing employment; petrol pump; general store; post office; taxis; police station; libraries; billiard hall; hotel x 2; blacksmith; tennis clubs; sports ground (netball, basketball, rugby, hockey); more people; maternity hospital; YMCA; school; fishing club; dairy milkers; big gardens; thriving economy; own public cemetery; picture theatre; maori decision making; stalls near beachfront (bakers); heaps of horses; fully functioning self sustainable community; school buses; low energy consumption; practical sustainability;

Waipiro now

Bus shelter started; fishing club; school marae x 3; no shops; urupa; church in disrepair; decile 10 community; less employment now; tourism – 5 buses/caravans a day, low impact/low value; tourism focused on Gisborne; historical focus on heritage is mainly european; freedom camping areas; dumping waste and rubbish; expecting contractor to pick up; dogs rip up bags;

Waipiro in the future

Public toilets that flush and are serviced and maintained - on the beachfront; by fishing club; under pines at McIlroys; at Taiharakeke.
Clearer road sign to Waipiro on the state highway; heritage trail;
Fishing club; upgrade boat ramp;
Water supply - help maintain current water supply at Te Puia; improve access to water supply at Waipiro (governance for liaison with Council);
Church upgrade and maintenance;
Native preservation - plant native trees on the beachfront;
Refuse - bins allocated around the beachfront and town area during freedom camping time; household collection;
Animal control - problem with wandering stock, needs to be addressed;
Recreational area - need an area for the youth and children; need to upgrade the domain e.g. tennis court, skate park, swings, basketball hoop;
Complete tarsealing of roads;
Housing - awareness of papakainga for housing access to kaumatua flats; have an emergency house;
Need for a local store; health clinic services once a month; marae based work facilitation; sealing of all roads; medical centre; increased local population.