Kaitāia’s new town square, which includes a steel and tōtara waka sculpture by BJ Natanahira, was opened before dawn.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

There are big days in Kaitāia, and there are absolutely enormous days.

Wednesday was one of the latter, with not one but two major town improvement projects opened in a single morning.

One of those, an indoor swimming complex, had been almost three decades in the making.

But first up was the formal opening of Kaitāia’s new town square, the 81st – and final – element of the Te Hiku Revitalisation Project.

The project, funded in 2020 with an $8 million grant from the previous government’s Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, brought a raft of beautification and infrastructure improvements to the neighbouring towns of Kaitāia, Awanui and Ahipara.

Previously Kaitāia had no central public space for gatherings or events, or even for workers to eat their lunch. Instead the town’s prime main-street site was occupied by a derelict Pak’nSave supermarket, which had become an eyesore and a magnet for petty crime since the store’s closure in 2011.

The supermarket has finally been demolished and the front half of the site transformed into a square with seating, shade, a water feature and a performance stage.

Its centrepiece is a large stainless steel and tōtara sculpture by Kaitāia artist BJ Natanahira called ‘Te Rerenga Wai o Tangonge’ and based on a waka, a kete (basket) and a famous carving known as the Kaitāia lintel.

The centrepiece of Kaitāia’s new town square is a stainless steel and tōtara waka sculpture by BJ Natanahira.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Far North District councillor Felicity Foy, who helped cut the ribbon in Wednesday’s pre-dawn drizzle, secured the government funding for the revitalisation project. She said it was a huge day for Kaitāia.

“We’ve done 81 projects and this is the finale. It’s fantastic. All great cities in the world have a town square, now in Kaitāia we have our very own centre of the universe.”

Foy said the old Pak’nSave building was “unloved, falling down and had a lot of social issues”. It took the council four years to convince Foodstuffs, the building’s owner, that it should be part of the town centre revitalisation, in collaboration with council-owned company Far North Holdings.

She said the square would create a place for people to come together, and to celebrate the town’s history and culture.

Far North District councillor Felicity Foy and former Te Hiku Revitalisation Project manager Andrea Panther, with Far North Mayor Moko Tepania and other councillors, cut the ribbon to Kaitāia’s new town square.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Foy said she was looking forward to seeing the rest of the site developed.

In his speech, Mayor Moko Tepania highlighted the swag of national and international awards the Te Hiku Revitalisation Project had already received. He described the new square, and the wider revitalisation, as transformational.

“This is a new heart for this town that we can be so incredibly proud of. I really look forward to seeing the manaakitanga (caring for others) and the whanaungatanga (relationship building) shine through with the people of Kaitāia having a place in the heart of town to be able to meet together.”

Tepania said the cultural narrative woven into the design gave him, as someone with connections to local iwi Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu, a sense of pride and ownership.

The revitalisation project has not been all smooth sailing, however, with police involved on a number of occasions.

That occurred when someone took a chainsaw to a newly installed carving at the southern entrance to Kaitāia, and after threats relating to the removal of community mosaics from the old Pakn’Save site.

Former revitalisation project chair Andrea Panther said it was exciting, but also a relief, to see the work finally complete.

“I’m beyond proud. It just shows what we can do if we all work together,” Panther said.

The site of Kaitāia’s newly completed town square used to be an eyesore dominated by a derelict supermarket building.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Following the ribbon-cutting at the square, townsfolk made their way to the new Te Hiku Sports Hub on South Rd for the second opening of the morning.

Project manager Mark Osborne said efforts to build an indoor swimming complex, to replace the ageing, outdoor Kaitāia Memorial Pool, started 28 years ago.

The project was revived about 13 years ago by a passionate group of local residents, with their kaupapa eventually broadening into plans for a multi-sports hub.

A $3.6 million grant from the Provincial Growth Fund in 2018 helped get the project across the line.

Since then the project team had been forced to grapple with cost escalations, the Covid pandemic, and difficulty obtaining materials due to road closures.

“It’s been a long journey, for sure,” Osborne said.

However, he said Kaitāia residents could be proud of the end result – a complex that cost $12 million to build but had been valued at $20 million.

Benjamin Tawhara blesses Kaitāia’s new indoor pools.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

As well as a 25-metre lane pool, the complex included a learn-to-swim pool, a hydrotherapy pool, and a toddlers’ splash area, so it catered to all ages and abilities.

It also boasted a fully equipped gym and a function room.

The outdoor part of the hub included eight netball courts, sports fields for rugby, league and football, cricket nets and a fitness track, with plans for an eight-lane athletics track in future.

Inclusivity was a key aim of the complex with fees set at an affordable level and all signs in English, te reo Māori and Croatian, a nod to Kaitāia’s rich Dalmatian heritage.

All signs at Kaitāia’s Te Hiku Sports Hub are in English, te reo Māori and Croatian – a nod to the town’s strong Dalmatian heritage.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Apart from the PGF, the hub’s major funders were the Far North District Council ($4.1m), Northland Regional Council ($1.4m), Foundation North ($1.1m), Lotto ($500,000) and various grants and gaming organisations.

A group that had raised $50,000 for a pool in Doubtless Bay opted to give the money to the Kaitāia project instead.

Osborne said a little more fundraising was needed to pay for the last elements of the fit-out.

Government Minister Shane Jones, who was in charge of the Provincial Growth Fund back in 2018, was among the MPs at the opening. He said he grew up in nearby Awanui burdened, like many Far Northerners, with low expectations – so he was delighted to see the high standard of Kaitāia’s new indoor pools.

Jones said he and former Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis had pushed their fellow ministers for funding for the complex.

“That was six years ago, and it’s quite emotional now when you see the joy on the faces of young people, and garden-variety members of the Kaitāia community. It makes it all worthwhile.”

Jones said the sports hub, and the town square, would enhance people’s sense of belonging and bring them together.

The new indoor pools opened to the public at noon on Wednesday.