Te Whare Rūnanga (the carved meeting house) at the Treaty Grounds, on Waitangi Day 2024.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Upgrades are planned to two culturally significant sites, Rātana Pa and the Treaty Grounds, with just over $20 million being contributed from the Regional Infrastructure Fund.

At Rātana Pa, near Whanganui, $10.1m was granted from the fund so two key buildings can be renovated on the site where thousands of people gather in January each year to celebrate the birthday of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of the Rātana Church.

And $10.2m was granted for buildings to be repaired and upgraded at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Northland.

“These are both nationally significant places, not just for Māori, but for many other Kiwis,” Minister for Regional Development Shane Jones said, in a joint statement with Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka.

The upgrades would mean safer conditions for visitors and residents, and the preservation of national history.

More than 160,000 people visit the Treaty Grounds each year, and the projects the grant was contributing to would help ensure annual Waitangi Day events can continue to be hosted there, they said.

Meanwhile the 25 January Rātana celebrations had become a national “beginning of the new political year,” Jones said: “Where politicians of all stripes give an accounting of their past mahi and over the year to come”.

Politicians join the crowds at Rātana Pa every year on 25 January.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Until now, volunteer efforts had been the mainstay in maintaining the buildings at Rātana that the fund would be used to renovate.

“Without the necessary upgrades, some buildings at Rātana Pā would need to be closed, which could leave the community unable to host annual Rātana celebrations or Rātana Church events – events that bring visitors to the region,” Jones said.

In September, nearly $6m was granted toward installing a modern wastewater infrastructure at Parihaka village, in Taranaki.

Applications for the fund opened in July, though hopeful parties were cautioned the funds would mostly be allocated as loans and equity investments, rather than grants.