The Māori Land Court, Te Kōti Whenua Maori Tairāwhiti in Gisborne. An application has been lodged with the court to put a hold on the relocation of a marae at Ūawa-Tolaga Bay.
An application to the Māori Land Court to put a hold on the planned moving of Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna Marae near Ūawa-Tolaga Bay has been lodged.
The marae is one of five in Tairāwhiti impacted by North Island weather events of early 2023 and earmarked to be moved to safer locations through a $136 million national allocation by the Government.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka made the announcement in Gisborne last May that the Puketawai, Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna and Okuri marae at Tolaga Bay and the Takipū and Rangatira marae at Te Karaka were to be relocated.
Following that, whānau member Ashleigh Wawatai, who has whakapapa to Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna Marae, lodged an application with the Māori Land Court, which was accepted in December last year.
“We’re not necessarily against relocation,” she told the Gisborne Herald. “It’s more the processes we have concerns about. Many whānau have had serious concerns about the process and not being informed around things.
“When you think relocation, you think you’re relocating the buildings. You know, relocation and demolition are two very different things.”
“Everyone understands the flooding concerns. Our focus really is ensuring that any decision about the future of our marae is made collectively and with full information available to whānau, which hasn’t seemed to be the case so far.
“There’s a lot of our whānau who still aren’t even aware of the relocation, or the demolition actually, and are still finding out about it.
“With such an irreversible decision, I think it’s vital that everybody gets that input and that proper process is followed,” she said.
“The Māori Land Court process exists to ensure that all of those views are properly considered.”
Wawatai said her group had offers of help from legal counsel and were “trusting the Māori Land Court process”.
“It is there for such sorts of things – to have our voices heard and to protect our mauri [spiritual essence] and our mana of the marae ... to us, the marae not just a building. My hope is that through the Māori Land Court process a pathway will be found that honours our marae, our tikanga [customs] and the voices of all our whānau.
“My main reasoning for going to the Māori Land Court process was to buy that time ... to allow for that sort of process or the project to slow down.”
Wawatai said there were new developments at the current site that included a new ablution block and carpet. “Visiting the marae myself, it looked to me like it was standing the strongest it’s ever stood.
“It seems a bit much of a waste just to demolish the buildings at that point.
“At the end of the day, that’s the only reason why we’ve chosen to take the Māori Land Court process ... because we couldn’t sit at a table, unfortunately, as sad as it is, and sort things as a whānau, which is what I would have preferred.
“I believe wholeheartedly there’s a solution that fits everybody.
“There’s also been a suggestion that they could relocate the marae up to where the school sits, which is well above the flood line. It’s in safety where Mangatuna School is.”
Project lead for the marae Dr Wayne Ngata said it had been flooded several times in the past 60 years, including during Cyclone Gabrielle.
With Gisborne District Council’s classification of the land as Category 3 under the Fosal (Future of Severely Affected Land) regulations, the marae was deemed high-risk and not safe to occupy because of unacceptable risk to life from future extreme weather.
“The marae trustees, supported by whānau, therefore decided to move to safer and higher ground. This decision was made in 2024 and further reinforced in 2025. The move to a new site is supported by a funding agreement with the Crown, signed in April 2025. The new location is on Wharekākā Rd, south of Mangatuna, where site preparation is currently underway,” Ngata said.
“As part of the moving process, trustees discussed with whānau what to do with the current site and its facilities. It is not safe to remain there. Whānau discussed and agreed to utilise what could be salvaged in the new build and bury what remained. This will take place once the new marae is functional in 2027.”
Ngata confirmed that the marae trustees knew an application was filed to the Māori Land Court, under section 19 of the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, “seeking an injunction to restrain the trustees of Hinemaurea Marae from taking a range of steps in relation to the proposed relocation of the marae”.
Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna trustees had not received any further updates or directions from the Māori Land Court since this.
Ngata said Wawatai attended the marae AGM on December 28, 2025 ”and expressed her views. The vast majority of whānau chose to continue with decisions that had already been made”.