Ātea a Rangi stands strong in the face of floods

Ātea A Rangi seen from afar at high tide on the morning of February 14.

Notable Hawke’s Bay landmark Ātea a Rangi has survived the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and will continue to share its important kaupapa with the community in the coming months.

Situated within the Waitangi Regional Park, the site is an important symbol of knowledge, discovery and environmental protection in Hawke’s Bay.

It was historically seen as a ‘dumping ground’, but when the star compass was constructed in 2017 as part of the Waitangi Estuary enhancement, it gave people the opportunity to understand how traditional navigation worked and discover a deeper connection with the land.

Piripi Smith from the Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust told Hawke’s Bay Today that while it was lucky that the site and waka hourua Te Matau a Māui in Ahuriri were unaffected (likely due to the land’s height), many crew members had lost their houses and had been through significant personal strife.

“It has been a terrible situation, and we are thankful that everyone we know is safe and getting looked after,” he said.

“We’re thankful that the Ātea hasn’t been damaged, but to put things in perspective, it’s nothing compared to people losing their homes and marae.”

In the morning on Tuesday, February 14, Smith said he had been carefully monitoring the Ngaruroro River levels and Clive waterways.

“The Ngaruroro was already over-spilling and filling up the paddock across the road from our house.”

When the banks burst, Smith said it was predominantly upriver, which took the river level down.

“When we did build it [Ātea a Rangi], it was quite a bit higher than the stopbanks,” said Smith.

A number of important community events and programmes are set to still go ahead in the coming months, including Matariki in June.

“We still plan to go ahead with Matariki. We’ll see what happens with funding, as understandably there will be rediversion to help aid recovery, but however big or small it is, it will be good to get back to some kind of normality and for the community to be able to connect again, good for their wairua.”