A Hawke’s Bay kaumātua wants a Hastings river dredged so he can paddle the waka he helped build one last time before he succumbs to cancer.
The 20-metre, six-tonne waka, Ngā Tukemata-o-Kahungunu, once sat on the banks of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, formerly known as the Clive River, until 2019.
Now it sits on a trailer towering over owner Jim Edwards’ Whakatū property.
Edwards helped build the waka and is the leader of Ngā Tukemata-o-Kahungunu Vocational Charitable Trust, which operates a programme for people with permanent disabilities between the ages of 19 and 65.
At the programme Edwards helps his students set up individual goals and finds ways of achieving them.
Edwards has worked tirelessly at the trust, including spending more than $150,000 of his own money to keep the programme going.
Having a disability himself, Edwards understands some of the hardships people can face and has dedicated his life to showing them a way forward by using hands–on therapy, trust and respect.
“Some have good minds, but their limbs are affected or vice versa – we don’t leave any of them behind,” he said.
In 1993, he and his wife Marie took on the challenge to build a fully carved waka taua, or war canoe, for all genders and nationalities, with the goal of the waka becoming a taonga for education for all.
Soon, Edwards was welcoming cruise ship passengers and tourists, along with local schools and community groups onboard Ngā Tukemata-o-Kahungunu.
In 2019, because of mud and grass clogging Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, and the lack of tours they were able to take out as a result, the Edwards decided to try to find somewhere else to take the waka.
That somewhere else never eventuated.
During Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, Edwards’ Whakatu property was badly hit by floodwaters. Three years on they are still there rebuilding.
Then, in April, Edwards was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.
He said this had only made him more determined to row the waka he helped build once again.
Edwards, along with several other river users like the rowing club, want Te Awa o Mokotūāraro dredged by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC).
“I just want one more time out on the water,” Edwards said.
“We used to provide waka rides for cancer fundraisers and now I have it.”
In 2022, HBRC chose not to allocate $3 million needed to dredge Te Awa o Mokotūāraro and deferred the decision to its next Long-Term Plan.
Then Cyclone Gabrielle struck and the work was pushed out again.
The river hasn’t been dredged since 2009 and the next opportunity for HBRC to give it the go-ahead will be 2027 during development of the 2027-2037 Long-Term Plan.
A HBRC spokeswoman said, if funding was approved then, the timing of the dredging would depend on when the funding becomes available.
HBRC in July began work on strengthening the riverbank beside Farndon Rd to prevent erosion.
Edwards said he wanted to put his waka on the river again, ideally by November.
“The awa is a beautiful asset,” Edwards said.
“You can’t just leave an asset like that.”
HBRC Heretaunga-Hastings constituency candidates on the dredging of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro:
Jock Mackintosh: It’s a difficult and expensive problem, but we simply have got to find a way to solve it.
Sophie Siers: I am very supportive of having the river dredged as the amenity value of this river is so high; however, I believe the $3m price tag is currently prohibitive.
Conrad Waitoa: The best course of action is to listen carefully to Jim and his whānau, to mana whenua who hold long-standing kaitiaki responsibilities for Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, and to await the findings of the council’s select committee before any firm position is taken.
Bruce Mackay: Chose not to comment.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.