New school on agenda

Craig Foss awaits a briefing.

Details surrounding a new kura kaupapa planned for Havelock North may emerge today, as Tukituki MP Craig Foss meets with Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye.

The new school is to be built on the site of Arataki Motor Camp, with a focus on teaching in Maori. It sparked an outcry from residents last week, due to the Government's lack of public consultation in choosing its location.

Tukituki MP Craig Foss, who admitted he had been caught "on the hop" about the school's location, said yesterday he still hadn't received a brief on the school, which he had asked for.

"The questions remain unanswered."

However, he would meet Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today to discuss the project.

Labour's Tukituki spokeswoman Anna Lorck said she and Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri would also question the ministry about the school.

"The children who attend this new kura kaupapa school need to be put first. Until we get the information and make sure it's the right decision, we will continue to ask questions and make sure the public are fully informed," Ms Lorck said.

She added Mr Foss should have known the details.

"When a new school is announced for your electorate you should be excited enough to ask where it's going to be built."

Hastings District Councillor Malcolm Dixon, who worked in education for more than 40 years, said the decision had caught residents by surprise.

"Personally I think the announcement has caught everybody off guard because it's come straight out of Wellington.

"The last thing people want to do is make this a racist issue, there's no racism in this at all. It's what is the best location and where will the clientele come from? Surely, rather than having a 5-year-old child on the bus for an hour each day, there's a more suitable location in Hastings."