Opononi cultural centre gets $500,000 boost from Northland Regional Council

A concept drawing of the Manea - Footprints of Kupe cultural heritage centre planned for Opononi, that has now got a $500,000 boost from the Nothland Regional Council.

An $8 million-plus cultural centre at Opononi that has already got $4.6m from the Government has been given a $500,000 fillip from the Northland Regional Council.

The NRC is to make a $500,000 contribution to the "Manea Footprints of Kupe" project, which is the brainchild of Te Hua o te Kawariki Trust and would see a cultural heritage tourism and education centre built to celebrate the journeys of the legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe.

Justin Blaikie, who represents the NRC's Hokianga-Kaikohe constituency, says Manea will tell the stories (footprints) of Kupe using a combination of guided tours, 4D interactive performances and technology stations, all complemented by taonga repatriated from museums.

"As a local councillor, I'm absolutely thrilled that we're able to make this contribution from our Investment and Growth Reserve to a project expected to have positive economic benefits for the Hokianga area and complement existing attractions like the Footprints Waipoua sightseeing tour."

Blaikie said the average tourist stopover time in Hokianga is about six hours and Te Manea aimed to maximise and expand the economic and other opportunities that window offers.

"It should foster a potentially lucrative vein of opportunities which existing and future tourism-based business in Hokianga can tap into during those visits."

Tens of thousands of predicted visitors to the project – which has already secured $4.6m of funding from the government's Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) – are expected to provide an annual economic boost of about $5.5m, with the total economic impact from construction estimated at about $12m.

Blaikie said the NRC's decision to back the project to the tune of $500,000 – confirmed at its recent monthly meeting in Whangārei – comes after it had in November 2017 allocated $40,000 from the IGR to help the project's backers fund a feasibility assessment/business case.

"That money – allocated after a request from council's regional economic development arm Northland Inc – was used to help with the validation of development plans, quantity surveying, technical review, architectural plans and producing high-definition images to attract investment."

Blaikie said a charitable limited liability company, Manea Footprints of Kupe Ltd, has been established to operate the business.

"Its Board of Directors includes a number of experienced individuals in the tourism sector including Shane Lloyd, Anton Haigh and Northland Inc board member Nicole Anderson."

The $500,000 NRC funding – which had been recommended by Northland Inc and council staff – is subject to a number of conditions before it will be released, including that all the other funding required for the project must be secured first.