Kaitaia's new school, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Pukemiro, is rapidly taking shape on what for generations has been known as the Kaitaia College top field, off Norman Senn Drive.
Site manager Paul Ellis (NZ Strong, Kerikeri), said yesterday that wet weather had put the project about a week behindschedule, but he was confident that the time could be made up. The company had just finished building a very similar primary school in Papakura, he added, so in many ways Pukemiro was familiar territory.
The school would comprise five buildings providing one administration/staff area and four open plan teaching spaces, with much of the expertise and labour being employed locally.
Local contributors included Kaitaia firm Stonecraft Construction, which had responsibility for the concrete and timber frames.
Mr Ellis was making every effort to keep the immediate neighbourhood informed of progress and any potential disruption, one of those neighbours saying yesterday that those efforts were very much appreciated. The project officially got under way on April 26 .
