Christchurch council buys Red House for $2.5m

Red House. Photo / Harcourts

Christchurch City Council has bought a site in the Banks Peninsula near Akaroa described as nationally significant and of immense importance to local Māori.

The council paid $2.5 million for the Red House at Takapūneke which will be incorporated into a reserve.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel Reserve said the council was working towards having the site acknowledged as being as significant as the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Real estate agent for the property, John Moyle, said the council was given the opportunity to buy the property about 18 months ago but did not approve the agreement.

A report prepared for council said the land the Red House was built on was once part of a major Ngāi Tahu flax trading village of chief Te Maiharanui who traded with whaling vessels from all around the world in the mid 1820s.

It was through this good relationship Te Maiharanui had with the Europeans that he boarded a British ship Brig Elizabeth, was captured and later killed by Te Rauparaha who had hid in the ship.

Te Rauparaha and his war party went ashore at Takapūneke and massacred the unsuspecting Ngāi Tahu inhabitants, a report prepared for council said.

The site was considered sacred by the iwi after the 1830 massacre so out of respect for their tūpuna they avoided the area for over 100 years.

William Green and his family landed their cattle at Takapūneke in 1839 and the built the first Red House the same year.

The original home burnt down in 1888, the house which is currently on the market was built in 1924 - it has a ratable value of $1.2 million.

Ōnuku Rūnanga representative Rik Tainui told the council buying the property is an opportunity to charter a new positive and constructive path forward.

"It's incredible for my family, what happened at Takapūneke is part of New Zealand's history and we've waited a long time to get this piece of whenua back.

"We are hopeful that the council will seriously look at purchasing the Red House and re-joining up what we think should always have been part of the Takapūneke Reserve."

Akaroa Civc Trust chair Mike Norris told the council if they don't buy The Red House it could fall into the hands of someone who doesn't respect the history of the area.

He pointed out how times have changed and the land is finally being respected for its cultural and historic significance.

"Takapūneke offers a unique opportunity to educate this and future generations about the circumstances in which the modern New Zealand state was founded."