Dr Ken Kennedy is opposing an iwi school being built on his iwi's land near Rotorua. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Dr Ken Kennedy is opposing an iwi school being built on his iwi's land near Rotorua. Photo / Kelly Makiha
A dispute is brewing over the location of a new school with a local kaumātua saying the Ministry of Education should never have bought the land where it's intended to be built.
Dr Ken Kennedy claims the Ministry of Education has breached the Treaty of Waitangi by buying land nearRotorua for the purpose of building a new school for Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai.
Kennedy, who is speaking out as co-chairman of Ngāti Rangiteaorere Koromatua Council, said the land, which was owned by a private farmer, was taken from Ngāti Rangiteaorere by the Crown decades ago and should have been offered to his iwi for sale first.
However, the Ministry of Education disagrees, saying the site came up through a public tender process and therefore there was no requirement to consult with iwi or anyone else before making an offer to buy the land.
Kennedy said his council, which he described as the legal entity for the iwi that dealt with the Crown over its Treaty settlement, had met Crown agents and had expressed their opposition to what they felt was a deal "secretly" done to keep Ngāti Rangiteaorere unaware.
The site where Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai aims to be built. Photo / Supplied
He said despite the fact the land belonged to a private farmer and the sale was on the open market, there should be an obligation for the Crown to alert iwi when their land came up for sale.
He said he had nothing against Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai and had openly supported it in the past, but it wasn't appropriate for them to build their school on another iwi's land. He said Ngāti Rongomai descended from Ngāti Pikiao and they had "plenty of land" around Lake Rotoiti.
New details of the $10 million school at 116 State Highway 30, Tikitere, near the Whakatāne turnoff, were revealed at the start of this month after the consenting process was publicly notified.
The high-performing iwi-based total immersion kura started in 2008 at Tapuaekura Marae, also known as Rakeiao, on the shores of Lake Rotoiti but it soon outgrew the premises.
It has been operating out of makeshift classrooms owned by Te Manawa o te Wheke Amorangi Centre, the Māori Anglican Church, on Robinson Ave in Hannahs Bay since 2016.
Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai's dream of building a new school moved a step closer in 2018 when Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced the ministry would fund $10m to build the school.
The site where Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai aims to be built. Photo / Supplied
In late 2018, the Ministry of Education spent just under $1m buying the farmland.
There are currently more than 100 students at the school-aged to Year 13 but the resource consent application said it intended to have 325 students (275 students and 50 kōhanga reo) and 38 staff members.
Ministry of Education head of education infrastructure service Kim Shannon said the ministry had been looking for land for Ngāti Rongomai's school for a number of years.
"The aim was to find a site that was suitable to build a school within the area that Ngāti Rongomai told us they wanted to be located. This site came up through a public tender process and met these requirements."
Shannon said the ministry had met with Kennedy on a number of occasions but he remained of the view the land should not be used for Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai.
"However, we have an open invitation should he wish to meet with us again. The Ngāti Rangiteāorere Koromatua Council have a further opportunity to raise concerns through the Rotorua Lakes District Council public submissions process which is open now."
The site where Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai aims to be built. Photo / Supplied
Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai co-principal Renata Curtis said Ngāti Rongomai representatives had every right to follow the council's submission process.
"We are aware the land was private land, general title and put on the open market for anyone to purchase."
Not everyone from Ngāti Rangiteaorere agrees with Kennedy's stance.
Te Runanga o Rangiteaorere deputy chairwoman Kiri Potaka Dewes said children who attended Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai were from Ngāti Rangiteaorere and the principals, Tukiterangi and Renata Curtis - who were highly respected - were also descended from Ngāti Rangiteaorere.
It was her opinion many within Ngāti Rangiteaorere would be upset about Kennedy's opposition.
"These are our kids going to that school and our people running it and it's a disgrace he has come out and objected to it. The kids need a kura like that and we are lucky to have that kura and those teachers."
Dr Ken Kennedy is opposing an iwi school being built on his iwi's land near Rotorua. Photo / Kelly Makiha
In response to Dewes' criticisms, Kennedy said the koromatua council was Ngāti Rangiteaorere's legal entity a had superceded the runanga. He said the issue was not with the school.
"I believe the Ministry of Education has an obligation to consult and negotiate with tangata whenua of the land in accordance with our Treaty settlement first of all, whether it's general land or Māori land, rather than meeting with the seller of the land, and then informing (the koromatua council) when the deal has already been done."
Kennedy said he intended to call another hui with the Crown agents in the new year with the intention of getting the sale overturned.
Outspoken Ngāti Rangiteaorere member, Renee Kiriona, who has previously been critical of Crown actions over iwi land, said in this instance the ministry had done the right thing.
She said there were close whakapapa between Ngāti Rongomai and Ngāti Rangiteaorere that needed to be strengthened and this would offer the opportunity to do that.
"Reality is that if this kura doesn't get a bigger site, it will have to limit its roll which will mean less Māori children, from all iwi not just Ngāti Rongomai, learning their native tongue."
