Te Puke heritage hub aims to celebrate kiwifruit capital history

Sue Matthews: A Te Puke Kiwifruit Capital of the World heritage hub will tell the Te Puke area's stories.

Those looking to establish a Te Puke Kiwifruit Capital of the World heritage hub are working hard to secure the dream of somewhere for locals to celebrate the district.

Earlier this year the Te Puke Project team launched an initiative aimed at bringing the history of Te Puke to life, with the goal of raising the estimated $80,000 needed.

Sue Matthews has been on the Western Bay Heritage Trust since 2015 and has seen nearly 30 exhibitions offered in Katikati, where the Western Bay Museum is situated.

“While all of the exhibitions have some Te Puke content, we strongly believe that the time has come to develop a community Te Puke Kiwifruit Capital of the World heritage hub to tell our Te Puke district stories and to improve the accessibility and affordability - including for our youth,” she says.

The project team has spoken with the local school principals to see how the heritage hub could support the school curriculum.

“The heritage hub will have free admission to enable celebrating with our local communities and link strongly with the new tourism opportunities.”

So far pledges have been received for around $55,000.

“[That’s] amazing. However, we strongly advocate that we need to keep the momentum up so we can secure a building as this is pivotal to future success.”

Sue says one of the major aims is to tell and celebrate the kiwifruit story from the time when seeds were brought to New Zealand in 1904 by Mary Isabel Fraser, through the development of the fledgling orchards to today’s multimillion-dollar industry with its diverse workforce and importance to New Zealand exports.

“The Te Puke Kiwifruit Capital of the World heritage hub will have interactive opportunities, and we anticipate the emphasis to be our successful kiwifruit story. However celebrating our local environment, stories from across the district would also be an important aspect.”

Many of the exhibitions that have previously been on display at the Western Bay Museum could easily be presented in a heritage hub in Te Puke.

Pledge bands: Friends, $1000, or corporate sponsorship: Premium $30,000, Gold $20,000, Silver $10,000 or Bronze $5000.

So far Seeka has come on board as a gold sponsor and bronze sponsors are Zespri, Hills Lab, Matapara (Sue and Roger Matthews) and Marmatsar Trust (Paul and Natalie Hickson).

In the friends category, pledges have come from 15 kiwifruit industry-related groups and individuals.

Anyone wanting to pledge can send an email to either tpedg@tepuke.co.nz or Matapara-@xtra.co.nz