Paraparaumu land open for development

Descendants of former owners of Paraparaumu airport land say their concerns have been ignored by commissioners looking at a planned development of the site.

The three commissioners have recommended the Kapiti Coast District Council change its district plan to allow a business park and shops be built around the airfield.

Peter Love from Te Whanau a Ngarara says the process has once again exposed the 1995 sale of the airport as a sham.

The then-National Government argued it did not have to be offered back to former landowners because there was no change of use.

Mr Love says the commissioners gave the developer-friendly council the outcome it sought.

‘They're not addressing the issue that the surplus land at the airport is being built over by this development and once they’ve built over it, we’re unlikely to get it back,” Mr Love says.

He says the pressure will now go on the council to reject the recommendation.

MAORI HEALTH PROVIDERS TOO QUIET

The editor of a new Maori public health journal says Maori health providers could do more to market themselves.

Anton Blank says most have no media strategy and only advertise their services in marae or their clinics.

He's challenging Maori health providers to strengthen their relationships with the media.

“Our health providers tend to invest heavily in things like brochures and pamphlets and web sites. What I think they need to do is start being brave enough to get their issues out into the media because that is the way that people receive information so our people are far more likely to be listening to the radio, watching tv so things like advertising, getting our message into the media, those are really important strategies,” Mr Blank says.

He says many worthwhile Maori health initiatives are going unreported.

NANNIES CELEBRATED IN MARAE FIRE FUNDRAISING

A Hawkes Bay marae has hosted a special day to raise funds to help Te Huki Marae near Wairoa, which lost several buildings to fire last April.

Organiser Mei Whaitiri, from Kohupatiki Marae near Clive, says the focus was on the kuia of Ngati Pahauwera.

She says men get honoured all the time, but it's the nannies who keep communities together, especially in times of strife.

“It was just a different way of celebrating the nannies of Ngati Pahauwera and a way of gathering the finances to help rebuild Te Huki marae. And the nannies absolutely enjoyed the day, we enjoyed hosting them at Kohupatiki and we really spoilt them,” Mrs Whaitiri says.

More than 200 whanau came to the hui, raising around $7000 towards the cost of rebuilding.

LAST POST FOR TAMATI PARAONE

Ka hinga he totara mai te wao nui o Tane.

Tamati Paraone, a rangatira of Ngati Hine and one of the oldest members of the 28 Maori Battalion, died this afternoon at Kawakawa Hospital. He was 92.

His nephew, Erima Henare, says Mr Brown was a noted sportsman in his youth, representing New Zealand Maori and North Auckland on the wing.

Because of his speed he was also third challenger for Ngapuhi in wero from the first great hui in 1934 to 1950.

He was an entrepreneur who pioneered horticulture in Kerikeri, and was generous with his wealth for tribal purposes.

Mr Henare says his death is a huge loss for Ngati Hine.

“Tamati is a descendant of the great Ngati Hine chief and warrior Kawiti’s eldest son, Taura, and therefore held an important rank and role in Ngati Hine affairs. His passing is the passing of a great peacemaker and mediator in a lot of issues and disputes that Ngati Hine have had within themselves,” Mr Henare says.

Tamati Paraone will be taken to Otiria Marae this evening, and the tangi is expected to last until Monday.

TOO MANY MEN IN PARTY FOR WOMEN’S REFUGE FOUNDER

One of the defeated candidates for the Maori Party's Ikaroa Rawhiti nomination says the party is top heavy with men.

Mereana Pitman won't support Derek Fox, who won the right to challenge for the East Coast seat ... but she also has little sympathy for the claims of faulty procedure by Atareta Poananga, who is challenging the result.

She'll instead back Angeline Greensill's efforts to win the Waikato-Hauraki seat.

Ms Pitman says Maori tend to undervalue the contribution of women, who do a lot of the word work on kaupapa Maori issues.

“I think it is too top heavy with men. We have to look at some equitable way of getting some women in there as well, because I think that’s what it needs. For a party that preaches balance, it needs to practice balance,” Ms Pitman says.

She says the selection process in Ikaroa Rawhiti of 14 hui in six days was ludicrous and grueling, and members seemed swayed more by image than substance.

TAKITIMU FESTIVAL ROUNDING UP COUSINS FROM ACROSS PACIFIC

The organiser of the first Takitimu Festival of the Arts is trying to attract interest from around the Pacific.

Tama Huata says he wants to bring together artists from across Te Moananui a Kiwa who share a whakapapa to the ancestral waka.

An invitation to the Raraotongan community has been well received, and they are looking forward to the opportunity to meet their cousins from Aotearoa.

“See they've got their side of their stories. With us here at home, we’ve got the end of the story. And then we can’t forget our Samoans either and the Fijians, Tongans, Tahitians, all that lot who are connected with the waka, bringing our best artists together in a great celebration, so giving us an opportunity to really have a good look at our history as well,” Mr Huata says.

The Takitimu Festival will be held in the Hawkes Bay in November.