A vision for a marae
The Whangamatā Māori community has long cherished the dream of a community marae (as illustrated by this newspaper article which dates back to 2001). In reality, the aspiration started lot earlier, with a coordinated effort starting in the 1980s if not earlier.
"We're not asking for much, just a little place where we can stand and be Māori," said marae committee spokesman Rodney Gilbert.
Identifying the land
After many years of futile and frustrating efforts to find suitable land for a marae, in 2013, the Marae Committee identified 101 Lindsay Road as a possible workable site. Over the next three years, it worked on a Business Case for this land and presented various versions to Council from 2016 to 2018.
This submission was supported by:
Whangamatā Lions
Whangamatā Community Services Trust
Arts Collective Whangamatā Inc.
Community Patrol Whangamatā
Whangamatā Community MenzShed Inc.
Te Runanga o Ngāti Pū
Community Support
In 2021, the community learned that there was a risk of 101 Lindsay Road being sold by Council. A number of community representatives banded together to protest the potential sale, with local Councillors lobbying for the land to be retained. At the end of the debate, (with one vote saving the day), the community was tasked with preparing another Business Case for how the land could be used, and why it should be retained. The deadline for submission back to TCDC was December 30 2023.
Read the full media coverage here.
"We've got the land, we're set to move on it," says Rob Boston, chairman of the Whangamata Residents and Ratepayers Association.
Business Case Prepared
In early 2022, consultancy firm Veros was engaged by a community collective with funding coming from Momentum Waikato, the Community Marae Trust, ECCST, and the local community board.
Three workshops were held and attended by representatives from the Whangamatā Community Marae Trust, Eastern Coromandel Community Services, Whangamatā Theatre Society, Whangamatā Arts Collective, Whangamatā Resource Recovery Trust and the Whangamatā MenzShed.
In early 2023, the Veros Business Case was completed and in March 2023 it was signed off by the participating entities.
Submission to Council
The Business Case was submitted to the Community Board in August 2023, and presented to the full Council in December that year.
In early 2024, Councillors heard again from the core group, and thereafter they asked staff to work with the Whangamatā entities to determine how the site could be shared between community and Council.
Following successful discussions, the group was assigned 4700 square metres, and this was signed off by the Community Board and full Council in February 2025. Alongside this, the land was rezoned as a community reserve and a lease (with a term of 33 years) is to be signed by the 101 Trust (likely to happen in April 2025).
Click here to read the full story as reported in our local newspaper.
Letters of support accompanied the Business Case and came from these organisations: Whangamatā Area School, Ōpoutere School, Whangamatā Kindergarten, Whangamatā Playcentre, Whangamatā Kaumātua Rōpū, Whangamatā Medical Centre, Tairua-Pauanui LSAR, Whangamatā RSA, St Johns Whangamatā, Whangamatā Waka Ama, Whangamatā Youth Trust, Whangamatā Baptist Church, Whangamatā Anglican Church, Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki, Whitianga Community Services Trust and Coromandel Independent Living Trust.
Board Established & Lease Signed
A governance trust representing the entities involved with this project was established in 2024. Trustees were chosen to represent the Marae Trust, Community Services Trust, the Resource Recovery Trust, with one observer appointed to represent the other entities involved in the business case development. In April 2025, the Co-Chairs of the Trust signed the lease with Council.
GM Employed
In 2024, the newly established 101 Board made the decision to employ a GM and it was determined that Ryan Thompson was the ideal candidate for that role. Ryan began work soon after and currently works two days per week on this project.
