Council urged to buy Akaroa house and 'chart new path' for future generations
Thursday, 3 December 2020
An Akaroa home sitting on one of the most culturally significant pieces of land in New Zealand is for sale and could be bought by the Christchurch City Council.
The Red House, which has a rating valuation of $1.2 million, is surrounded by the Takapūneke Reserve, an area of huge importance to Ngāi Tahu.
The Banks Peninsula reserve is classed as wāhi tapu (a sacred place) by Heritage New Zealand.
The house and its surrounding garden of 2864 square metres is due to go to auction on December 10, and the council held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday to decide whether to put in an offer.
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The authority has not released its decision, which was made behind closed doors.
However, a management plan for the reserve adopted by the council in 2018 states it and/or Ōnuku Rūnanga should obtain the Red House if the opportunity arose.
The plan said it could be used as a venue for activities including education, meetings or community-based activities, and a cafe or restaurant.
But Harcourts real estate agent John Moyle said the council had an opportunity to buy the property about 18 months ago but pulled out because councillors did not approve the agreement.
The house, built in 1924, is owned by a couple in their 80s, and Moyle told the council about eight months ago they were planning to sell.
But he said he did not hear anything back until the property was put on the market.
“They had plenty of warning.”
Members of Ōnuku Rūnanga and the Akaroa Civic Trust asked the council on Thursday to buy the property.
Rik Tainui, of Ōnuku Rūnanga, said the council had a chance to chart a new path forward for future generations.
“We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. We can ensure we don’t make the same mistake again.”
The Red House is built on land that was once part of a major Ngāi Tahu flax trading village of chief Tē Maiharanui, who traded with whaling vessels from Europe, America and Sydney in the mid-1820s.
In 1830 Tē Maiharanui boarded a British ship in the harbour and was captured and later killed by Te Rauparaha, who went ashore at Takapūneke and massacred the unsuspecting Ngāi Tahu inhabitants.
The massacre has a direct link to the claim of British sovereignty over New Zealand.
However, a number of offensive developments have been built at Takapūneke Reserve over the years, despite objections from Ōnuku Rūnanga and Ngāi Tahu.
A sewage treatment plant was constructed in 1964, a move later described by a historian as the “ultimate in modern cultural oppression”.
In 1979 a now disused rubbish dump was established in the reserve, and in 1998-99 the Banks Peninsula District Council planned to subdivide land behind the Red House into 61 residential sections, a move considered abhorrent by Ōnuku Rūnanga.
The subdivision plan was eventually ditched and in 2006 the area was deemed a reserve.
The council is also planning on moving the sewage treatment plant.
Akaroa Civic Trust chairman Mike Norris said Takapūneke offers a unique opportunity to educate current and future generations about the circumstances in which modern New Zealand was founded.
If the property remained privately owned it would possibly become the location of activities that might not align with the cultural and historical significance of the reserve, he said.
“Continuing private ownership of the Red House could set back the orderly and appropriate development of the Takapūneke Reserve for decades.”