May 05, 2014
Hapu reaches out to snooty suburb
Ngati Whatua’s deputy chair Ngarimu Blair says the Auckland hapu will keep trying to win over snooty suburban residents.
Some Devonport homeowners have expressed relief that Ngati Whatua leased a 4.2 hectare block at Narrow Neck to Ryman Healthcare for a retirement village, rather than developing social housing or apartments on it.
Mr Blair says he’s disappointed at some of the comments, but it shows the need for an education process about what iwi are doing with their treaty settlement assets.
"You know we’re going to work really hard at it. We want to build quality buildings and community facilities over there and show them that just as opur ancestors wanted, we want to contribhute positively to the developmnent of this city for our people and for everybody," he says.
Mr Blair says income generated from the lease of the block will be a great boost for the hapu’s social and cultural programmes.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH NGARIMU BLAIR CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MTc3NjY=
Copyright © 2014, UMA Broadcasting Ltd