Teachers make connections

Tasman District Council’s proposal for a shared path through Pōhara got short shrift at a public meeting on Monday afternoon.

Discontent simmered among the 70 or so gathered at Molly B’s café – one of the businesses that stands to lose should the pathway be constructed as planned. Under the current proposal, the cycle/walkway will occupy the shoulder of Abel Tasman Drive from Totally Roasted, run alongside the outside of the campground fence and the Pōhara Store before continuing to Pōhara Valley Road.

By the end of the hour-long meeting it emerged that, while there was support for a shared path, the resultant loss of car parking was a major concern. But the overriding criticism was the perceived lack of meaningful consultation undertaken by TDC, exacerbated by its apparent obfuscation around the project.

The forum was facilitated by Ligar Bay resident Bernie Kelly who began by explaining that, although council made the decision last year, affected businesses only found out in April, and works were due to start in July.

Bernie said that the path would almost certainly have an adverse economic impact. “Small changes can make a big difference to small businesses.”

He criticised TDC for presenting the project as “fait accompli”, before offering his view of how a consultation process should proceed. “It should involve meaningful engagement before a decision is made.”

Teachers from across Golden Bay swapped their classrooms for the sands of Farewell Spit last Friday.

The field outing marked the launch of an initiative to incorporate the local environment and cultural narrative into teaching and learning practise across all subjects and age groups. It’s a key project for Kahui Ako Ki Mohua/GB Community of Learning – a network which incorporates the Bay’s five schools plus four early learning centres.

Trip co-ordinator, Collingwood Area School (CAS) principal Hugh Gully, had outlined the reason for the occasion in his earlier invitation. “For some time now Mana whenua have been working to record significant stories that will inform local context for all of our schools in Mohua. They are now ready to begin to share these taonga.”

At the start of the day, the 60-strong group of teachers congregated in CAS’s main hall where Tākaka Primary School deputy principal Talia Lynch provided some background to the Ministry of Education-funded project.

Talia began by explaining that the gathering was “about getting to know each other and all about connections” before introducing the concept of Te Marautanga ā Mohua (Mohua local curriculum) and describing Manawhenua ki Mohua’s four strongly held values –manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, wairuatanga and whanaungatanga – which she said are “all connected” and should underpin teaching and learning.

Talia displayed a storied “map” of Mohua created by artist Robin Slow which depicted the connections between the geography and the pūrākau (cultural narrative) and marked the location of each of the five schools. A video of Robin voicing stories that connect the people to the whenua was screened after which Talia posed a question to those present: “How will you incorporate the whenua, the mahere toi (maps) and the pūrākau into your teaching and learning programmes?”

Following brief personal introductions, the group boarded a trio of Farewell Spit Eco Tours buses and headed north – first to Cape Farewell and then to Onetahua (Farewell Spit).

During the 25km journey along the flat firm sand towards the lighthouse, the bus drivers provided extensive commentary on many aspects of the spit including its formation, ecology and associated social history.

After enjoying a “brown-bag” lunch at the lighthouse compound, the group reassembled at the pouwhenua – a wooden carving of an upended waka which tells its own stories about Onetahua. Sitting at the top of the pouwhenua is Maui, who when fishing up Te Ika a Maui (the North Island), had his feet dragged along the land, pushing the sand into dune formation and thus created the spit. The carving also shows Onetahua as the birthing place of Tohoros (whales), and the place they return to at the end of their life.

On the return journey the buses stopped at the largest dune formation aka “The Tibetan Plateau” allowing passengers to climb the windswept moonscape, before heading back to the carpark at Puponga Farm Park, where Hugh expressed the group’s gratitude to Eco Tours manager Paddy Gillooly for his support.

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Despite being invited to the meeting, no representatives from council or community board attended, but, Bernie said, they were still entitled to “a right to reply”.

Owners of the three most affected businesses were given the opportunity to outline their concerns. Dave Hix from the On the Spot store was clearly very aggrieved at the loss of parking spaces immediately in front of his shop. “We’ve got 10 parks but will be down to four.”

Dave said that he only found out about the proposed path when he questioned council employees “with notepads” near the store. He recounted his numerous attempts to engage with staff and councillors at TDC, as well as with the community board, but felt he had been repeatedly ignored. “The CEO said the project would go ahead as planned.”

He stressed that most people were not against the cycleway per se, but it should be designed to enhance the locality...

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