Te Oreore Slip Update

After a major slip at Te Oreore closed the essential road link between Whanganui and Raehiti, Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation and local iwi have been working closely with Te Waka Kotahi to get SH4 accessible again.

Building a new highway requires a number of factors to be taken into consideration including the protection of existing landscape features, local awa, how local property owners may be affected, the need to purchase whenua, protecting indigenous plants and animals, and traffic safety.

“We needed to ensure that we are creating a solution that we won’t have to revisit in fifteen years’ time,” says Mavis Mullins, Chair of the Incorporation Board.

“It was great to have everyone in the same room alongside Te Waka Kotahi (NZTA), understanding the regulatory requirements from one end of the road to the other, as it is an important transit route for our people and our business. With Ngāi Tuhiariki, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngā Tāngata Tiaki sitting alongside the incorporation we were able to look at the issues related to the geology, geography and accessibility through a cultural and tikanga lens.”

Fellow Ātihau-Whanganui Inc Board member Che Wilson agreed, saying, “Te Oreore literally means shifting ground, so it has historically been known to be moving. The area also has a significant maunga, Tuhi Ariki, and an important food source, Mangawero Awa in the vicinity. So, coming together to contribute our local knowledge as ahi kā into the cultural impact assessment allows us to infuse our Māori values into their regulatory planning processes.”

Christine Rawiri, representative for Ngāi Tuhiariki, appreciated the degree to which Whetū Moataane, Ātihau-Whanganui Inc Tikanga and Branding Manager, included iwi in meetings with He Waka Kotahi and their engineers.

“Our whānau have been actively involved in providing feedback, as many still live down the Parapara where the slip was,” she says.

“I think there has been real benefit in how the iwi have worked together on this collective kaupapa.”