Council, Tamakis to sign lease agreement for Christchurch Maori Village

16 June 2005

An agreement between Tamaki Christchurch Maori Village Ltd and the Christchurch City Council will be signed within the next few days, giving the green light for the development of a Maori Village next to Ferrymead Heritage Park.

The agreement was approved for completion at today’s Council meeting.  It sets out the terms on which the Woodhill site will be developed by both parties and includes a lease detailing how the Tamaki company will be able to use the land. 

Among the conditions of the agreement is that the Council will remediate Woodhill, a former landfill site.  This would have been necessary for any future development of the site, which is part of Heathcote Valley Park - an important conservation and recreation area being upgraded by the Council.

Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore said, “I am very pleased to see this venture take off, specially after the preview that we were given as part of the TRENZ (Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand) conference this week.  I was very impressed and look forward to it becoming one of Christchurch’s visitor attractions.”

The Council has been working with the Tamaki project team since 2001 when it decided that their proposed venture would be good for the site and the city as a whole

After four years on the drawing board, brothers Mike and Doug Tamaki say it is now full steam ahead for the village, with a launch date planned for June next year.

“Christchurch City Council has certainly worked hard alongside us to get to this point.  Christchurch is pivotal to our over riding strategy of creating cultural heritage touchstones throughout the country.  Ferrymead Heritage Park is certainly helpful to our chosen story for this area,” Mike Tamaki said.

“Here, our story will be of the colonial encounter between two cultures – tangata whenua and the early European settlers…. The experience will focus on special moments that have helped define the spirit of New Zealand.  The Treaty of Waitangi, fractious misunderstandings, important interdependence at times and cohesion between two cultures all play their part.”

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