Kerikeri Heritage Bypass protects a treasured early contact site

The Kerikeri Heritage Bypass was a project which secured the future of one of New Zealand's most treasured heritage areas, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.

"The Kerikeri Mission Station is regarded as the nation's single most evocative Maori-Pakeha early contact site," she said.

The mission buildings were of huge historical significance and sat as part of a wider landscape which included land treasured by local iwi including wahi tapu sites and Kororipo Pa.

At Kerikeri to celebrate the opening of the 1.6 kilometre bypass which skirts the Kororipo/Kerikeri Basin and heritage area, the Prime Minister said the project had been without precedent. Unlike other roading projects it had not been about traffic management but about caring for and protecting New Zealand's heritage.

"It's the first time and probably the last in which you will find the Ministry for Culture & Heritage funding a road," she said.

The idea of a bypass had been first canvassed in the 1980s after a major flood threatened to sweep away and damaged two of New Zealand's oldest buildings, Kemp House and the Stone Store. In March last year flooding had again threatened the two buildings.

The Heritage Bypass project would significantly mitigate the flooding risk to the Mission Station buildings.

"The removal of the bridge is critical to that because it has acted as a dam contributing to the flood risk. The removal of through traffic is also very positive for the Mission Station buildings," she said.

The government had been proud to fully fund the project through the ministry and through Land Transport NZ to ensure that the nationally important Kerikeri Basin was protected. The project was one which she had pursued as Prime Minister for a number of years and for which she had assembled the funding.

The completion of the bypass was the beginning of a new era for the Kerikeri Basin, providing scope to now develop the basin's full potential as a magnificent heritage.

"It is a proud day for me to see this project completed and to know that we have all done the right thing to preserve this critical part of our country's heritage for future generations," she said.

The official opening of the bypass was preceded by a parade of 57 vintage and classic cars from the Kerikeri Sports Complex on Waipapa Road via the new bypass to The Centre on Cobham Road. About 250 members of the public and guests were on hand to celebrate the milestone in the project's development.

The final stages of the project still to be completed include the demolition of the former bridge adjoining the Stone Store, construction of a new footbridge 70 metres upstream, paths to link to the new footbridge, permanent traffic cul-de-sacs in Kerikeri and Landing Roads and the reinstatement of an adventure ford across the Kerikeri River reminiscent of the early years of occupation of the Mission Station.

 

The fact that 27 years had passed before anything significant had been done to protect the Stone Store Basin at Kerikeri was testament to how ineffective local government had been in Northland, current Far North Mayor Wayne Brown said today.

"A lot of that is down to the split and widely misunderstood roles of local and regional government," he said at the official opening of the Kerikeri Heritage Bypass.

The regional body in Whangarei had been "shockingly inactive" in meeting its responsibilities for catchment management and local councils in the Far North had been guilty of not raising the issue.

The lesson had not been learnt from the devastating floods in 1981 which had threatened to sweep the historic buildings in the Stone Store Basin away. Housing and commercial areas had since been developed on land that was a metre deep in water in 1981.

"Even now, no coherent catchment management plan exists for most of our rivers. This is a basic reason why my council is today insisting on moving to become a unitary authority such as that enjoyed by the lucky folk of Gisborne," Mayor Brown said.

There had been a "spotty" history of misadventures leading finally to the development of a plan to construct a bypass to help protect the historic Stone Store Basin from flooding. Nevertheless the result had been a good one

"I thank the Prime Minister for her involvement or we might never have got to the end of it," he said.

"One of the first messages I received after becoming Mayor was from the Prime Minister asking me to get on with the pedestrian access. I was surprised it had not been sorted out, but one meeting with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust showed why. They were unable to agree on what sort of bridge or where to put it after only 27 years.

"Now we finally have a bypass my council looks forward to the Stone Store Basin being a lively place with the store selling ice creams, wine and all the things that gave the early settlers a full life with traders and customers. We won't let it be just a museum.

"History didn't start in 1820 or in the 1300s when Maori left Raiatea –nor did it end in the 1860s or in 1900. History started eons ago and in spite of global warning it will continue for eons into the future. Today is part of that," he said.