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Supplied / Stuff
The Red House in Akaroa has been purchased by the Christchurch City Council.
Christchurch taxpayers have paid $ 2.55 million for a culturally significant Akaroa home, more than double its taxable value.
The Red House, which is valued at $ 1.2 million, is surrounded by the Takapūneke Reserve, an area of great importance to Ngāi Tahu and classified as a wāhi tapu (a holy site) by Heritage New Zealand.
The privately owned house and its surrounding 2,864-square-meter garden were due to go up for auction on Thursday, but the Christchurch City Council decided in a foreclosed public meeting last week to bid. Since then, the auction has been canceled.
In a statement announcing the purchase on Tuesday, Mayor Lianne Dalziel said that securing ownership of the land ensured the site was protected from any inappropriate future development.
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“The land on which the Red House sits has immense cultural, spiritual and historical significance, especially for the Ōnuku Rūnanga.”
Dalziel said the council’s plan was to incorporate the property into the Takapūneke Reserve and, in partnership with Ōnuku Rūnanga, use it to help tell the story of the land and the role it played in shaping our shared history.
“We are working to have the Takapūneke Reserve recognized as a national reserve, which I would recognize as being as important as the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.”
Supplied
The Red House in Takapūneke, Akaroa, was built in 1924 and its current owners have lived there for 40 years.
Ōnuku Rūnanga President Rik Tainui said it was difficult to describe how much the council’s land purchase meant to the Rūnanga.
“It is the land, not the house, that is important to us.
“The fact that the council has recognized the importance of this land to our rūnanga and has taken steps to acquire it is an enormously positive step in our relationship; it is a momentous occasion.”
Akaroa Civic Trust Vice President Victoria Andrews said the trust was greatly relieved and incredibly grateful that the council had stepped in to purchase the property on behalf of the people of Canterbury, Ōnuku Rūnanga and all of New Zealand.
“It is historically important on a national scale.”
How councilors voted last week has not been revealed, but Cr Sam MacDonald said he did not support the council buying the property given the amount of money being spent.
He said it was a lot of money in challenging economic times for taxpayers. He did not believe that taxpayers should pay the bill for such purchases.
Victoria Andrews
Takapūneke on the Banks Peninsula is considered wāhi tapu (a sacred place) by Heritage New Zealand.
The city council had the opportunity to buy the house 18 months ago but withdrew because councilors did not approve the agreement.
Takapūneke was once part of an important Ngāi Tahu flax trading village of chief Tē Maiharanui, who traded with whaling ships from Europe, America and Sydney in the mid-1820s.
In 1830, Tē Maiharanui boarded a British ship in port and was captured and later killed by Te Rauparaha, who landed at Takapūneke and slaughtered the unsuspecting inhabitants of Ngāi Tahu.
The massacre has a direct link to the British claim to sovereignty over New Zealand.
European William Green and his family established the first South Island cattle station on land in 1839.
Various offensive developments have been built in the Takapūneke Reserve over the years, despite objections from Ōnuku Rūnanga and Ngāi Tahu.
A sewage treatment plant was built in 1964, a move that one historian later described as “the latest in modern cultural oppression.”
In 1979, a now disused garbage dump was established on the reservation, and in 1998-99 the Banks Peninsula District Council planned to subdivide the land behind the Red House into 61 residential sections, a move deemed abhorrent by Ōnuku. Rūnanga.
The subdivision plan was eventually abandoned and the area was considered a reserve in 2006.
The city council also plans to relocate the wastewater treatment plant.
The existing owners, Ken and Fiona Paulin, said they were happy that the council bought the property.
