Te Manawataki o Te Papa – the Heartbeat of Te Papa – is a transformative redevelopment of Tauranga’s Civic Precinct, which will reinvigorate its city centre and make it the cultural, historic, economic and social centrepiece of Aotearoa New Zealand’s fastest growing city.
The land underlying the Civic Precinct has been the subject of disputed ownership since it was gifted to the Crown by the Church Missionary Society in the 1860s, directly contravening the understanding that mana whenua had when the land was
first sold. Tauranga City Council, in collaboration with iwi and hapū, sought and implemented a joint ownership solution which has restored the mana of the whenua to its original owners.
The Judges said: Working together has resulted both in the resolution of a longstanding dispute outside of Te Tiriti processes and empowerment of a large transformative project with multiple wellbeing outcomes. A clear commitment to partnership was evident. This was indeed, the right thing to do.
