Far North mayor Moko Tepania says his hometown is “going through transformational change”. Photo / Tania Whyte
By Peter de Graaf, Northern Advocate
You’ve got to feel for Kaikohe.
No sooner does the town pick itself up and start rebuilding its reputation and the lives of its residents than something drags it back down again — like the 52-year-old in court this week for the alleged killing of pensioner Linda Woods in a home invasion, or gang members indulging in tit-for-tat shootings when rivalry spilt over from Auckland last year.
While Kaikohe has been deeply shaken by the events of the past two weeks, residents spoken to by the Advocate highlighted the town's resilience and their hope for better times to come.
Community leader Jay Hepi said he could feel the fear lifting from the town since the accused man’s arrest.
“A lot of things haven’t been normal in Kaikohe since this happened but the fear is gone now and healing is starting to happen.”
Hepi said he was “absolutely” optimistic about the town’s future, a sentiment echoed by mayor Moko Tepania.
That might surprise people familiar only with the town’s well-publicised tragedies.
Much of that optimism stems from a series of visionary, multimillion-dollar projects under way in Kaikohe to boost employment, housing and youth.
One aims to replicate Kerikeri’s path to prosperity by creating a secure water supply and the means to develop a high-value horticulture industry; another hopes to attract innovative businesses by capitalising on low energy costs from a nearby geothermal power plant.
At the old RSA site on the main street an iwi organisation is building desperately needed social housing while nearby a long-dreamed-of indoor sports centre is taking shape for the town’s youth.
Will that be enough to restore jobs, prosperity and, most importantly, hope to a town once described as the Hub of the North?
Turning water into wealth
A week before the shocking death of Linda Woods made national headlines, the big news in Kaikohe was about the completion of Matawii Dam.
Driven by Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust, and funded by a hefty loan from the former Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), once full the reservoir will hold 750,000 cubic metres or the equivalent of 300 Olympic swimming pools.
The soils around Kaikohe are said to be more fertile even than Kerikeri’s but the development of horticulture, with its higher returns per hectare and more jobs than pastoral farming, has been held back by the lack of a reliable water supply.
So far an irrigation pipeline has been built as far as a nearby berry farm; by summer it’s hoped the pipeline will be extended as far as Wairoro Stream to provide a backup town water supply in case of future droughts.
Once full Matawii Dam will hold 750,000cu m of water, the equivalent of about 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The dream is that the dam will transform Kaikohe in the same way the Kerikeri Irrigation System, built as a government project in the 1980s, turned Kerikeri into a horticulture boomtown.
The trust was lent $65 million to build a series of water reservoirs across the Mid-North and Kaipara.
A visionary enterprise
Perhaps the most visionary project under way in the Kaikohe area is the Ngāwhā Innovation and Enterprise Park, which is due to open at dawn on Tuesday.
The brainchild of council-owned company Far North Holdings, the idea is to lure businesses with low-cost electricity, water from Matawii Dam, and a “circular economy” in which businesses create products from each other’s waste materials.
The complex includes training facilities and a branch of Te Pūkenga, the newly merged national polytechnic.
Far North Holdings bought the 200ha former dairy farm next to State Highway 12 while a $19.5 million PGF grant paid for earthworks and key infrastructure such as roads and drainage.
Kaikohe’s main street, Broadway, is one of the busiest in the Far North. Photo / Peter de Graaf
When first announced it was said the park would create up to 500 jobs with founding tenants that would include Kerikeri-based avocado oil company Olivado and a modular housing firm.
So far, however, Kaikohe Berries is the only company up and running at the park. It’s not clear what happened to the other anchor tenants or what that means for projected job numbers.
The hydroponic berry farm is a joint venture between Ngāpuhi Asset Holding Company and Far North Holdings.
By spring it’s hoped the farm will be growing 10ha of under-cover strawberries for supply to Northland supermarkets.
Town of champions
Kaikohe has created more than its share of world champions — think Black Ferns Cheryl Waaka-Smith and Portia Woodman, boxer Danielle Smith and unicyclist Christian Huriwai — but facilities encouraging youth to get involved in sport have been limited.
That’s about to change with construction of an indoor stadium catering to 25 sporting codes as well as arts and cultural events.
The entire redevelopment of Lindvart Park will cost $14.8m with just under half, $6.2m, covered by the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund.
Kaikohe’s Sportsville indoor stadium is taking shape at Lindvart Park. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Soaring construction costs since the grant was announced in 2020 led to delays and forced the project to be scaled back, but it’s now due to open in February 2024.
At the time Waaka-Smith said the world-class gym she’d dreamed of for decades meant her pathway to represent New Zealand would now be open to all rangatahi (youth) in the Mid North.
Iwi health provider steps up with housing
The former RSA site, on Tawanui Rd at the top of Broadway, is a hive of activity with work well under way on a 60-unit housing complex by Māori health provider Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi and Far North Holdings.
It’s part of a plan to ease the town’s dire housing shortage and reduce life-threatening illnesses, such as rheumatic fever, caused by poor living conditions.
The two-storey blocks will contain a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units with affordable rents and “wrap-around” support services, including financial literacy training.
Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi’s social housing complex is being built on Kaikohe’s Tawanui Rd. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The aim is to provide accommodation for families trying to save money to build on whānau land, so they don’t have to live in overcrowded or unhealthy homes in the meantime.
The health provider owns the land and is shouldering a $10m share of the bill. Government agencies are contributing to construction and operating costs.
Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi has even bigger plans to build affordable housing on Bissett Rd for the “working poor” — families where both parents work but, given high housing costs, can’t save enough for a deposit on a first home.
Lessons from tragedy
Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi chief executive Tia Ashby said the first block of 10 units in the Tawanui Rd complex was due to open around September 15.
The development was being staged to get people off the social housing waiting list and into warm, dry homes as soon as possible, but also to keep costs down by bringing in rent while the remaining units were completed.
The health provider made the move into housing after clients kept saying getting vaccinated or looking after their health wasn’t a priority when they didn’t even have a home to live in.
“It’s been a vision of Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi to get people into warm, comfortable homes, instead of being stuck in transitional or emergency housing. We’re finally achieving outcomes we’ve wanted for a long time. It’s really, really exciting,” Ashby said.
The first families are due to move into Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi’s social housing complex in September. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The health provider also took lessons from tragedies, such as last week’s death of Linda Woods, to refine its services.
“That means, for example, having an awareness of the issues that arise from poverty and socio-economic challenges, and having services that support whānau in a preventative way, instead of just reacting. A focus on prevention may be the key to pulling whānau out of these predicaments and allowing them to make the right decisions for themselves and their families.”
Ashby said the key to Kaikohe’s recovery in coming months would be its resilience and ability to adapt.
“That’s how we get through setbacks. We focus on positive solutions and we keep progressing towards our goals.”
‘So much to be hopeful for’
Another thing Kaikohe has in its favour is a mayor who calls the town home.
Moko Tepania lives on the main street in the middle of town, which means he’s aware, like no mayor before him, of the town’s challenges.
Tepania is also telegenic, walks with ease in both Māori and Pākehā worlds, and regularly appears in national media, boosting pride in the town and the Far North’s standing in the rest of New Zealand.
“I know our community has pulled together and will get through this current tragedy,” he said.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says his hometown is “going through transformational change”. Photo / Tania Whyte
The 71-year-old’s death had also refocused attention on community safety, which the council had a part to play in. Ultimately, however, that came down to funding.
Community groups in Kaikohe and Kaitaia had plans to upgrade their town’s CCTV systems but their usual source of funding, the Proceeds of Crime Fund, was currently on hold and awaiting a top-up next year.
The council was looking at Whangārei’s CitySafe model and how that could be applied in towns like Kaikohe, but sustainable funding from central government was needed to make it work.
Artist’s impression of Kaikohe’s new indoor sports complex, due to open next year.
Like the others spoken to for this story, Tepania said he had many reasons to feel optimistic about his hometown.
The district had put in a successful bid to the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund for more housing in Kaikohe, Ngāwhā's innovation park and Matawii Dam would unlock hundreds of jobs, an indoor stadium was being built, and the council was working on plans for a new library and community centre on Broadway.
“Kaikohe is going through transformational change right now. There’s some really awesome things going on. There’s so much to look forward to and be hopeful for.”
‘The fear is lifting’
Community leader Jay Hepi, a reformed gang member and former kick-boxing champion, said he was already feeling some of the fear and burden lifting from the town.
The arrest of a suspect had removed the fear and the words of Linda Woods’ family at the funeral — that they regarded her death as an individual act and had no animosity for the accused’s whānau — were important because the two families lived so close together.
“We’ve got to live together. They [the accused’s relatives] are another family that’s been affected,” Hepi said.
A candlelight vigil was planned at some point but a date had yet to be set.
Community leader Jay Hepi lives "just up the road" from Taraire St, where Linda Woods died last week. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The next stage of Kaikohe’s healing would require community organisations to work together to make sure it never happened again.
Despite the horror of the past week, Hepi said a lot of positive things were happening in the town — including the social housing complex and the Sportsville stadium — and he was “absolutely” optimistic about the town’s future.
“We’re a resilient town, we’ve been through some stuff in the last few years. But we keep pushing on for our children, and their children, to make it a better place. Because we love our town.”