Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara

What is Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara?

Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara (formerly the Parakai Recreation Reserve Board), is a co-governance entity that oversees Kaipātiki (formerly the Parakai Recreation Reserve).

Kaipātiki provides access to Te Awa Kahawai, the Parakai geothermal field, and is located in the small township of Parakai in the South Kaipara region.

Te Poari aims to manage Kaipātiki in a way that harnesses the healing qualities of the geothermal spring and reflects Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and local community values.

The governors of Te Poari are appointed by Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Auckland Council in equal numbers.

Kaipātiki Reserve Management Plan

The Kaipātiki Reserve Management Plan provides a vision and guidelines to revitalise and further develop the Kaipātiki reserve.

A public feedback period on the draft plan was held 1 May to 23 June 2017.

Following consideration of all feedback submissions, Te Poari adopted the final operational Kaipātiki Reserve Management Plan at their public meeting on Friday 20 October 2017.

View a copy of the plan

​Hardcopies of the plan are also available to read at Auckland Council’s libraries at Helensville and Kumeū.

Te Mahi Ngātahitanga – active partnership

Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara is the collective name for the people of the five South Kaipara marae. For the purposes of managing Kaipātiki they are represented by the Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara Development Trust.

In 2011 Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Crown agreed to a settlement to redress Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Although only a remnant of the original landholdings of Ngāti Whātua, Kaipātiki was one of the few pieces of land the Crown could make available as part of the settlement redress to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

The co-vesting of the reserve and the co-governance model for its future is a significant milestone in recognising Treaty of Waitangi principles such as partnership, active protection and mutual benefit.

The partnership respects the people and the different stories of this place and honours Kaipātiki as a reserve that all communities can enjoy and take pride in.

History of Kaipātiki

Kaipātiki: kai means food and pātiki means flounder.

Kaipātiki is the original name of the land block that includes the 18.41ha reserve. The name highlights the importance of this place as an area of abundant kai.

Mana whenua have a long connection with the geothermal springs located on the reserve – they were known far and wide for their natural healing qualities.

Following the arrival of Europeans, the site was declared a recreation reserve in 1883 and in the early 1900s bath houses and boarding houses were established.

The Crown formally vested the reserve jointly to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Auckland Council in 2013 as part of a Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement.

Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara hui dates

Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara holds quarterly hui.

You can find the dates for upcoming hui on the Co-governance committee meetings page.