NIToW Report - April 2026
Ngā Iwi Tōpū o Waipā Report for April 2026
Mon 13 April 2026
- Harlow Lifestyle Village, 2025 Ōhaupo Road
Consultants from BBO Ltd, Chris Dawson and Kathryn Drew presented an overview of the retirement village project that will undertaken north of Te Awamutu. This is a significant build that will deliver 500 homes for the senior community - 55+yrs. It is being delivered under the Fast Track Application process, and the full consent application will be lodged later this year with the application process expected to take another 8 to 10 months during which time we (mana whenua) have opportunity to provide comment and feedback. BBO wish to work with mana whenua to incorporate our aspirations in design and build concepts - from the Cultural Impact Assessment to road naming, land scaping to ecological impacts, and everything in between. After they have also presented to other hapū forum in the next few weeks, they will conduct a site visit to walkthrough the design.
- Road naming policy
NITOW currently has a relationship with WDC regarding the road and reserve naming process and occassionally receive requests to provide names for new subdivisions from developers through that council relationship. Council also receives names from other mana whenua rōpū and have indicated they need direction regarding who else in the community a developer can or should engage with when they want a Māori name. NITOW will continue to provide oversight when they are contacted directly to provide or review proposed names.
- Tūrātā
WDC will hold a blessing for the signage installation on 1 May 9.30 - blessing to be conducted by Tai Huata. This will complete the renaming activity with the installation of 3 signs at the site. This will be followed by refreshments at the Māori Women's Welfare League rooms.
- Website
NITOW have engaged Auaha Web Design to build their website and are gathering photos and designs to complete their branding. They will develop their branding theme in the next couple of weeks.
