MEDIA RELEASE

21 October 2005

Glen Innes' gateway to the future

The completion of James Webster's artwork The Northern Gateway is another step to completing the redevelopment of the Glen Innes area.

The opening will be held on Saturday 29 October 2005, at 7am on Apirana Avenue. A warm invitation is extended to the community to come along and help celebrate the artwork.

The Northern Gateway is designed around the waka/canoe, which Webster has used to construct a gateway type of structure that symbolises whakapapa (genealogy) and the succession of people to this land.

The central design patterns relate to the proverb (whakatauki):

Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your food basket and my food basket,

we can work together for the well being of all the people

The Glen Innes into the future plan has provided the framework to guide the growth and revitalisation of Glen Innes. The strategy has included an upgrading of Mayfair Place to create a new civic area with new lighting, seats, planting, paving, performing stage and play area.

Completed so far are Gabrielle Belz's paving element/water feature, Caroline Robinson's community collaborative artwork and Dion Hitchens' Kotuku pole lights.

Webster's concept for the Northern Gateway relates back to one of the old names for Glen Innes, Ukutoia, and its relevance to Omaru stream which was an access way to the area and the surrounding land that people occupied.

ENDS

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