Planning students engage with Te Hana community

Planning students engage with Te Hana community for sustainable solutions

Four community-based planning projects will be presented by third-year students from The University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning to the small North Auckland community of Te Hana this week.

The projects have been developed in discussion with the Te Hana Community Development Charitable Trust as part of the students’ studio work responding to a planning issue in a diverse society with particular recognition of cultural difference.

“The ten week-long process has been a plus for all parties,” says Planning lecturer, Lena Henry. “Community-based planning requires a bottom-up people-centred approach. Working with the Te Hana community, our students have learnt the value of communication, observation, interacting and engaging with a community to design great sustainable solutions. They have also had an authentic learning experience working with a grassroots community group with kaupapa Māori values,” she says.

“Te Hana has gained community planning assistance supporting the settlement’s overall vision to become a beautiful, culturally and socially vibrant place of opportunity.”

The four projects include promoting the settlement on State Highway 1 as a tourist destination and encouraging through traffic to slow down; exploring options around public toilets; undertaking historical research and catchment studies to support the re-establishment of the Te Hana wharf; and identifying funding avenues and developing a funding tool kit.

Linda Chapman from the Te Hana Trust says: "Working with the students has been an uplifting experience for the local whanau. We have been excited to have fresh faces and ideas fuelled with enthusiasm looking at issues our small community have been grappling with for many years.”

“We hope Te Hana Trust's cultural values, Māori kaupapa and collective ways of working within the framework of a charitable voluntary organisation provide valuable insight for the students.”

As well as collaboration with the Community Trust, the students have also sought advice from various organisations, including GHD Technical Consultants, Urban Solutions, Rodney District Council, Auckland City Council, Auckland Regional Council, Hangi Makers and the ASB Community Trust.

The University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries comprises the School of Architecture and Planning, Elam School of Fine Arts, the Centre for New Zealand Art Research and Discovery (CNZARD), the School of Music and the Dance Studies Programme.

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