Kōpūrererua

Ko Kōpūrererua te awa

Ko Kōpūrererua anō te whare

In 2023 the CEO of Council had a vision to establish a space that was anchored in tikanga Māori, a whare wānanga for the organisation.  It would be a safe place for staff to practice and learn about tikanga Māori as well being able to be used for day to day Council mahi.  Very quickly the wheels were set in motion to bring the CEO's vision to life and Council settled on using an old building it owns and had leased to the Salvation Army for many years. 

The Salvation Army used it as a training room for apprentice builders and carpenters but when they moved away from the site, the room was largely used for storage of old Council furniture, some animal food, and a place for the odd waiata practice.  The building was rundown, cold in the winter, an oven in the summer with concrete floors and dust everywhere.  It was ready for some TLC so was the perfect place to transform into our whare wānanga.  It was refurbished and transformed over the course of a year into what we have now, a big thank you to those staff who gave up their time and energy to help with the refurbishment - a crew from the building team and across the organisation helped with the demolition work so that the new build could start and many others helped with the planting work done to make the outside match the new building.

All in all, it's a complete change from it's old self, there's some photos below that show the change and the journey.

The name Kōpūrererua is the same as the river that runs in the valley just below us here at Barkes Corner.  The river begins life as part of two springs in the Kaimai ranges (the Ohane and Tautau) and comes together before flowing out into the Waikareao Estuary and eventually Te Awanui.  The name was gifted by a prominent Tauranga Moana kaumatua over five years ago.  Initially the name was intended for Council Chambers but it was never used there, the whānau of this kaumatua believe it was waiting for this whare to give its name to.  The name reflects the important role that Council plays in bringing together iwi and hapū with the community for the benefit of all.

Kōpūrereua is a place to wānanga, to hui, to manaaki manuhiri, a space for coming together for important discussions and to welcome visitors.  It was officially opened with Karakia on December 2 2025.