Work to enhance the Gate Pa Reserve is among projects announced to commemorate next year's 150 year anniversary of the Battle of Gate Pa.

A programme of events and projects, to commemorate the anniversary, was announced on Monday on the 149^th anniversary, in what project coordinator Buddy Mikaere hopes will mark a new beginning for race relations in the region.

Gate Pa 150^th anniversary commemoration project coordinator Buddy Mikaere says work planned to improve the Gate Pa Reserve will make a more fitting memorial. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

Buddy is enthusiastic about the commemorations, saying he was pleased with the strong interest at the launch and hopes it will mark a new period in relations between iwi and Pakeha now that historic grievances are being addressed through Waitangi settlements.

'My view is that this commemoration offers our community an opportunity to move forward in a way which we have never had before. If the events of 1864 and what followed represented a nadir for Maori-Pakeha relations in Tauranga then next year, 150 years on, marks an important milestone on the journey to completing and achieving a just reconciliation.”

Work to enhance the Gate Pa reserve will include extending the pathway in the reserve, establishing a marae atea (wooden decked courtyard area) for gatherings, shifting the existing gateway and erecting pou on both sides of Cameron Rd.

Along with work on the Gate Pa Reserve, commemoration organiser Pukehinahina Trust is planning a major project to reshape the Te Ranga battle site from its current state as a paddock to an attractive historic reserve, but Buddy expects this will have to be a multi-stage project because of the cost. Both reserve projects have been priced at a total of $495,783 – with another $150,800 budgeted for events to commemorate the battle. The trust is seeking funding from three councils, businesses, charitable trusts and foundations and the Government.

Most commemoration events will be held from March onward – including exhibitions of photos and drawings from the era, a public lecture series, a drama on the Gate Pa battle, contemporary and kapa haka dance performances, and a series of military displays and events coinciding with Anzac Day. The first event will be held in October with a competition for the best Gate Pa poem.