A plea for additional council help to stage an exhibition telling the ‘narrative' of the Battle of Gate Pa at the Greerton Hall has been refused by the Community Development Committee.

Greerton Hall.

Former councillors Terry Molloy and Mary Dillon, and the Te Papa style audio visual display's producer Tereora Crane, put a request to excuse the Greerton Hall's $7700 rental for the month-long exhibition to the committee on Monday.

The request was made during a public forum presentation of the Gate Pa Commemoration Trust's plans for the 150 year anniversary of the battle in April.

Councillors were split over whether to hand the whole submission to City council CEO Garry Poole, or to refer it to the March 17 council meeting.

Councillor Gail McIntosh says council is already putting aside $32,000 for the commemorations in the annual plan. She was supported by fellow councillor Catherine Stewart, who describes the request as a 'little bit on the hoof.”

There was also criticism of two former councillors making the request in open forum when they knew the committee did not have the power to act on it, or direct council.

Councillor John Robson says both Terry and Mary have to respect process, and other people in the community have to understand that the committee has a set of rules to stick to.

Councillor Bill Grainger reminded councillors that debt and money spending is part of the reason ratepayers elected a new council last October.

Councillors Clayton Mitchell and Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout are all in favour of recommending Garry Poole sort it out under delegated authority, but they were outvoted.

Gary Poole's delegation will instead be the subject of a further report and discussion by the council.

The exhibition is intended to fill the gap in the general knowledge about the Battle of Gate Pa its aftermath and the effects it had on the development of Tauranga as the centre it is today.

'Tauranga City is built on the battle of Gate Pa,” says Terry.

'It has a huge impact on the Maori of Tauranga who lost their economic base. It had a huge impact on their cultural and spiritual base, virtually made them landless people for a while and they struggled for a long, long time.

'Most of Tauranga doesn't understand the story the significance of that story the sacrifices Maori had to make as a result of it. The story needs to be told, needs to be understood.”

Tereora says the Battle of Gate Pa is the founding narrative of the city. People were here before that battle, but for the city to grow there had to be European settlement.

'Without that battle there wouldn't have been that European settlement,” says Tereora.

'People have not engaged about the story because of the emotions involved. I don't think we have time any more to be gently about it.”

The exhibition will set up in the Gate Pa Village Hall on April 24.