Ngai Tamarawaho are looking to extend the Gate Pa battle site to include historic land across Cameron Road under the Gate Pa Bowling Club.

Peri Kohu, a member of the trust which organised last month's 150th commemoration of the event, says Ngai Tamarawaho aspirations include the rest of the historic site.

The official Gate Pa Battle site is opposite the Gate Pa Bowling Club on Cameron Road.

'We are investigating ways to get that land back,” says Peri.

'I understand its council land and all the implications that go with that.

'That is part of the battle site of Gate Pa, in fact it's a major part of the site. It's discussions around that.”

The battle site wasn't included in recent Treaty of Waitangi settlements because Treaty claims cannot be made against private land.

'But we disagree with that,” says Peri.

'We haven't even had discussions. It's aspirations amongst tangata whenua. But as tangata whenua of that area up there, we will definitely be interested in what happens to that land in the future.”

The interest includes both sides of the site, which includes the wooded slope on the eastern side of the park where Maori killed in the pa were buried after the battle. It's an area they need to take better care of, says Peri.

'That swamp where our people are buried and the opposite side where the bowling club and tennis courts are - we are definitely interested in bringing that back into the memorial.

The site has a much higher public profile following the 150th commemorations, and they will continue to work on the site's public profile, says Peri.

'We need to develop it more. In the past it's been forced into obscurity. We are going to change that as we have already started, as you can see.”

The original pa site straddled what is now Cameron Road, with the main part of the earthworks on the land that is now roadway and the Gate Pa Bowling Club.

The pa site itself was disturbed by two redoubts the British built on the site, then the roadway cutting and the levelling of the bowling greens and tennis club.

The Gate Pa Domain was acquired by the then Tauranga Council in several parts, from 1887 to 1908 and was administered by the Gate Pa Domain Board until the Reserves Act in 1977. The greens and the courts are believed to have been established in the early to mid-1950s.

The fortifications of the Pukehinahina Pa extended from the Gate Pa Church across Cameron Road and past the Gate Pa Bowling Club.

The Pa site is largely destroyed by the development of the Church, Bowling Club and roadway, although a small redoubt may have stood on a level area on the north-west side of Cameron Road, which is relatively undisturbed, says TCC website information ascribed to Gilbert Mair.

On the slope 29 Maori casualties are buried in a single grave, though its location is not known.

The section of the Domain to the east of Cameron Road, adjacent to the Gate Pa Church is classified as a Historic Reserve under Section 18 of the Historic Places Act. This part of the Domain is not covered by the Active Reserves Management Plan.

To the west of Cameron Road, the 2.9ha Domain is a classified recreation reserve. The Gate Pa Bowling Club and Gate Pa Tennis Club are located on the flat part with road frontage onto Cameron Road, zoned Recreation B in the District Plan.

The Domain then slopes down the hill to Watling Street. This part of the Domain is undeveloped and zoned conservation in the District Plan, indicating the heritage value of the site.