1. The second mine tour was a great opportunity and very informative.
2. Written letters of offers have been received by people on Roycroft St.
3. The mining company has lodged an application for resource consent for Favona.
4. There was an NPC battle in Waihi on the weekend. This highlighted the importance of having a good recreational/sporting facility.
5. Test blasts have started. Newmont had originally asked to put a vibration monitor on Tessa’s property, however, it has not been, and a monitor has now been sited on the tennis courts.
   
6. Environment Waikato checked out the smell raised as a concern at the last meeting. No more complaints were received.
   
7. John McIver reported that Ngati Tamatera have had an introductory discussion around the Golden Legacy proposal. He said that people are open to something along the lines of the ideas suggested. As one possibility the idea of a poupou (totem pole) was well received with the thought that a number of them would be needed to represent the relationships with the different iwi that have evolved over time.
8. Union Hill – Kit and Mark were taken on tour by Eric. The tour was “interesting, productive, informative and inspirational”.
   

2. WCCC Union Hill tours
We discussed the idea of a tour of Union Hill for the Committee and agreed on the following format to meet all needs. We will begin with a short tour followed by a lunch break. Those that are keen to continue will then do a trip to the top of Union Hill which will be videoed for those unable to make it.

The details, as provided by Kit, are as follows:

1. Eric Lens will be conducting tours of Union Hill on Sunday 14 and Saturday 20 September starting at 10.00 am.
2. Please meet at the squash courts on Baker St (turn off Kenny St opposite rugby club, then turn left into Baker St).
3. You should bring: lunch, a drink, sound comfortable footwear for walking, and a parka or raincoat. You may wish to bring a camera. We will bring a basic first aid kit and a mobile phone.
4. The tour will take about three hours.
5. If you have not signed up for the first tour on Sunday 14 Sept and wish to attend, please contact Kit.
6. If it is raining, or has been raining hard prior to the day the tour will be postponed. We will attempt to contact you. If you have any doubts, please ring Kit Wilson.
   Contact details: home phone, 07 549 0496; mobile, 025 513 407; or email, kit@katikati.co.nz
   

3. Updates from the various working groups.
Waihi Community Marae
Tui Cunningham began her presentation by explaining that she was the 4th of 6 generations of her whanau in the Waihi area, and that she is a member of the Waihi Community Marae. She said that the Community marae was open to all in the area and explained some of the advantages and issues that resulted from this.

Tui told the story of Pukewa (as attached) and then explained the Maori concept of Hauora, the concept of overall well-being, physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual (attached). She then spoke of the Waihi Community in relation to this concept and identified areas where overall well-being was not being achieved, (housing, jobs, belonging, and connectedness).

Tui suggested that we must work on the basis that Maori belong to Waihi as a community. She said “what’s lost is gone; we need to work on the reality that is there now and look at how we can best promote ourselves in the community”. We also need to consider how best Golden Legacy can help to achieve this.

Tui suggested that Golden Legacy might help to develop an identity for the Waihi Community Marae by assisting the marae to attract tourism and house Taonga (such as the tapa cloth produced by Tui’s class showing the story of Pukewa). Some suggestions to be explored were: the Marae acting as host for various cultures, sharing a Maori perspective on heritage, Maori and English versions of chants, haka, action songs based on the concept of Papatuanuku taking back what belongs to her (the recent subsidence).

Tui talked about Taurahere, people whose ancestors come from elsewhere but who were born and raised in Waihi, who have been through the issues; who continue to live here. She said it was valid that they state their case and that doing so did not necessarily mean a discounting of others or their views.
Tui’s presentation concluded with a discussion about the possibility of the WCCC visiting the Community Marae. This was to be further explored.


Heritage sub-committee
Eric Lens gave a pictorial presentation of the Water Power Supply Dams of the Ohinemuri area using area maps and site photographs. The presentation was in itself a product of some amazing work done by Eric to record and preserve the mining heritage around Waihi. Eric has identified 22 dams with visible remains in the District. As most are pre 1900, they have the protection of automatic heritage status.
Eric encouraged support for a Heritage Trust to be set up to identify and protect items and areas of importance to Waihi. Eric provided a written list of sites (attached) and encouraged everyone to add other sites they were aware of and let him know.
Discussion followed Eric’s presentation. Comment was made that in 100 years time, people would see what we chose to leave behind and we should think about what that should be. Photos, videos, writings of today and today’s knowledge are our chance to make history now. We need to consider what of the current mining operation should be retained.

4. Steve Moore – Presentation of statistics from REINZ
Steve presented a document outlining recent (1 December 2002 – 31 July 2003) house sales (excluding private sales & purchases made by Waihi Gold).
Steve identified that purchasers range from those moving into the area to those existing residents moving within community.
There seems to be a perception that Waihi real estate is a good investment.
Property is generally not being bought for rental but for habitation.

5. Review Of Process
We reviewed where we are at in the WCCC process. The stages we identified are:-Gaining representation from all appropriate sectors of the Waihi community; Collecting information; Generating Ideas; Making Decisions about what you as the WCCC are going to recommend; making the recommendation. This table lists these features and in the left hand column we listed the organisations / interests already represented.

We then discussed whether there were any areas of the Waihi community that are not represented. Those identified as needing to be considered were:


Health, Community, and Elderly
All of which you decided were adequately covered within the areas listed above.
LINZ
Which has some involvement in the Pumphouse (Tim and Sharon to consult)
Church
It was agreed that we would publicise the WCCC again and if there were representatives of the Church or other areas that are not represented, Tim and Sharon will discuss this with them and bring the question of co-opting back to the committee.
Youth
With respect to youth ideas and youth representation it was decided to be more proactive. Collette will approach the principal/Board of the school and Tessa will approach other youth in the community. Interested youth will be invited to a meeting. It is suggested that at that meeting, there could be
a) A Golden Legacy presentation.
b) An invitation for;
i. Ideas for Golden Legacy, and
ii. A group of young people to do a presentation for the WCCC re their ideas for Waihi and
iii. Interest in representation on the committee by youth representatives.

General
a) It was agreed that we would go back to community to ensure we have not missed out any particular sectors (Tim and Sharon will publicise).
b) We will also publish the list of Committee contact details.
c) Those with ideas or who perceive a gap in representation will be invited to Contact a committee member who will bring the information to the next committee meeting, or to Tim or Sharon who will do the same. People who call Tim’s number on (07) 846 2649 can do so collect (please just tell the operator it is a WCCC call.)

6. Further Information
We discussed what further information we now need, the ideas at present are;
i) Historic Places Trust.
ii) Cultural Heritage assessment.
iii) Geo Tech report
iv) Youth presentation
v) Union Hill – tour organised as above

7. Next Meetings
15 September 2003
a) Historic Places Trust
- HPT Archaeologist and Heritage Advisor
- Poss HDC and EW input??

b) Cultural Heritage Assessment if it is ready.

29 September 2003
a) Geotech Report.
b) Cultural Heritage Assessment (if not reached on 15.9.03)
c) Development of process for developing recommendation for pumphouse.
(The Geotech report is currently being peer reviewed. It is then to go back to Hauraki District Council after which it should be available to the public.)

8. Meeting closed at 9:40 pm

Tim and Sharon