The town that refused to die


Kawakawa is proving to be more than a whistle-stop town for tourists on their way to the Bay of Islands.

Kawakawa's vision for the future is helping it to steam ahead.

Although its main claim to fame in recent years has been the beautiful Hundertwasser toilets, this tough little town that refused to die is brim-full of ideas to transform itself into a tourism gem.
The vintage train will be running again this summer and the Far North’s only heated swimming pool is to reopen before Christmas. Meanwhile, the area’s young people are preparing to move in to the Nu Flo Youth Centre’s extension, where hip hop and kapahaka groups will mix with martial arts clubs and students will learn traditional and modern carving techniques.
It’s a far cry from the mid-1990’s when Kawakawa seemed to be in close-down mode. In quick succession four banks pulled out, the dairy factory closed, while the freezing works and hospital were radically downsized. The district council moved its base to Kaikohe and corporations such as Telecom closed their local operations.
Kawakawa Community Trust Manager Margaret Wikaire says the town started to die.
“It was depressing. Shops were closed, closed, closed,” she says.
In 1998 the last bank closed – and the town took action. The community trust was formed to promote economic, social and environmental development. The townspeople believed that Kawakawa could become a tourist destination in itself, rather than a stop-off on the way to the bay.
This year a new art co-operative opened a shop on the main street, footpaths have been designed using Hundertwasser-style pavers, a website is being developed and a recent wearable art competition really brought the community together, Margaret says.
“In the last few months we’ve turned a corner,” she says. “People are starting to feel the difference that’s been made.”

The vintage railway will be part of this year’s Christmas parade again, after being out of action since 2000, and train rides will again be offered this summer. Over at the station work is about to begin on a new 50m-long maintenance shed, where old carriages can be stripped down and refurbished.

Community trust manager Margaret Wikaire, left, with youth workers Rachel Henare and Phillip Bristow.

Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust Operations Manager Mike Bradshaw is overseeing the restoration of Gabriel, the 1927 steam engine, so the pride of the line can again take passengers from Kawakawa to Opua. Mike is optimistic that Gabriel will be running again by the middle of 2007, making the train ride a focal point for Northland’s tourists.
He says Northland Polytechnic is also interested in using the carriage restoration project as hands-on experience for students, who can learn everything from coachbuilding to painting and cabinetmaking, while they help put the vintage train line back on track.
The nearby Nu Flo Youth Centre  is another Kawakawa success story. Co-ordinator Phillip Bristow has seen a disused double-story supermarket building transformed into a second home for the area’s young people.
Driven by ideas generated by the centre’s youth committee, it will eventually have sound mixing facilities, an entertainment system to show movies, a commercial kitchen and a huge open space for dance practice and competitions.
Hip hop and kapahaka are big in the town, says Phillip, but he expects a recent influx of Pacific Islanders to add the richness of their cultures to the mix.
Margaret says the town has enjoyed strong growth recently, with new arrivals finding prices too high in nearby Kerekeri and Opua. At Kawakawa they have affordable housing, but are still a short drive from the beach.
“It’s great for Kawakawa because now there’s a demand for housing and new blood in the town,” she says.
Of course all this has not been achieved in isolation. Kawakawa may have more than its fair share of visionaries and workers, but it still needed money to make it happen. That support has come not only has the Far North District Council, but from the Lotteries Commission, Te Puna Kokiri, gaming foundations and the Ministry of Social Development. 
ASB Community Trust has been involved too, putting $221,000 into the pool project, $450,000 into the youth centre development and $176,000 into building the railway maintenance shed.
Knowing this funding is a hand up, not a hand-out, Kawakawa Community Trust is looking for ways to generate revenue. It has set up a business hiring labour to seasonal employers, with five vans taking people to agricultural jobs including oyster farms, fruit and vegetable planting and harvesting.
Margaret says the Trust has had a total of 350 people on its books, mostly long-term unemployed, and most of them have gone on to full-time jobs.
At the youth centre, sports teams are expected to line up and to pay for uniform cleaning in its commercial laundry, while its licensed commercial kitchen will be available for  private and community event hire.


Vintage railway Operations Manager Mike Bradshaw is overseeing the restoration of Gabriel.

Over at the college, the swimming pool will be part of a facility that includes a weights room and squash courts. Community members pay an annual membership fee and then get 24-hour access with a swipe card.
Once the fiberglass coating is complete, Bay of Islands College Principal Bruce Devine says it will once again be the focal-point of swimming competitions in the Far North. 
The pool was a regular base for swim teams from throughout the bay until the 17-year-old heating equipment finally proved too costly to maintain. When it reopens, the pool will have efficient heat-pumps and an automatic cover to conserve heat.
Not that heat seems a problem in a town with ideas to burn and a vision for the future that’s helping it to steam ahead.