Sign Blessed
- Frank Neill
- Oct 18, 2023
- 2 min read
By Frank Neill
Wainuiomata’s new welcome sign was officially revealed and blessed on Saturday 7 October and is now there for all who travel down the hill road to see.
The karakia and blessing was led by the Wainuiomata Marae and local kaumātua.
“It’s been eight years in the making,” the designer of the new sign, Tamariki Ferguson said at the official reveal.
The two carved pou, he said, “represent the spiritual guardians of the community. They also pay homage to the tangata whenua of our community.”
The pou were carved by Tiaki Puketapu-Dahm.
The three green curved lines on the sign represent the rivers and creeks that run through the
valley – Wainuiomata Stream, the Wainuiomata River and Black Creek.
The hill shaped top represents the hills that surround Wainuiomata and the brushed steel plate represents the contemporary way forward.
In his speech Tamariki thanked Love Wainuiomata’s Co-ordinator Anaru Ryall for his “unrelenting drive to get this project finished”.
Tiaki also thanked Anaru “for getting all this under way, and all the people who did the work
before him.”
“I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to carve the pou,” he said – a task that took him two years.
A number of other carvers, including student carvers, were also involved – including Ihaia
Puketapu and some of his students.
“Thank you to all the carvers who participated,” Tiaki said.
The competition to design a new welcome sign for Wainuiomata occurred “back in 2015,” Hutt City’s Mayor Campbell Barry said.
When the judging team looked at the entries “Tamariki’s looked so good in comparison with all the others.”
After the judges selected four finalists, these were presented to the community to vote on.
“Tamariki’s desing won the community vote and the work started from there.
“It took a little bit longer than we expected – but good things take time,” the Mayor said.
He acknowledged all the people who had contirbuted to the project, including the former Love Wainuiomata Co-ordinator Esther Venning.
“This has truly been a Wainuiomata effort.”
The new sign, the Mayor said “will stand the test of time I am sure.”
In his preesentation Anaru paid tribute to the many people who have been involved in the project.
These include:
Love Wainuiomata, including the Chair Lisa Black and Anaru’s predecessor Esther Venning;
Tamariki Ferguson who won the design competition in 2015 and designed the sign;
Tiaki Puketapu-Dahm, the carver;
Aztec Enginnering – the Wainuiomata company that fabricated the steel sign;
SGB Construction – Nathan and his team of Wainuiomata-based builders who installed the sign over the two weeks before the blessing and reveal (battling the weather elements);
Speedy Signs in Seaview who did the signwriting;
Bryan and his team from Commercial Signals for installing the lighting so the sign is illuminated at night time; and
Wainuiomata Marae and local kaumātua for conducting the karakia.
Anaru also thanked the local MPs, City councillors, Community Board members and communityleaders for their support.
The four heads of the pou, Anaru said, represent Pukeatua, Remutaka, Orongorong and Turakirae – all landmarks that overlook Wainuiomata.
The other designs at the bottom half of the Pou represent the diverse cultures in Wainuiomata.
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