Whitireia Park

About

Whitireia Park is a reserve located on a headland north of Tītahi Bay and Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour in Porirua, in the Wellington Region at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island. It is governed by the Whitireia Park Board, a joint entity that includes representatives of Ngāti Toa Rangatira Trust and Wellington Regional Council. Whitireia maunga (mountain) is of great importance to the Ngāti Toa iwi, and is acknowledged in their pepeha (traditional oral introduction).

Ihakara Arthur, a kaumātua (elder) of the Ngāti Toa iwi, has said:

Whitireia is a name our people brought from Hawaiki with them. They believe it came from ngā atua, from the gods. That name is very deep in the Māori world. There are two names in Māoridom that we say are from the gods, and Whitireia is one of them.

The peak at the north east of the headland, at an elevation of 104 m (341 ft), is identified by the New Zealand Geographic Board with an official dual name Whitireia / Mount Couper. The name Couper derives from William Couper (1801–1879), a settler of Scottish descent, who established a sawmill and shipyard at the Porirua Inlet, on land granted to him by the Crown.

Whitireia maunga (mountain) is of great importance to Ngāti Toa. Whitireia is acknowledged in the pepeha (traditional oral introduction) of Ngāti Toa Rangatira:

Polynesian explorer Kupe is believed to have landed just south of Tītahi Bay at Komangarautawhiri. According to oral history, his canoe floated away on the outgoing tide and then returned to shore on an incoming tide. The anchor stone of Kupe's canoe is believed to have remained in Onehunga Bay for centuries and was respected by Māori tribes. During the 1840s, British troops drowned after breaking chips off the stone, and some Māori believed it was punishment for sacrilege. The stone is now stored at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, but there is a monument at the Onehunga Bay carpark.

Before European settlement, Māori fished the waters for kina, pāua and kuku.

Ngāti Toa conquered the area in the mid-1820s under the leadership of Te Rauparaha, partly due to its strategic position near early European trading ports. The headland had sparse vegetation, and the population lived on a diet of seafood, bracken ferns and kumara, and their kumara-growing terraces are still visible above the headland cliffs. An archaeological survey by the Department of Conservation suggests Māori occupation continued until 1840s.

Main article: Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington In 1847–48, Ngāti Toa arranged a gift of approximately 200 ha (500 acres) at Whitireia to the Bishop of New Zealand, George Selwyn, via an intermediary Octavius Hadfield (subsequently the Bishop of Wellington from 1870). The background to the gift was that Ngāti Toa sought to have the Anglican Church establish a school for their children on the land. At the time, Māori land could only be acquired by the Crown, so the land was gifted initially to the Governor, who then granted it to the Bishop under a trust (the Porirua Trust). The trust was not executed for a further thirty years. The terms of the trust included that the church would establish a college. When it became clear that a college was not going to be constructed, Ngāti Toa unsuccessfully sought return of the land in court. In 1877, the Supreme Court heard a case Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington where Wiremu Parata, a Māori chief and politician, claimed a breach of contract and a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. The claim was unsuccessful, with the Chief Justice James Prendergast declaring on 17 October 1877 that the treaty was 'worthless' and a 'simple nullity'. This case had a major influence on decisions on Treaty of Waitangi issues for many decades. The land was vested in the Porirua College Trust Board in the early 1900s, enabling the land to be sold.

- Main article: Titahi Bay Transmitter In 1935, the New Zealand Broadcasting Service purchased 40 ha (99 acres) at Whitireia for the establishment of an AM radio transmitting station. The acquisition of the site was to allow for the transfer of the radio station 2YA from its existing site at Mount Victoria, and to establish 2YA as New Zealand's national emergency radio station. The new Titahi Bay Transmitter station (subsequently part of the RNZ National network) was officially opened by Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage on 25 January 1937. A replacement antenna constructed in 1979 was 212 m (696 ft) high, New Zealand's tallest man-made structure at the time.

The park was established by a local trust board and the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand in 1976, with support from Ngāti Toa and local businesses. Under a management plan finalised in 1978, the Department of Conservation was also involved in managing the park.

In the decades since, a track has been built around the park, and the New Zealand Defence Force has removed abandoned motor vehicle bodies from around the headland. Radio New Zealand has maintained control of 53 hectares (130 acres) of the park for a radio transmission station, but most of the land is leased for grazing to reduce fire risk. In 2006, work began on replanting the wetland behind the Onehunga Bay carpark. Much of the vegetation on the headland was destroyed in a wildfire in February 2010. Working bees have been organised to replant the park.

Wellington Regional Council took control of the park in March 2011, with Ngāti Toa continuing to be involved in its management.

Ngāti Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014

The Ngāti Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014 provided for settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi grievances of Ngāti Toa Rangatira in the top of the South Island, across Cook Strait and in the North Island. As part of the settlement, several sites in Whitireia Park were vested in Ngāti Toa Rangatira, including the Whitireia Urupā, Te Onepoto Bay and Onehunga Bay. The Deed of Settlement also established a joint board to govern the Whitireia Park recreation reserve, along with the Onehunga Bay historic reserve and Te Onepoto Bay recreation reserve. The Whitireia Park Board's members are appointed by the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Trust and Greater Wellington Regional Council. The operations of the park are managed by Greater Wellington Council under direction of the board.

The Ngāti Toa treaty settlement in 2014 returned parts of the block to the iwi, but this did not include the land owned by Radio New Zealand. In 2018, RNZ proposed having some of its greenfield land rezoned for residential development.

In October 2025, Ngāti Toa purchased 53 ha (130 acres) of land at Whitireia from RNZ, reclaiming iwi ownership of all of the sacred maunga (mountain) after 177 years. The Ngāti Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014 and Public Works Act gave Ngāti Toa Rangatira first right of refusal over the property. RNZ has leased 12 ha (30 acres) from Ngāti Toa to continue their AM transmission service from the site.

Polynesian explorer Kupe is believed to have landed just south of Tītahi Bay at Komangarautawhiri. According to oral history, his canoe floated away on the outgoing tide and then returned to shore on an incoming tide. The anchor stone of Kupe's canoe is believed to have remained in Onehunga Bay for centuries and was respected by Māori tribes. During the 1840s, British troops drowned after breaking chips off the stone, and some Māori believed it was punishment for sacrilege. The stone is now stored at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, but there is a monument at the Onehunga Bay carpark.

Before European settlement, Māori fished the waters for kina, pāua and kuku.

Ngāti Toa conquered the area in the mid-1820s under the leadership of Te Rauparaha, partly due to its strategic position near early European trading ports. The headland had sparse vegetation, and the population lived on a diet of seafood, bracken ferns and kumara, and their kumara-growing terraces are still visible above the headland cliffs. An archaeological survey by the Department of Conservation suggests Māori occupation continued until 1840s.