Ohinemutu Village: Geothermal past, present & future

Abstract

Ohinemutu, a traditional Maori pa (village), is located in central city Rotorua, and is home to around 200 residents who whakapapa to Ngati Whakaue, one of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. Within Ohinemutu there are three marae, two churches, a community mara kai (garden), urupa (cemetery) and nationally significant geothermal features and heritage buildings.
A proliferation of warm baths, boiling springs and steam to cook food, and warm ground to heat homes and grow crops such as kumara, potato, maize and tobacco, were once a source of wealth amongst the tribe. However, whilst ample heat, hot water and steam continue to exist within Ohinemutu, successive government policies, regulations and actions (or lack of), coupled with the resultant prohibitive costs of maintaining bores, hot water pipes, infrastructure and consents, now means a majority of whanau within the village have lost their ability to access geothermal home heating, cooking and bathing. This has had significant negative and long-lasting implications on health, social and cultural wellbeing.
This paper shares the Ohinemutu community’s history of living with and using geothermal resources, and their long-lasting relationship with this taonga, as well as how this has changed over time and the consequences of this. The community’s goal is to restore their energy security and sovereignty whilst protecting the geothermal taonga, through revitalization of the geothermal features and infrastructure at Ohinemutu.