It’s not every day that the Prime Minister leaves the Beehive for the backroads of Northland, but in late September on a blustery day, Christopher Luxon did just that. He switched his suit and tie for a wind jacket and umbrella, and joined local leaders to open Te Waihekeora Reservoir near Dargaville.
The event marked more than the completion of a major infrastructure project in the region; it symbolised the end of what was an arduous journey to long-term water security for the area.
The storage facility can hold 3.3 million cubic metres of water – enough to irrigate around 1100 hectares of farmland – and, on opening day, it was three quarters full. It’s one of three reservoirs to have been developed by Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust.
For the Trust, it was crucial that Prime Minister Luxon was there. His presence was evidence that the build was considered worthy – both politically and fiscally. Standing on either side of Prime Minister Luxon as he cut the ribbon were: Te Tai Tokerau Trust Chairman Murray McCully, a former National Party MP; Te Tai Tokerau trustees Kathryn de Bruin and the Hon. Dover Samuels, a former Labour MP; and the Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Development.
For the three Northland-residing politicians, the day represented the culmination of years of hard work, and a shared vision to bring the economic and social benefits of water to the north.
McCully said the project wouldn’t have got off the ground if it wasn’t for Jones.
‘Minister Jones, there is no other way to put this: this is your project. You wanted to transport the economic and social benefits that water storage brought to Kerikeri, over 40 years ago, to Dargaville and to Kaikohe,’ McCully said.
Jones had championed the creation of the Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust as the vehicle to turn that vision into a reality.
He had McCully at the helm as chairman and brought in Samuels as a trustee.
There were around 180 guests at the event, ranging from community leaders to those who had worked on the project. Prime Minister Luxon congratulated all those involved.
‘We’re very proud of the future that’s possible because of this investment – because of this infrastructure and what that’s going to mean to the people of Northland,’ he said.
The vision
It began, as many good ideas do, over a beer 10 years ago. Three politicians who called Northland home were in the Cook Islands on government business when conversation turned to home.
Jones was New Zealand’s Ambassador for Pacific Economic Development, and McCully was the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time. Winston Peters was there, too. The trio found themselves reminiscing about growing up in the north – Jones in Kaitaia during the 1960s, Peters in Dargaville and McCully in Arapohue – a small town on the eastern side of the Wairoa River.
Jones, who now lives in Kerikeri, recalls the transformation he saw firsthand when the town reservoir was built: ‘If it hadn’t been for Muldoon in the late 70s building Lake Manuwai, there would be no Kerikeri,’ he says.
Jones watched Kerikeri bloom into a thriving horticultural centre, while Kaikohe – 20 minutes away – was left behind.
McCully remembers Dargaville as an area that’s always had too much water when it’s not needed, and not enough when you’re trying to farm.
‘The three of us got talking about how starved for capital Northland was and how it needed a hand up, not a handout. It needed the ability to back itself with infrastructure to unlock industries that would give it a competitive advantage,’ McCully says.
As they compared stories, a shared determination took shape. Knowing the challenges their region faced – limited jobs, young people leaving and communities struggling – they made a pact.
‘If the opportunity ever arose to invest in something big in Northland that would regain its footing and secure the future, we’d seize it,’ says McCully.
How it happened
When Jones became Minister for Regional Economic Development in 2018, the opportunity finally arose through the newly launched Provincial Growth (PGF) Fund. It was a $3 billion–dollar program designed to invest in the regions through the creation of jobs and economic development. Jones saw this as a way to make the conversation in the Cook Islands a reality.
A lot of groundwork for the water storage schemes had been carried out by the Northland Regional Council and other advocates who believed in the idea, but weren’t able to get it off the ground.
Steven Joyce, Jones’s predecessor, had identified that as urbanisation spreads, New Zealand will need to find alternative areas to grow food. Places like Pukekohe, south of Auckland, were increasingly coming under threat for housing, and Northland could be a solution.
‘In 2017, I picked it up and gave it a nudge, and basically found the money as a part of the negotiations,’ says Jones.
With the PGF fund in sight, McCully was tapped on the shoulder.
‘”Hey Muzza,” they said, “remember what you and I signed on? Well, the time has come,’” recalls McCully.
Jones describes the water project as ‘the biggest thing to happen in the north in 40 years’.
The Trust received $73 million from Kānoa, the Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit. Eight and half million of it was in the form of a grant, and the rest was a loan to be paid back when the project was commercially viable. Further support was given by Northland Regional Council and private investors.
The Prime Minister has always been supportive of the project. McCully says he was a relatively new back bencher when he first learnt of it and he’s now visited all three reservoirs the Trust has built.
What’s next?
Next will be a commercial push for horticultural investment in the area. Jones says the district has been gifted a huge opportunity and it’s up to the community to make the most of it.
‘Seize the opportunity and turn it into your advantage,’ Jones told the audience at the opening.
‘Hold your councillors responsible so they go for growth‑orientated policies. Hold your decision-makers to account so we don’t blight our prospects, but grow and accelerate our development,’ he says.
The transformation is starting to take place already, with substantial investments across the road from Te Waihekeora. Te Uri-o-Hau and Lynwood Nurseries have planted large avocado farms.
McCully says Bay of Plenty investors are seizing the opportunity in the mid north at Otawere Reservoir and he suspects that, as property prices continue to rise in places like Pukekohe, south of Auckland, Dargaville will be an appealing alternative to market gardeners.
McCully says the reservoirs are scalable without any major capital works. He expects a discussion to take place over the next couple of years about building a pipe across the river to Ruawai, where the land quality is high, but needs a reliable water supply.