Fire Destroys Homes
February 15, 2017
State of emergency declared
There was a wind shift on the Port Hills and then the roar of flames as the fire swept across the valley forcing residents to flee. Grant watched on from Worsley Road as the blaze tore into the plantation trees behind his house. With the flames threatening to engulf their home, Grant and his wife turned to leave; it was simply too awful to watch. I was ordered ordered to evacuate a short time later. I don't know what happened to Grant's home, all I know is a number of houses have been destroyed.

For generations, the ancestral rock art of the Arowhenua people has been owned by others, with the land and limestone caves held in private ownership as part of a Gould family farm. Now after more than 170 years, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua has purchased back the land and full access and ownership of their ancient taonga.

