1 March 2000 Therapeutic Garden for National Marae

A ‘therapeutic garden’ is to be constructed at Christchurch's Nga Hau e Wha National Marae, Pages Road, with Lincoln University landscape architecture students helping its builders, Te Maramatanga ki Otautahi, a group which works with disabled Maori.

The benefits of therapeutic gardens are widely acknowledged and there are already a number of such gardens in New Zealand and overseas.

"They are associated with nurturing, slowing down life to the pace of nature, and in the case of this garden there will be the added Maori spiritual dimension of growth from the Earth Mother, Te Papatuanuku," says Lincoln University landscape lecturer Neil Challenger, whose fourth year degree class of 43 students will be involved in the project.

"Every year Lincoln landscape architecture students carry out a 'hands-on' project which gives them the opportunity to study contract management – how a project runs, the tendering process, costings, communications and the like. The project this year is to help build part of the therapeutic garden with Te Maramatanga ki Otautahi and the students will be involved with construction for about six weeks.

"The garden has been named Te Wai u o Papatuanuku, which conveys the idea of growth springing from the earth."

A ceremony to name the garden and bless the project was attended by kaumatua from the local area, National Party MP Georgina Te Heu Heu and Te Tai Tonga MP Mahara Okeroa.

Lincoln University landscape students and lecturer Neil Challenger have been involved in a number of marae projects in both the North and South Island. Their last such project was with the Lincoln University Maori Students' Association, Te Awhioraki, for the design of its campus marae complex.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand