Hapu stories have been incorporated into road safety measures designed to protect the Wairaka community in the Bay of Plenty.

Traffic monitoring in the Wairaka community has shown that speed is an issue with few vehicles complying with the posted 30kmh speed limit at The Heads - with some exceeding 80kmh during the day.

In partnership with Ngati Hokopu, Whakatāne District Council has been working to make Wairaka streets safer using funding from Waka Kotahi's Innovating Streets programme.

This ongoing work has included kerb buildouts painted with designs that tell Ngāti Hokopu stories by artist Sam Kora.

The buildouts also feature planter boxes, which will soon be painted in designs by Sam.

Sam says he drew his inspiration for the geometric road art from the beautiful woven panels that are often seen inside wharenui.

Each kerb buildout has a different pattern designed to honour and tell the stories of different landmarks in the Wairaka neighbourhood.

These include Kaputerangi (Toi's Pa), Whakaari, Moutohorā, Raurima Islands, and Te Ana o Muriwai (Muriwai's Cave).

Sam says the Wairaka neighbourhood was rich in culture and he wanted to honour that through his artwork.

He's proud to see his work displayed in his community and is pleased about the relationship that has been formed between hapū and council in the process.

'I haven't got over it,” says Sam.

'It's a real buzz for me. It's really exciting.”

The kerb buildout next to the Wairaka Centennial Park (Heads playground) depicts the Raurima Islands and their role in providing a rich source of kaimoana to the local people when diving and spearfishing.

The grey represents the rocks, the black the night, the red the sunrise, and the white the star cluster Te Ariki.

The five white triangles represent the teeth of the sharks that can be found by the islands.
'It's a warning of danger, not to fool around and to respect the area,” says Sam.

The same thought has gone into designing the buildout by Te Ana o Muriwai.

Muriwai is an ancient Ngāti Awa ancestor and one of few female tohunga (spiritual guides).

In the old days, the river passed by the cave where Muriwai lived and at high-tide she would be trapped inside.

The blue directional arrows on this buildout represent the river, the one black triangle the cave, the green represents Kaputerangi, and the red represents the pohutukawa that hold the hillside together.

Functionally, the buildouts work to slow traffic by obstructing drivers' line of sight up the road and by making the road feel narrower, which typically results in reduced speeds.

The buildouts are just one piece of the puzzle of road safety measures at Wairaka, some of which are still to be completed.

The council has made changes to some intersections to reduce speeds and to make them easier to navigate for pedestrians. It has also installed speed humps, chicanes (a one-way curve in the road), courtesy crossings and signage.

Te Runanga o Ngāti Awa Ngāti Hokopu ke Te Whare o Toroa representative William Stewart says speed has always been an issue in the Wairaka community and the problem has become worse with an increase of traffic.

William says the hapū's relationship with the council 'hadn't always been rosy” but the road safety work was an example of the outcomes that could be achieved when communities partnered with the council.

He says it's great for the hapū to inject its aspirations into the road safety works and the design done with the council deeply reflected the narrative from the community.

These works at Wairaka are temporary but if the community likes them, the council can make the changes permanent.

The council will be taking formal feedback on the changes in the coming weeks.