This follows an agreed settlement involving the parties who have been contesting the ownership and possession of Te Raukura.
Wellington City Council tonight approved an arrangement in which the Waiwhetu-based Te Runanganui o Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika will reimburse the Council $150,000 in full and final settlement of the disputed rights and interests in the ownership, care and possession of the waka Te Raukura. That sum is quite sufficient to commission a new waka.
Under the terms of the settlement with Te Runanganui o Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, payment is to be made within 28 days of this agreement. When payment is received, the Council will formally abandon its proceedings in the High Court.
Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown has welcomed the proposal that a new waka be built and carved and then housed in the recently-opened Wharewaka.
"This is obviously not what was originally intended when we initiated court proceedings. The new proposal is a circuit-breaker to end the protracted dispute.
"We prefer to make a clean start - and, in the end, it will mean another waka for Te Whanganui a Tara."
Mayor Wade-Brown says the alternative, a drawn-out and expensive court battle, would not be in the interests of ratepayers.
"However we reject allegations that Te Raukura was ill-treated by the Council."
Sir Ngatata Love, Chair of the Te Wharewaka o Poneke Charitable Trust, says the settlement is a good result. "This will further reinvigorate and strengthen the presence of waka on the harbour."