Waitohi King is a daughter of the Chief Te Awe Awe. The Te Awe Awe family strongly opposed the proposed sporting complex at Rangiotu. Mrs King said that the area had special meaning to her family. Chief Te Awe Awe is buried in the burial ground (he died in January 1971). Mr Ray New wanted to build a Riverside Park Recreation Complex on 69 acres behind the Rangiotu Post Office, Church, school, marae and burial ground.