March 03, 2014
Raukawa not waiting for council
The chair of the Raukawa Settlement Trust says the South Waikato District Council needs to get used to working with a new force in the area.
The council has complained about the trust’s plans to lease some of its land to build an unstaffed service station in Tokoroa, saying it was eyeing the property beside State Highway 1 as part of a wider beautification project.
Vanessa Eparaima says the council failed to communicate its vision to the iwi, and the trust’s commercial arm has an obligation to make prudent decisions about getting value out of settlement assets.
"Well the council’s talked about having a window to beautify Tokoroa. I think Tokoroa is beautiful as it is. There’s a lot of other opportunities to do what the council wants to do within Tokoroa itself. This is the first direct investment we are looking at in Tokoroa and there will be others, so there will be opportunities for the council to work with us in the near future," she says.
The Raukawa Settlement Trust has also joined other central North Island Iwi in buying a 2.5 percent stake in Kaingaroa Forest from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
FORTHE FULL INTERVIEW WITH VANESSA EPARAIMA CLICK ON THE LINK
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