January 21, 2015
Tuwharetoa on track to buy crown properties
The Tuwharetoa Settlement Trust is teaming up with other entities within the iwi to buy Crown properties available under its deferred settlement process.
The trust’s ability to pick up the properties was compromised by its first set of trustees, who lost $9 millions of the tribe’s forestry settlement through poor investments and gave away another $11 million of its capital in grants.
Chair Dylan Tehau says new trustees have almost completed the restructure of the trust finances, and it now has equity of $17.7 million and is running profitably and with lower costs.
Its commercial subsidiary Tuwharetoa Limited raised $7.5 million in capital and set up a limited liability partnership with Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board, Lake Taupo Forest Trust and Te Pae o Waimihia to buy commercial redress properties including nine schools and the Taupo courthouse, making it one of the largest land owners in the Taupo Township.
It also bought 11 forest enclaves in and around Lake Taupo and Lake Rotoaira Forests, which were on sold to the respective forest trusts.
Mr Tahau says it is now trying to pull together other trusts to help it buy 8500 hectares of Department of Corrections land and forest, valued at more than $50 million.
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