October 28, 2016
Te Arawa Trust promoting collaboration for future
The chair of the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Trust says a new tribal hub could be part of a process of changing the way the iwi thinks about the future.
A concept for a multi-storey office overlooking Ohinemutu, one of the entrants in a competition for a new head office, was presented at an engineered timber conference in Rotorua.
The trust says its new building needs to be a space for collaboration, including renting space to hapu, land trusts and incorporations.
Toby Curtis says demographic forces mean Te Arawa will be responsible for much of the region’s economic development as well as the upkeep of its services and infrastructure.
Its many successful land trusts could also take on more risk, rather than leave profits in the bank earning low returns.
"It must be wealth creation with the idea that we are responsible for the gross domestic product in our region to ensure our schools, our hospitals and other public amenities will be available and will be there when we become the caregivers of our infrastructure," Sir Toby says.
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