From the Chair

Welcome to 2016, I trust you have had an opportunity over the past six weeks or so during the summer holiday period, to spend quality time with your whānau and recharge your batteries to tackle whatever is thrown at you in the coming year.

2015 has been a good year for Ngāti Apa Ki Te Rā Tō in terms of refining, and in some cases re-engineering, our systems and processes and I look forward to the momentum carrying through in to 2016. Again my thanks go to Butch and his team for the work they have done in getting us to where we now are, and for setting the foundations to take us forward in a structured and seamless way.

It was good late last year, that the two hapū were able to arrange end of year functions (albeit a little belatedly), and both were well-attended and appreciated by those present. The learnings from that are to be more pro-active in arranging this year’s events much earlier and to get the dates in to the diary so that those that want to attend, have more time to plan for it.

In the first two weekends of March we will be coming out again for a short series of roadshows, to update you on the progress we have made since the last series, and with some of the specific questions that were raised when we last came out.

The Trust Board have agreed that it is an appropriate time for us to review our governance structures and we have spent a lot of time recently in reviewing the present structures, obtaining feedback from Board members and other key stakeholders, to decide how (or if) our current structures are working and whether they are considered to be the best to take us forward.

During the roadshow we will give you an update on what our current thinking is and obtain your feedback, before we decide exactly what, or if, we should change. We will also give you an update on the work of the various Sub-committees, and an overview of our progress towards the implementation of our Five-Year Plan. We need also to push our planning horizons further out and would appreciate your input into this. It will be an opportunity for those who have not yet done so, to meet Butch.

This year is also important because it is an election year, with the seats of four sitting Trust board members coming up this August. Irrespective of the outcome of the review process, we are keen to introduce electronic voting in this year’s election and there is a process we will need to follow in order to implement that. We will need to hold a Special General Meeting to have that part of the Deed amended and will send out more information about that, at a later date. If the review process requires amendments to the Deed(s), that can be voted on at the same Special General Meeting.

If you are considering putting your name forward for the election and would like to know and understand more about the role of Trustee, please do not hesitate to ask. We are aiming to make the process a lot more transparent this year and will send out to all nominees prior to the voting papers going out, an information pack, which will contain a role description, background information and the responsibilities that go with being a Trustee. Nominees will then be better placed to make a reasoned decision on whether they wish to proceed with their nomination.

I look forward to catching up at the roadshows.

Ngā mihi

Brendon Wilson

Chairman, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Trusts