In February 2016, I visited the property with members of my family. I saw that the property was in poor state. I know this was out of character of the lessee. On 1st June 2016 I wrote to the Māori Trustee the Responsible Trustee requesting information on the poor state of the property. No response was received. A second letter was sent to the Trustee requesting a meeting of owners to establish new Trustees.
The Trustee did not respond to my letters but did call a meeting of owners which was held in July 2016. The minutes of that meeting have not been made available.
My recollections of the key points are:
• The lease ended in November 2015.
• The lessee received a discounted rate on his lease in order to bring the property up to a good state of repair.
• The lessee has not paid the rent on the property for the final five years of his lease.
• The lessee has not maintained the property leaving it in a poor condition.
• The Māori Trustee has not informed the owners that the lease had terminated.
• The Māori Trustee did not know that the rent had NOT been paid.
• The Māori Trustee had not been aware that the land was NOT being maintained.
• The Māori Trustee had requested 12 months to recover the money owed and remedy the situation.
The following matters remain unresolved from the meeting of owners:
• The cost of bringing the land to an acceptable state at termination of the lease.
• An explanation of the breakdown in the relationship between the Responsible Trustee and the lessee.
• An explanation of why it took five years for the Māori Trustee to notice the rent was NOT being paid.
• An explanation as to why the Māori Trustee had not ensured the property had degraded to its current poor state.
• A plan to maintain the property in the interim period.
We request that an informal meeting of owners is convened to discuss the issues over the property:
OWNERS PLEASE MEET AT:
First Meeting
Venue Date Time
160 Tuahiwi Rd 27 November 2016 11.30 am
Second Meeting
Venue Date Time
Tuahiwi Marae 22nd January 2017 1.30 pm
Contacts
June Kemp 03 313 8509
Denise Hamilton 03 313 1256
Mahara Te Aika 03 424 1993