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The main purpose of the TACT is to oversee the strategic direction and operation of the Te Ahu Centre by:
All but one of the Trustees are appointed by Council. Council has the power to appoint one Te Rarawa Trustee who must be of Te Rarawa Iwi.
The Far North Regional Museum Trust has the power to appoint one Museum Trustee.
Trustees as at 30 June 2013 are:
This year has seen the appointment of Noel Brown, working with Far North Holdings in a district wide initiative to develop synergies between various Far North tourist venues including Te Ahu and The Turner Centre, in Kerikeri. He is continuing to develop the plan initiated by Mark Osborne and the Te Ahu Trust on key marketing and promotional strategies. Funding to the value of $91K has recently been approved by Far North District Council to progress this. Signage and website development is progressing with the obtaining of this funding.
The past year has seen a number of significant events take place at Te Ahu. There have been a variety of art exhibitions, concerts, poetry recitals, craft demonstrations and large scale fund raising events along with various community and Maˉori special events. Matariki celebrations provided quality experiences for people as did the Pukemiro fund raising event and the beauty pageant earlier in the year. The Te Ahu Charitable Trust is continuing to explore and commit to further events. At present that includes the ‘Fly My Pretties’ national tour start and putting on a performance by the Royal New Zealand Ballet in November. These are important events. Others are proposed and being negotiated with the view of making Te Ahu Kaitaia a ‘must include’ venue for national and international events.
Tourists are learning about Te Ahu and coming, with free Wi-Fi being a big draw card particularly with the younger visitors. The camper van facilities and i-SITE are also well used.
The library continues to be the main attraction for visitor numbers along with the museum, cinema, cafe and various function rooms that at times now are fully booked. The challenge is how to turn all this into best economic benefit for Te Ahu Charitable Trust and the Far North community without costs that are prohibitive.
This has been a challenging first year of operation as the various stakeholders and ‘components’ of Te Ahu find their place. A lot remains to be resolved and clarified but step by step positive developments are taking place bringing the benefits of convergence.
Te Ahu lost Trustee and respected Ngati Kahu Kaumatua Charlie Larkins after a long battle with his health. The Trust is seeking out a worthy replacement to recommend to Council and believe that the Trust could do with refreshing with new Trustees and perhaps the secondment of some key interested people with the right skills to help .If Te Ahu is to rise to the aspirational levels envisioned in its development plan and Trust Deed, then it needs ‘all hands to the deck’ as currently the Trust has no staff of its own to do its work.
Te Ahu Charitable Trust is subject to exemption as a small organisation under Section 7 of the Local Government Act 2002. Performance measures and targets are not required.
The Roland’s Wood Trust relates to 4 hectares of woodland in Kerikeri and was set up to ensure the provision and maintenance of a wooded park for the recreational use, enjoyment and benefit of the public. As the Trust Administration Committee consists of Council staff, the Trust is classified as a CCO. However, it’s activities are peripheral to the core activities of Council and has no material effect on Council’s finances. Council has, therefore, concluded that there is no requirement to provide any further detail of the Trust in the LTP. Under section 7 of the Local Government Act 2002 this is an exempt organisation.