NGATARAWA & OHITI
AHU WHENUA TRUSTS
NEW TRUSTEES
New Trustees Sworn in on Thursday 1 August 2024
Tenā koutou katoa,
Welcome to the Ngatarawa Ahu Whenua Trusts website. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our communications with the owners and beneficiaries of this beautiful land in which we are entrusted to govern the affairs with integrity. This website was recommended at the 2014 Annual General Meeting to help us achieve our communication goals and more recently at the 2018 Annual General Meeting it was requested that we gather information and historical information about this beautiful whenua and post it up on this website to help us all learn more about our history.
Ngatarawa 1A3A, Ngatarawa 1A3B, Ngatarawa 1A3C, Ngatarawa 2A3B1B2, are Māori freehold land blocks that are administered by the Ngatarawa Ahu Whenua Trust. The Ngatarawa blocks are located along State Highway 50 in the Hastings region. The lands have a combined area of approximately 300 ha.
The Ngatarawa Lands Trust have elected trustees who govern the land blocks on behalf of the owners. There are roughly 250 registered land owners listed with Ngatarawa Ahu Whenua Trust. There are a total of 4 blocks and there are different owners on different blocks, some in one, some in more than one and some in all. The individual lists are everchanging when beneficiaries pass on and whānau succeed to the land or vice versa when whanau break up trusts and go in as individuals. Circumstances vary and it is difficult in receiving this updated information in a timely manner from the Māori Land Court. Sometimes we don’t receive this updated information for months or even years. We are working on ways to improve this communication between the Maori Land Court however with all our efforts so far, their system and processes is out of our hands. We have also committed to finding contact information for beneficiaries whose details remain unknown. These are mainly families who are disconnected from the whānau and perhaps have moved away from New Zealand. Nonetheless, these whānau members have unclaimed monies waiting for them to claim. Some whānau simply don't realise that a trust exists for this land and eventually go onto a unclaimed list until they contact us.
To claim monies, there are a number of things that owners need to do. 1. They need to contact us and provide us with the documentation issued by the Maori Land Court with the changes. 2. We need your full name and birthday, full contact details, your bank account on a verified document or deposit slip from the bank, and your Inland Revenue Department Number. These things are relatively attainable.
The trust also administers tertiary grants to recognise the pursuit of academic excellence, knowledge and qualifications of our landowners and their descendants. The landowners contribute to the criteria of this scholarship at the Annual General Meeting. The current criteria can be viewed on this website when it opens. Click here
History
We are looking to update this website with the wealth of information that sits in people’s homes, in their minds, on their walls in pictures and in glory boxes. We believe that everyone has a story that can contribute to a landscape of information sharing that is part of the history of the land and the trust. Watch this space!.