The Ngātiwai Trust Board has asked the Mōkau Marae to work with Helena Bay Lodge who sought a consent to take up to 60,000 litres of water a day from a local stream which passes through the property, to irrigate the Lodge grounds.

The consent application put forward by Helena Bay Lodge was withdrawn in early July so that more studies and monitoring can be done by Mōkau Marae.  Both parties agree the health of the river is paramount.

Ngātiwai Trust Board Chairman Haydn Edmonds says “This is why we are working with our local marae, that are potentially most affected, the Regional Council and the Helena Bay Lodge to find a satisfactory outcome.”

“The mana for this sort of decision making clearly sits with Mōkau Marae and the hapū of Te Uri O Hikihiki of Ngātiwai.  They have the mana whenua over this area so whatever they decide, we as the Trust Board will come in behind them and support their position.”

Mr. Edmonds said, “I know there has been a lot of media attention on this issue aimed at Russian lodge owner, Alexander Abramov.” 

“The media has been ill informed and unfair in there reporting of this issue.  Mr. Abramov is not involved in the management and maintenance of his tourist Lodge.  The media hasn’t bothered to check whether the consent was withdrawn by Lodge management before publishing their ‘beat up’ articles and news streams.”

“The initial request made by Helena Bay Lodge to take water from a local river is not on the same scale as some of the water take requests around the area.  This water was not going to be taken to be bottled up and sold off shore."

 “60,000 litres a day is a lot of water, however critics need to be consistent as there are locals in the area taking 10 times more water from local rivers for their farming needs.”

“What we have tried to balance here is a businessman that has come into the area and made positive economic benefits available for our local people in terms of jobs, and is someone who is committed to contributing to the local community and whenua in a positive way.  Some on Social Media have asked who are getting the "kickbacks" from this businessman.  Well let me say the only kickbacks are to the local community and the economic benefits of jobs being created that were once never there.”

“Once the water monitoring project is completed, Helena Bay Lodge may well come forward through the process again requesting to take water, at which time we will work with all parties involved to work towards a satisfactory outcome.”

​On the 23rd - 26th June 2017 our Ngātiwai Kaumātua Rōpū travelled to Te Papa in Wellington to perform and celebrate 2 days of kaumātua kapa haka where they participated with over 500 other kaumātua from around Aotearoa for the 2017 Matariki Celebrations. 

Tautoko whānau!  $100 per ticket with all proceeds going towards the Whananaki Marae re-build.

Board Policies: - All Board policies will be referred to the Policy committee prior to sign off by the Board. 
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NTB Directorships: - A policy regarding the recruitment of Directors will be drafted by the Legal Adviser and a draft recommended to the Board. Also the review of the Governance and Directorship policies is still being carried out. 

Kaipara Sands: - Hori Parata completed a review and report of the Kaipara Sands extraction prior to Christmas, he is progressing towards putting someone on the barge to monitor their processes.

Marae Reports: - Marae updates were received from the following marae:

• Kawa: - The marae is looking at alternative power supply such as solar panels and wind power.
  
• Matapouri: - No marae meetings have been held since the last. Aperahama attended the new processing plant opening at Hikurangi this morning.
  
• Motairehe: - The marae is regrouping after the recent Ngāti Rehua hui.
  
• Ngaiotonga: - The marae committee will forward its invoice for the NTB grant shortly.
  
• Ngunguru: -
  
• Omaha: -
  
• Otetao: - The marae is hosting the Te Kupenga Reo programme this weekend.
  
• Pataua:
  
• Punaruku: - The marae committee will schedule an up coming meeting.
  
• Tuparehuia: - The marae committee had a good meeting last week, the next meeting is scheduled for Saturday 17th June at NTB. There is also a whānau unveiling being held at the marae next weekend.
  
• Whananaki: - The marae will be holding a fund raising evening which includes entertainment and a meal at Forum North on Saturday 22nd July 2017, tickets are $100 and all proceeds going towards Whakapaumahara rebuild. Entertainment is Kawiti Waetford.

 
Scholarships: - A meeting of the Education and Social Development committees will occur prior to discuss and confirm scholarship and sponsorship grants for 2017. 

Trustee Remuneration Policy: - The Trustee remuneration draft policy will be reviewed by Policy Committee and referred to the Board for sign off. 

Trust Deed Review: - A copy of the final draft from the Trust Deed Review Rōpu will be provided to the Board for legal to review, once this has been completed the Rōpu will look towards taking the document to marae for socialisation. 

Te Kupenga Reo: - The Te Kupenga Reo team completed a 4 day rumaki reo wānanga to determine what has been working or not working with the programme. The team are out at Otetao marae this weekend and next week travel to Aotea.