Waipapa Marae Trust delighted with the report into the administration of the Marae

The Māori Land Court has released its report into the investigation of the Waipapa Marae Trust’s administration of the Kāwhia marae west of Hamilton.

Marae beneficiary, Gareth Seymour raised several complaints against the marae trustees for failure to meet their governance obligations and responsibilities to beneficiaries.

After two years of deliberations in the Māori Land Court, Judge Clark has acknowledged the considerable work done by the Trustees to streamline the Waipapa marae systems and processes underpinning the operations of the marae.   Judge Clark made some further recommendations to the Trustees to finish off the final stages of this development phase of the marae. 

Acting chair Hone Edwards says the marae trustees are looking forward now to building on the recent success of their new whare kai, Te Maru o Hikairo.  He says, “It is time to expand the Marae Committee and get on with the next phase of our development for the marae and the people of Ngāti Hikairo.  While the Trust is charged with managing the assets of the Marae on behalf of our beneficiaries, the Marae Committee is equally important since it is responsible for the day to day running of the marae, Edwards says.

Coming up shortly is a Special General Meeting he says to address issues in the report followed by the 2020 AGM and then it’s full steam ahead.

The Waipapa Marae Trust will report back to the court over some minor issues by the end of May.  Hone Edwards says he fully expected this will see the end of any further involvement by the Maori Land Court in the ongoing running of Waipapa Marae.