Housing trustees' fact-finding focus

TRUSTEES on the newly established Manawatu Community Wellbeing and Housing Trust are on a fact-finding mission as they settle into the ownership and management of the district’s 208 Housing for the Elderly and Disabled units.

The Manawatu District Council had spent six years investigating ways to manage the portfolio so it would better meet the needs of the community and decided to relinquish control of the flats to the five-member trust.

The inaugural trust members are Mary Ann Baskerville-Davies and Colin McJannett, of Feilding; Richard Bowling, of Kiwitea; John Culling, of Pohangina, and Dave Broderick, of Himatangi Beach.

Mr Culling said trust members had undertaken a lot of research over the past few weeks and were in the process of weighing up the pros and cons of what needed to be done.

Visits had been made to the Alexandra Flats in Feilding and to Trust House in Masterton, an independent trust that administered more than 500 houses, including one complex similar to the setups in Manawatu.

“We looked at what Trust House did, how it ran the units and how it set the rentals,” said Mr Culling. “At the moment, we are taking a fact-finding approach, but have some ideas as to what we may be able to look at in view of making improvements.”

He said it was important that the trust looked at how to best manage the units from an asset management perspective and through its association with the various contractors.

“We’re pretty much a hands-on group at the moment, with the trustees having different expertise in different areas, and collectively, we are trying to utilize that to find things out.”

Mr Culling said it was a good team and he felt the trustees would blend together extremely well to work through the various tasks.

“Over a period of time there may be some change and issues to be looked at, but we want to take everyone with us.”

He said the trust not only faced the responsibility of looking after units valued at $16 million, but in also meeting community well-being requirements and what they might entail.

“The trustees are aware that something might come out of the woodwork at short notice that needs to be addressed, but we are meeting every week and continuing to make good progress,” said Mr Culling.