Reactivating trust to oversee RSA land and buildings

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Five trustees are being sought to serve on a reactivated Gisborne and Districts War Memorial Trust.

Trustees should be ex-servicemen or women eligible for membership of the RSA.

Gisborne RSA and Gisborne District Council will appoint two trustees each while the two organisations will jointly appoint the other.

Under the Trust Deed, the trust is responsible for “overarching decisions” regarding the RSA lands and buildings on the Childers Road-Bright Street intersection while the RSA is responsible for the day-to-day control and management of the premises.

Trustees should meet at least once annually and have an understanding of governance functions and principles. There is no remuneration.

The trust was originally established in 1945 when the RSA premises were built.

When councillors first discussed the trust in 2021 they were told documents relating to the trust had been lost or destroyed.

The only remaining documentation, from 1994, listed trustees who were now all deceased.

The trust is still registered with the Companies Office.

Gisborne RSA manager David Sly said the trust had been in abeyance for some time and the RSA was keen to get it up and running again.

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