New strategy for Te Mata Park Trust to protect and enhance park for future generations

Te Mata Park Trust has officially launched its Ngā Tīpuna Masterplan strategy. Photo / Warren Buckland

Te Mata Park Trust officially launched its Ngā Tīpuna Masterplan strategy and endowment fund, sharing a unified vision for the future of Te Mata Park and inviting donations to the vehicle that will fund it.

The Ngā Tīpuna strategy was formed around “Our Ancestors, Our Maunga, Our Journey” and lays out a strategic vision to protect and enhance Hawke’s Bay’s most iconic land mass for future generations.

The strategy formalises the park’s objectives and principles and sets out key projects over the next 50 years including a 50-year native restoration planting plan, infrastructure strategies, and enhancing educational resources.

Mike Devonshire, chairman of Te Mata Park Trust, said, “Ngā Tīpuna sets the direction for Te Mata Park Trust, providing a framework for us to achieve our objectives, aid decision making, and manage a coordinated programme of works.”

Developed in consultation with the Te Mata Park Trust Mana Whenua roopu, Ngā Tīpuna is grounded in the history of Te Mata, enabling the trust and key stakeholders to look to the future with a collective purpose.

Bayden Barber, chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, and former Te Mata Park trustee, said, “Ngā Tīpuna was developed in partnership with mana whenua. It’s about looking forward for the next 100 years and thinking about how we use Te Mata Park, and what we want our relationship with the park to be.”

The development of the Ngā Tīpuna strategy comes at a time when demand on the park is high.

Devonshire said, “Community demand for access and the trust’s commitment to its kaitiaki role were catalysts for the creation of Ngā Tīpuna. The trust is committed to protecting this integral piece of Hawke’s Bay’s cultural and physical landscape.”

Alongside the new strategy, the trust also officially launched the Ngā Tīpuna Fund, an endowment fund managed by Hawke’s Bay Foundation. The move ushers in a more financially sustainable future for Te Mata Park, one of the six key objectives of the Ngā Tīpuna strategy.

Te Mata Park’s current funding model leaves a significant annual shortfall, and support from Te Mata Park’s valued key stakeholders, the Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, covers 60 per cent of the park’s annual operating costs.

Every year the trust must search for the remaining 40 per cent to operate and source additional funding to run the myriad of projects needed to enhance and protect the park.

“The Ngā Tīpuna Fund will bring financial sustainability to our operations and close our current funding gap.

“Our goal is to raise $20 million within 20 years so that in time the dividends will sustain the operations of the park,” Devonshire said.

The Te Mata Park Trust chairman invites all Te Mata Park users and supporters to give what they can to protect and enhance this treasured land for future generations.

Donations to the Ngā Tīpuna Fund can be made via Te Mata Park’s website, www.tematapark.co.nz/donate.