Latest news with #Tararua
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Engineering firm strips doors off Pūkaha aviary after $245,000 bill unpaid for months
BK Engineering was contracted to build the shore plover aviary at Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre. Photo: Supplied / BK Engineering An aviary at a wildlife sanctuary in financial strife has had its doors stripped in a stoush over an unpaid bill for almost a quarter of a million dollars. Pūkaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre on the border of Tararua and Wairarapa districts has issued an urgent plea for financial help , without which it faced imminent closure. At the heart of the plea was an invoice for an under-construction aviary for the endangered shore plover bird. Board co-chair Mavis Mullins said the breeding sanctuary needed to find $600,000 by the end of the week to avoid shutting its doors, after it was unable to secure funding from major partners the Department of Conservation and Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā . Brent Reid, co-director of local Masterton firm BK Engineering, hoped some of that money would be going to him and an outstanding invoice for more than $245,000. He said Pūkaha commissioned the firm in May 2024, to "construct, repair and refurbish" shore plover aviaries. Everything was smooth sailing, he said, until the payments stopped in November. Assurances that payment was imminent kept the construction work going "in good faith" until February this year, he said, but to date no further payments had been made. In a letter sent on 29 May to the Pūkaha board seen by RNZ, he said the company had taken out loans to keep afloat. "We are in serious financial difficulties because of Pūkaha. We don't deserve this." Reid said at the end of last week he cleared the worksite and took the doors off the aviary. "We loaded all the gear in our vehicles ... and we also removed as many doors as we could off the aviary so that it can't be used. "We're beyond caring about what anyone thinks and just need our gear back." The endangered shore plover bird. Photo: Supplied / Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre/ Tara Swan Ultimately, Reid said he wanted to receive the money that was owed and finish the job, and thought the Department of Conservation (DoC) needed to step in. "The government spends money on all sorts of wacky things, but this is something that you can go and see. "You can touch it, you can feel it, you can see the aviary, you can see it built. It's not good money after bad, it's a real thing, and it will save these birds." DoC's operations director for the lower North Island, Alice Heather said the department was aware of Pūkaha's financial difficulties. "We have been working with the Pūkaha board, alongside Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā, since we were made aware of the situation, and continue to explore options." She said Pūkaha was an independent charitable trust that for many years had delivered great conservation work. "DoC has not contracted work on the aviaries at Pūkaha. Any queries relating to non-payment of bills or contracts between contractors and Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre should be directed to the Pūkaha Mount Bruce Board." Pūkaha board co-chair Mavis Mullins said Pūkaha staff and BK Engineering were the top priority for the immediate $600,000 fundraising effort. "Our priority is our staff and those creditors because they are people that are known to us. We are working so hard and they are the priority." She said for several months the board had been working with potential investors. But last week, it "received new information" that left them with "no choice" but to engage Grant Thornton financial advisors. "We've also been in discussion with the Department of Conservation about the payment of outstanding invoices for shore plover aviaries, a nearly completed construction project urgently needed to continue the national programme of protection of this endangered species," she said. Mullins denied any suggestion of financial mismanagement and said while negotiations were ongoing to secure funding, every effort was being made to raise capital elsewhere. She said the community had supported Pūkaha since it was established in 1962 to breed and release endangered native birds, with the takahē - a Fiordland bird once thought extinct - its first species. "But the current operating model, which includes only part funding of conservation work by the Department of Conservation, with the rest from community funding, is no longer sustainable." It had been humbled, she said, by the global response to its plea for financial help. "Vistors, ex-kaimahi that have worked with us, this weekend the centre has been chocka with whānau coming, wanting to pay full rate rather than their half rate that they're entitled to, making donations ... It's been very, very humbling the response from the community." She said the board and management had been communicating to lenders, creditors and staff about the potential closure of Pūkaha, and acknowledged the stress and hurt they were feeling. She said former board chair Bob Francis and local businessman Shane McManaway had been brought in to oversee a complete overhaul of the organisation. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre calls for financial help
Pūkaha board co-chair Mavis Mullins says without an immediate and significant cash injection the sanctuary will be forced to shut its doors. Photo: Supplied/ Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre A former board chair of a wildlife sanctuary in financial strife says he is working overtime to get a handle on the situation. The not-for-profit Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre, which boarders the Tararua and Wairarapa districts, is a breeding sanctuary for native birds including kiwi. It has, in recent days, put out an urgent plea for financial help. In a statement Pūkaha board co-chair Mavis Mullins said without an immediate and significant cash injection the board would be forced to shut its doors. The Post has reported that the centre needed to find $600,000. Former board chair Bob Francis and local businessman Shane McManaway had recently been brought in to oversee a complete overhaul of the organisation, she said. Francis said he and McManaway were in the process of figuring out the centre's finances. "We're working over time to sort it out." Former Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre board chair Bob Francis. Photo: Supplied / Bob Francis Mullins said for several months the sanctuary had been working with potential investors, and had brought in independent financial advice. "We've also been in discussion with the Department of Conservation about the payment of outstanding invoices for Shore Plover Aviaries, a nearly completed construction project urgently needed to continue the national programme of protection of this endangered species." The centre was now asking for the community to step in, she said. "Pūkaha has been one of the New Zealand trail blazers in saving native wildlife like our national icon the kiwi, and takahē, kōkako, tūturuatu and kākā. "But the current operating model, which includes only part funding of conservation work by the Department of Conservation, with the rest from community funding, is no longer sustainable." She said the centre had not given up hope - "but the doors will shut soon unless immediate additional funding is forthcoming". The board and management were communicating to lenders, creditors and staff about the potential closure, Mullins said. "This is a very difficult time for all our staff, stakeholders and communities as we work through the next steps and urgently raise capital so we can avoid the painful decision to close," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
24-04-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Landslide Approval Of Wairarapa Water Model
Submitters to South Wairarapa's Local Water Done Well consultation have been largely in favour of joining forces with Carterton, Masterton, and Tararua to deliver water services. But some presenters at Wednesday's hearing were critical of the council only consulting on one 'viable' option. The council asked for feedback on two options: a Wairarapa-Tararua asset-owning council-controlled organisation (CCO), or its existing approach -- a non-asset owning CCO similar in structure and ownership to Wellington Water. Of 134 written submissions, about 87% were in favour of the Wairarapa-Tararua model. Submitter Leah Hawkins said the Wairarapa-Tararua option was 'not just being presented as the preferred choice, but is the only viable choice'. She was concerned there was no backup plan if the model did not succeed. 'South Wairarapa should not be forced to adopt a model just because there are no other options on the table. 'It's policy by default and we must try to demand better.' The council's consultation document said the status quo approach would present significant financial challenges in delivering its planned water infrastructure programme. It said from around 2030 onwards, the council would no longer have the capacity to fund any further capital works through debt, 'severely limiting our ability to maintain and improve our water infrastructure'. Submitter Dean Di Bona said the government had delivered 'an absolute lemon of legislation that we have to work with'. He said the council's status quo approach had resulted in an adverse audit opinion in the council's draft long-term plan, which left only the Wairarapa-Tararua option as 'a contender'. 'This starkness has left us in the unenviable position where tunnel vision can take over and red flags are missed,' Di Bona said. He asked what would happen if one of the four councils did not join the Wairarapa-Tararua model, and expressed concerns about attracting expertise and resources when other CCOs would be getting set up at the same time. Submitter Adrienne Young-Cooper, who was previously the chair of the Wairarapa Economic Development Strategy, supported the Wairarapa-Tararua model and believed it would 'create an entity of sufficient scale and financial clout and expertise to be able to do a great thing for all the councils'. She hoped the proposed Wairarapa-Tararua model would attract 'great people who are prepared to come and live in Wairarapa, grow their families here, and build their careers'. Submitter Shane Atkinson was also in favour of the Wairarapa-Tararua option but believed there would be no buy-in from other councils unless water charges were ringfenced by district. 'I can imagine the howling and snivelling from Masterton should there be any suggestion that they pay for or have higher costs as a result of taking on board some of the smaller entities,' he said. Submitter Bill Armstrong also supported the asset owning CCO option with neighbouring councils, but he wasn't supportive of Tararua being included. He said the inclusion of Tararua significantly increased the geographical area of the proposed CCO and was concerned it would increase costs and stretch resources thin. Submitter Sue Fox asked the council to pursue a status quo model with Wellington councils. 'Instead of the uncertainties and costs attached to forming a new CCO, let's stick with the devil we know,' she said. 'Having seen the attempts to get the Wairarapa councils to work together over the past three or four terms, I just cannot have confidence that the CCO body will be set up in a timely way and be ready to start operating within the proposed budget.' The council would deliberate on submissions on May 8.
