There was an assurance from Brian that no decisions had been made. (This was reassuring as the rumor mill had predicted that after the consultation period (ending this month), that bulldozers would be moving in to start development of high price housing!).

The meeting was open for discussion. Some legal issues were raised regarding the trust and where it was registered, what sort of entity it was and whether the revision of the constitution in 1999 in the High Court was valid. This discussion was a bit above the scope of the meeting but the management committee agreed to pursue the questions (I must admit, I have read the WHT constitution, and thought I had downloaded it from the Companies Office website, but on revisiting this after the meeting, I could not find any reference to the WHT on the Companies Office which is a bit puzzling).

There were many comments from parents and interested groups, with a general feeling that there was reluctance for change. A comment was made that people are more important than property, and that provided the gap analysis being carried out by the management committee identified a gap which fell within the Trust Deed to fulfill, and that there was proof that a plan/pilot could fill this gap, then realization of assets for an identified use was an option.

The assimilation of the Gap Analysis, together with the feedback from stake holders will take some time and the WHT management committee will then look at feeding back to stake holders what they think is the best solution for the future.

I found the approach from the management committee to be open and forthcoming.

Keeping things the same is always only a temporary measure. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Harvey Brunt

(PS: During refreshments after the meeting I learnt that the present General Manager was leaving in April. This will probably slow the whole process down)

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