Te Mata Park is managed by a board of trustees, made up of seven voluntary members. Under the Trust Deed, the Board must include a male descendant of the original grantors, with the remaining six being residents of Hawke’s Bay and including two councillors of Hastings District Council.
The vision of the Trust Board:
The objectives of the Trust Board are:
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To enhance and expand Te Mata Park.
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To serve and understand the users of Te Mata Park, and to meet their aspirations and expectations.
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To build significant financial resources to enhance, protect and sustain Te Mata Park.
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To nurture an environment for the recreational, spiritual, cultural and educational benefit of the public.
Current Trustees
The current Trustees are:
Mike Devonshire (Chairman)
Following an early career in rural property management and investment banking, Mike established his own business consultancy in 2002 and has since worked with a wide range of clients providing transactional, strategic and governance advice.
Brian (Bruno) Chambers
Bruno is a local farmer with land adjoining the Park. He is the great grandson of Thomas Mason Chambers, one of the original grantors of the Trust. Bruno is passionate about the Park and its surrounding environs and strongly supports environmental sustainability initiatives.
Ian Gold
With over 30 years of business and commercial experience, Ian has an excellent understanding of land use and the mechanics of many primary production systems and a strong network of relationships across the rural sector.
Jonathan Hensman
Jonathan has enjoyed 34 years in education and 19 as Headmaster of two schools in Australia and New Zealand. Jonathan brings considerable governance experience to the Trust, having served on five boards, as well as mentoring and consulting to education executives, on performance and governance matters.
Michael Bate
Michael is a solicitor with over 20 years’ experience providing legal advice for commercial clients, as well as having been a business owner for 14 years. Michael also brings extensive governance experience to the Te Mata Park Trust Board, having served on numerous boards, including nine years with Presbyterian Support East Coast.
Councillor Malcom Dixon
Malcolm is in his second term as a councillor representing the Hastings / Havelock North ward. Malcolm has spent a career in education and retired in 2014 after spending his last twenty one years as the Principal of Frimley Primary School in Hastings. For the last six years he has been a Sport HB Board of Trustees member and is also a member of the HB District Health Board Consumer Council.
Councillor Bayden Barber
Bayden is married to Myra and lives in Waimārama with their children. Bayden served as the Waimārama Marae Committee Chairman from 2010 to 2016 and has led a number of initiatives including the development of the Waimārama Māori Language strategy in 2002, the provision of marae based health clinics in 2013 and the return of the Waingōngoro stream in 2015. He was elected to the HDC Rural Community Board in 2013, and as a Hastings District Councillor in 2016. Bayden is the current Chair of Health Hawke’s Bay and is a Trustee for the Māori Education Trust.
