31 Jul Arawa Park Recommended for Closure
A recent New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and Harness Racing NZ report has recommended that a number of racecourses be closed. This includes Arawa Park, Rotorua. The position of the Trust on this news is set out below as reported to media.
“Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust Chair, David Tapsell, says the Trust will be watching the next steps around the recommendation to close Arawa Park (Rotorua Racecourse) with interest.
Ngāti Whakaue are the underlying landowners of the gifted Rotorua Racecourse land, which is a recreation reserve. It was gifted to the city by our iwi, for the specific purpose of racing,” says Mr Tapsell.
In the event that final decisions result in a closure of the racecourse for that purpose, this would trigger a formal legal process to return the gifted land to Ngāti Whakaue, through the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust.
We imagine that legal process would take some time, but we nonetheless welcome the return of our whenua as soon as that is possible.
Pukeroa have not yet considered the potential future use of this whenua in any detail, but we will turn our minds to that once we have more certainty on the process, including timing.
Our purpose is to utilise and develop our land to deliver greater outcomes for our shareholders and Ngāti Whakaue, which in turn benefits Rotorua as a whole – which has been our way for more than a century.”
David Tapsell
Chair
Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust