Monday 30 March 2020:  MESSAGE FROM THE TRUST CHAIRMAN TO TENANTS DEEMED NON-ESSENTIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

Day to day operations
These are difficult times and like everybody else the Trust is having to adapt to the circumstances.  As previously advised our office has closed and Kevin and Helga are instead working from home until the lockdown is lifted.  They have access to records and computer applications via the “cloud” to enable them to deal with any queries you may have. 

Maintenance
Previously scheduled building maintenance has been put on hold and it will not be possible to deal with any maintenance issue that crops up in the meantime unless it creates a critical health and safety hazard requiring urgent attention.

Financial relief
In the past week we have received requests from a number of you seeking financial relief because you are currently not able to occupy your premises due to the lockdown.  I want first of all to assure you that we take our obligations to our tenants very seriously and are acutely aware of the potentially significant impact the lockdown is having on your business activities.  As I hope you will appreciate though, the situation we currently face is unprecedented in the Trust’s history and there is no available template for how we should respond.  Also, the environment created by implementation of the lockdown is very fluid and constantly evolving, with almost daily updates and clarifications being issued by the Government around its policy decisions, including around the availability and workings of various financial relief packages.

In order to ensure we get our response right we need time to research whether and if so how these relief packages and others that may potentially follow, for example, from local rating authorities could apply to our and our tenants’ situations.  We also want to understand what other landlords in a similar position are doing or propose doing before formulating our response.  Rest assured we are working as quickly as possible towards confirming how we will assist you in riding out the lockdown period and beyond, if necessary.

To allay any immediate concerns  I can advise we are providing immediate financial relief by deferring the need for you to pay the invoice recently issued to you for net rent due in advance on 1 April until at least such time as we settle on and announce our relief package.  In the meantime, outgoings paid by the Trust and normally recovered from tenants will continue to be invoiced as and when they fall due.

I will be in touch again as soon as I have more information to share.

Government financial assistance
Where you have applied for or are receiving  Government financial assistance it would be useful to us in understanding each of your individual circumstances if you could let us know how many staff you employ and the monthly amount of revenue you anticipate your business will lose during the lockdown period.

If you have not yet followed up on Government assistance options the following links may still be useful: 

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/covid-19-support.html#null

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/feature/covid-19-economic-response-package

https://www.ird.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/tax-relief/tax-relief-for-businesses

Sid Kempton
Chairman

Tuesday 23 March 2020 :  Covid-19 – MESSAGE FROM TRUST CHAIRMAN

By now you will be aware the PM has announced an immediate shift in response level from 2 to 3, to be followed within 48 hours by a shift to the highest level 4.

Implementation of level 4 means that all non-essential services and businesses will have to close down and all staff will be required to self-isolate at home.  Effective from 2pm tomorrow afternoon (24 March), the Greytown Trust Lands Trust office will therefore close down for the foreseeable future, and Kevin and Helga will instead be working remotely from home for as long as it takes to keep Trust operations going in the meantime.

If you need to contact them for any reason, please contact them either by mobile or email:

Kevin     027 462 1872 – gm@greytowntrustlands.org.nz
Helga     027 451 7011 – admin@greytowntrustlands.org.nz

To our Trust tenants, we appreciate that many of your businesses may be hit hard by the implications of the PM’s announcement and urge you, if you haven’t already done so, to familiarise yourselves with the contents of the government’s financial assistance package.  Otherwise, please call Kevin if you wish to discuss your particular circumstances.

Sid Kempton
Trust Chairman