To achieve our business objective, we focus on ensuring our commercial properties are modern, in good condition and fit for purpose so that we can attract tenants paying market rents to long term leases and retain them, thus providing long term security over our revenue.  When our properties are no longer enabling us to fulfill these requirements we give consideration to upgrading them or disposing of them.  This has been the case with recent property in Napier and Pahiatua – both of which were sold with sale proceeds going into the Trust’s managed funds (investment) portfolio.

As a result we keep the performance of our property portfolio under constant review and regularly revisit our property investment strategy to check we are getting the most out of the use of the Trust fund that we can.

Inevitably we put a lot of time and effort into property and tenancy management.  

With this part of our business our efforts are focussed on achieving an understanding of what our community’s current and future needs are and, having regard to the purposes of the Trust, determining our funding priorities.  This means engaging with independent specialists in their fields and with the organisations who assist our community to try to ensure we are on the right track.  That said, periodic review and assessment of the outcomes our dividend is delivering to the community enables us to confirm whether or not we have our priorities right and, if not, to realign them.

The allocation of funding is obviously influenced by the level of community dividend that is and will be available.  At times it is a reality that the demands of managing our property portfolio mean we have to invest temporarily in our revenue generating assets rather than in our community.  Particularly when this occurs the criteria we apply to applications for funding from the community dividend help us manage expectations.  So we keep these under regular review as well.