Update about Lavender's Land / Roland's Wood extension

From Simon Upperton, 
Chairperson Friends of Roland’s Wood Charitable Trust

The Friends of Roland’s Wood is pleased to announce it has received resource consent from the Far North District Council (FNDC) to subdivide four sections off Lavender’s Land and we will now move to take these to market in the very near term. 

A real estate agency will shortly be appointed by the board and the sections will be advertised and sold in a transparent sales process.
 
We are delighted because this leaves over 80% of Lavender’s Land free for expansion of Roland’s Wood, a parkland area that is used and enjoyed by so many. 

The Trust took on considerable debt to acquire Lavender’s Land and is selling the minimal number of sections commensurate with repayment of this debt, covering of development costs, and provision of capital to establish the parkland. 

Once the Trust is debt free and sustainable our intention is to gift Lavender’s Land to the community by amalgamating with Roland’s Wood, thus creating one park to be managed by the Trust with oversight from the FNDC.

Lavender’s Land has considerable potential, although a large area is currently covered in tobacco weed and gorse. As we remove this and replant, a vast new area will be opened up to the public in 2018. 

There is plenty of planning and planting to be done in the coming years and we will be in a financial position to deliver significant projects. 

Roland’s Wood also requires a lot of attention with many diseased and dead trees and we are pleased to have enlisted some very qualified and experienced volunteers to assist us. We continue to rely on volunteer support and welcome all to contribute their time and energy.

The work needed to obtain these resource consents has kept us all busy, so we have had little concrete news to report for a while. It has been a carefully considered process that conserves as much land as practical, whilst meeting our ambition of clearing our debts and being in a sustainable position by the end of 2018.

We have had considerable help from Haigh Workman and Thomson Survey in getting the resource consent application in and approved, and we thank them for their fantastic support. 

I would also like to thank the board members of the Trust for their tireless work in getting this far. A lot of work goes on in the background that goes unnoticed.

If you have any questions on any of the above, please contact:
Simon Upperton – Chairperson Friends of Roland’s Wood Charitable Trust
Ph 0211 917 427 e supperton10@gmail.com

Bluebells flowering...

In haste, a quick post to remind people that now is the time to visit Roland's Wood and see the bluebells...   Here are a few photos I took this morning...
 

There are also some intensely coloured rhododendrons,











  

the last of the daffodils, fresh new green leaves starting,





  and of course the glorious apple blossom tree in full flower by the  entrance to the Woods.

Lavender's Land Open Day

This Sunday, 29th July from 11 to 1pm

Lavender's Land Open day for people to mix and mingle and have the opportunity to hear what our plans are for Lavender's Land and where we are at.
The BBQ will be cranking, so bring the family and of course don't forget the dog.
Roland's Wood polos will also be on sale and donations also obviously gratefully received, but more than anything else its a fun day.
Simon Upperton, Chair, Friends of Roland's Wood Charitable Trust

Our inaugural AGM Friends of Roland's Wood Charitable Trust

Friends of Roland’s Wood Charitable Trust AGM

Our inaugural AGM will be held at the St Johns building, 357 Kerikeri Road, on Wednesday 22^nd Feb 2017 at 7.00pm.

All are welcome – come along to hear about what has been achieved so far and future plans for this important community asset.

Election of the Board

·         All board positions will be made vacant and an election of the new board will be voted on by financial members including the position of Chairperson.

·         We are looking to expand the board to the maximum seven and we encourage people to join.

·         To be nominated you must be a financial member which can be done on the night, however all board nominations must be received 24 hours prior to the AGM.

·         Quite simply we need more help, particularly in the areas of fundraising and operations, i.e. helping develop the parkland.

·         Positions such as secretary, treasurer, fundraising and operations will be appointed by the board and not necessarily be board members.

There will also be a presentation by the current Trust Chair on the background, current status and future plans.

Contact Simon Upperton Ph 0211 917 427 or email simon.upperton@bayleys.co.nz for more information.

We need your help!

The Friends of Roland’s Wood desperately needs to raise $10,000 to fund two projects.
 
1   Developing a website 

We have been given a very generous offer of support to build and service a website for $1,500. This plan is to have a website so we can keep people better updated of the goings on at Roland’s Wood and Lavender’s Land and also have a database of contacts and the ability to build functionality as required. We have generously been offered $500, so we need another $1,000 to fund the build which we would like to have up & running around the time of our AGM on the 22nd of Feb.

2   Developing Lavender's Land

As most of you are aware we have incurred a large debt of $436,000 to fund the acquisition of Lavender’s Land that incurs interest, approximately $1,000 per month. To repay this debt within two years we will need to sell some sections, most likely 3-4.

We will still retain approximately 75% of the land we purchased and the same access for the sections will provide the access to the new car park. We will shortly be applying for resource consent. We have generous support from surveyors and professionals putting together our plan for subdivision with a substantial discount of around 50% of their usual fee being applied. The cost we expect to be in the range of $7,500 - $9,000.

Currently we have a bank balance of $14,000 which we require to service interest costs. So we are asking for the generosity of the community to assist us in raising the $10,000 required.

If you would like to help us with either of these projects, or just support Roland's Wood and Lavender's Land generally, please make a donation to

Friends of Roland's Wood Charitable Trust
ASB  Bank 12-3091-0010645-00
Please reference your name and phone number for a receipt for tax purposes.

Or contact Simon Upperton ph 0211 917 427 or simon.upperton@bayleys.co.nz.

The Friends of Roland's Wood Charitable Trust warmly thanks you all for your continued and generous support.