Innovative, community-led housing solutions.
A gift that grows for a thriving future Paekākāriki.
A good community is no accident
Crossing the railway lines into Paekākāriki, you’re met with fervent calls of ‘kia ora’, locals spilling out of buildings to chat on the footpath, a community board spilling over with notices - tennis lessons, events at St Peter’s Village Hall and fundraisers for local causes - a warm sea breeze and a community abuzz with creative energy.
This feeling of community, whanaungatanga and manaakitanga is no accident. It has been built; intentionally crafted by thousands of acts of kindness, actions to maintain the Paekākāriki known and loved by locals, and a passionate drive to look after one another.
“People here aren’t just neighbours, they’re whānau,” says local, Paranahia Broughton (Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki).
A changing housing landscape
Located 40km north of Wellington at the end of a snaking, coast-hugging section of State Highway 1, Paekākāriki is a small town with a big heart. Translating to ‘parakeet perch’, Paekākāriki was railway town and has traditionally been home to a diverse group of locals, including a large Māori community, many young families and older people.
However, economic, social and environmental shifts have created a growing shortage of affordable local housing with many properties sitting vacant for extended periods of time, an increasing seasonal and visiting population and locals having to move elsewhere, taking their energy, voices, diversity and community contributions with them.
“Accommodation is getting more and more expensive,” says long-time resident Murray Julian. “Individuals and families that were really embedded in the community are having to leave.”
Local landlord, Steven Bright, who has worked alongside the Paekākāriki Housing Trust to provide affordable rents, says, “unfortunately we have a mis-matched housing stock and the cost of housing is getting more and more unsustainable.”
Nestled between beach and the Akatarawa Ranges with Transmission Gully framing the northern end, Paekākāriki's small geographic footprint also presents challenges. “There are also other future factors that will inevitably affect the availability of local accommodation,” says Paekākāriki Housing Trust trustee, Terry Fenn. “One of them is climate change, which will erode beaches and eat away at available land.”
Extraordinary community care
Simmering local concern for the growing housing crisis was bolstered when a local family faced the prospect of leaving their rental home after 16 years of living locally. The community rallied, launching an impressive community campaign to purchase the home and enable the family to buy it back over a 5-year period.
Murray was one donor who contributed to the purchase. “For us, it was a no-brainer,” says Murray. “We were seeing the impact of people leaving, for both families and the community they left behind. It was important that we were part of creating local solutions for local people.”
Fellow local, Liana Stupples, also did not hesitate to help. “Paekākāriki raised my two daughters. [The mother in the family] taught them at school, she got them into kapa haka, so I was driven to help.”
“The Trust made it doable,” says Liana. “They provided an opportunity for other people to take action. It wasn’t easy action, but it was a chance to contribute to something good, something innovative.”
This campaign was not only successful in keeping the precious local whānau in their home but provided the foundations for a broader discussion on housing, the factors at play and possible local solutions. It also formed the beginnings of the Paekākāriki Housing Trust.
“The Paekākāriki Housing Trust’s story started as many things in Paekākāriki do,” says Trust Co-Chair, Tina Pope.” “It was with a drive to look after our neighbours and create better outcomes for those on our doorstep.”
“Our kaupapa is to ensure a strong, diverse and connected community by assisting those people in need of affordable and appropriate housing in Paekākāriki.”
Paekākāriki Housing Trust Hui
Local, community-led solutions
“Although our mahi started with purchasing one home for one family, we know that tackling the housing crisis locally isn’t just about buying and managing property,” says Terry. “We can't fix the market forces that are driving the housing crisis, but given our culture of connectedness and care, we feel we can respond with innovation and community-led solutions.”
Since 2016, the Trust has played an important role in facilitating a range of key outcomes and projects. These include providing emergency housing during the COVID-19 lockdowns, partnering with Victoria University Te Herenga Waka and local experts to research sustainable local land use, conducting housing needs assessments, facilitating healthy homes outcomes for older houses, actively increasing the rental supply, creating a local property management service and developing an innovative model for property purchase without capital.
The impact of this work is multifaceted. “Making sure locals can secure affordable housing doesn’t just mean roofs over heads. It creates a ripple effect that brings energy to the community, builds the local economy, and brings life into local spaces,” says trustee, Sarah Te One.
Co-designed housing solutions
Working alongside hapū to achieve their housing aspirations and recognise the special connection Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki has to the whenua is also a central focus of the Trust’s work.
“We are actively working with Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki to redress past and continuing injustices, and to find ways to house whānau on their whenua,” says Tina.
“For us, it is important to recognise the families and communities that have called Paekākāriki their homes for many years – including Ngāti Haumia, for whom the Paekākāriki area is their ancestral home. Through our mahi, we want to make sure that these locals can continue to live in the place they've called home for so long.”
Guided by the late kaumatua, Karl Farrell, the Trust helped to facilitate the return of the historic Budge House, situated on Queen Elizabeth Park land that was once owned by Ngāti Haumia tupuna, Miriona Mutu Mira Budge, and have worked in partnership with Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Te Āhuru Mōwai to purchase a house from the Kāpiti Coast District Council, which was subsequently sold to the iwi to be managed as an affordable rental.
“The Trust has helped so many of us to return and stay in our home,” says Paranahia.
This included a Ngāti Haumia Māma who was diagnosed with cancer to return home to her whenua and re-connect herself and her son to Paekākāriki.
“The Paekākāriki Housing Trust isn’t just fit for purpose; it is fit beyond the purpose,” says Paranahia. “So many positive outcomes are completely to do with their work, and how they continue to support and advocate for hapū.”
A strategic funding approach
Acknowledging the nature and scale of the housing crisis, the Paekākāriki Housing Trust knows that a significant amount of funding will be required to deliver impactful local solutions long-term. Because of this, the Trust started to think about how they could build a diverse, strategic funding infrastructure to remain responsive to local needs of today while ensuring long-term financial resilience.
“We know that cake stalls will not cut it when it comes to tackling the local housing challenges. Delivering impactful local solutions will take big thinking, innovation, hard mahi, expertise and money,” says Sarah.
The Trust has established the Paekākāriki Housing Fund with Nīkau Foundation to grow local generosity and build a reliable, long-term funding stream to support their mahi and vision for the local community.
Donations given to the Paekākāriki Housing Fund will be responsibly invested, grown and protected to support all aspects of Paekākāriki Housing Trust’s work, forever.
“We want to make sure we are actively building our funding so no matter the challenges that face Paekākāriki in future, we are poised to respond and offer our support,” says Tina. “By having a fund that is designed to exist in perpetuity, we are building resilience and taking strategic steps to secure the next chapter.”
Futureproofing local generosity
“Our mahi has always been defined by the unique community that surrounds us – we are about local ideas and local solutions,” says Sarah “By building the fund, we are providing a way for local generosity to support community-led solutions, forever.”
Contributing to the fund provides a compelling opportunity for donors to be part of the Paekākāriki passed down to future generations.
“Donating to the fund provides a meaningful way for supporters to shape the future of the local community,” says Tina. “We can all play a part in making sure Paekākāriki maintains its personality, vibrancy and diversity.”
A gift that grows for a thriving future Paekākāriki.
All donations, however big or small, have the capacity to make a transformative impact for the Paekākāriki community, long-term. To make a contribution to the Paekākāriki Housing Fund, you can donate online, via internet banking, or leave a gift in your will.
1. Donate online
You can donate online here.
2. Internet banking
Westpac – Lambton Quay – 03 0502 0163248 001
Please use ‘PHF’ as a reference and let the Nīkau Foundation team know by emailing accounts@nikaufoundation.nz with your name, address and noting that you would like to support the Paekākāriki Housing Fund.
3. Leave a gift in your will, to support local solutions, long-term.
If you’d like to leave a gift in your will to Nīkau Foundation’s Paekākāriki Housing Fund, you can add the below statement in your will:
To transfer (x% of the residue of my/our estate or whatever sum you wish to leave) to Nīkau Foundation (CC24793) to be paid into the Paekākāriki Housing Fund to be dealt with by the trustees of the Foundation in accordance with the terms of that Fund.
If you’d like to leave a bequest to the Paekākāriki Housing Fund, we’d encourage you to touch base with Nīkau Foundation so they can keep in touch, provide additional information and updates about the fund as it grows and provide policies on their gifting policies.
To touch base, please get in touch via info@nikaufoundation.nz.
