NPDC must help leaseholders

Now that the Waitara Lands Bill has been passed, the NPDC must do everything possible to help many of the vulnerable Waitara leaseholders who, through no fault of their own, will struggle to pay their yearly lease ($5000) or get a $90,000 bank loan to freehold their land.

The NPDC needs to look outside of the square, whether it could create a special identity to provide a compassionate reverse mortgage or financial assistance for those affected. Surely as much effort and resources needs to go into the aforementioned as went into the council’s unpopular proposal to sell half of the Fitzroy Golf Club Land.

QV statistics suggest almost 30 per cent of Waitara leaseholders would struggle to get a loan to freehold their land because they are too elderly or don’t earn enough.

Heartland Seniors Finance and SBS are willing to lend up to 20 per cent of the value of a home to freehold land. But special conditions apply, and these would preclude most Waitara leaseholders. And most banks do not offer reverse mortgages.

Given the NPDC unintentionally misled hundreds of leaseholders in the mid-90s with news they would soon be able to freehold their land, the NPDC has a moral obligation to help these people get justice. The NPDC has only set aside $50,000 for financial and budget advice for the Waitara Leaseholders.

This is hollow support, and smacks of mere tokenism. Treaties Minister Andrew Little has been quoted as saying, ‘‘Waitara Lands Bill and its impact on the Waitara Leaseholders is unprecedented in NZ history.’’

This, in my opinion, is justification enough for special assistance from the Crown, the NPDC and even the TRC.

Bryan Vickery, New Plymouth