Trust welcomes a familiar face
Social hub will still have experienced leader at the helm
There is change on the horizon for Taupō’s Waiora House as its trust welcomes a new chairwoman, but there will still be a familiar name behind the reins.
Waiora Community Trust, which oversees the operation of the social service hub Waiora House, was chaired by Chris Johnston for the last five years during its closure, demolition and rebuild.
Johnston was an experienced hand throughout the process; he also chairs the Taupō Airport Authority and has held governance roles in many fields, as well as running the local cafe Replete.
Now, he’s handing over the Waiora role to Taupō District Council councillor Yvonne Westerman, who has already been the council representative for Waiora since 2023.
Her history with the site goes back much further, though; Westerman was born at Waiora when it was the local maternity hospital, as were all eight of her siblings.
Originally opened in 1943, the hospital welcomed thousands of babies before closing in 1987 when the unit was relocated to the Taupō Hospital site.
The original building then became the first iteration of Waiora House in 1989.
One of the masterminds behind the site’s transformation into a social services centre was the trust’s original chair, Dorothy Westerman, who was also Yvonne’s mother.
Dorothy was chair for the trust’s first seven years, before moving into the deputy chair role for a combined 26 years of service.
Yvonne said her mother was instrumental in Waiora House’s foundation.
“She saw an opportunity. “The council at the time were getting requests from socially focused organisations needing a space.
“A question was asked, ‘What can we do with this building that’s been sitting empty for two years?’.”
The building ran as a successful hub until its closure and demolition in 2019 after the discovery of asbestos in its ceiling.
It was replaced with a bespoke, $7.7 million building with flexible working spaces for a variety of charities, businesses and services.
Johnston said it had been a pleasure to oversee the redevelopment of such a locally important site, but it was now time for him and the Trust to move on to a new era.
“Now we need someone in the role to lift it to the next level.”
“I was looking for someone who could keep the momentum going and had the time to do so.
“That was important for me, for someone to keep the passion and drive going.”
Westerman was an obvious choice, said Johnston, both because of her history of community service and her personal link to the Trust.
“That’s the sense of community — you’ve got a generational transition that keeps Taupō alive.
“It’s quite a moving thing when you have the next generation come in and keep that passion alive.”
Westerman has hit the ground running and is hoping to enlist some volunteers as trustees for the board of Waiora Community Trust, which is an incorporated society, as well as establish a Friends of Waiora group.
Ideal trustees would be people with governance experience, or those who were willing to undergo training if required.
The Friends of Waiora group would be ideal, she said, for “someone who wants to put in a couple of hours a week to give back to the community,” whether through gardening, helping with event setup, organising social events or giving some time to the 20 different organisations operating from the Waiora House site.
Her role as chair, Westerman said, was to keep a unique and crucial service thriving into the future.
Dorothy Westerman, who passed away in 2021, would be proud that her daughter was carrying on the vision of Wairoa House as a one-stop shop for support in Taupō, she said. “It’s mum’s legacy.
“I think she’d be pretty thrilled.”
■ To find out more about becoming a trustee of Waiora Community Trust, email Waiora House manager Simone Gibson at info@waiorahouse.org.nz. For inquiries about becoming a Friend of Waiora House, contact Yvonne Westerman at councillorwesterman@taupo.govt. nz.