{"id":363289,"date":"2026-04-04T10:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/363289\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T10:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:14:18","slug":"pukaha-wildlife-centre-to-have-council-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/363289\/","title":{"rendered":"P\u016bkaha wildlife centre to have council observer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaka<\/p>\n

\nKaka chicks at P\u016bkaha National Wildlife Centre in 2024.
\nPhoto: LDR\n<\/p>\n

P\u016bkaha National Wildlife Centre in Wairarapa is to get a council observer as it works to turn its fortunes around.<\/p>\n

The decision was made at Masterton District Council’s meeting on Wednesday, when councillor Tim Nelson was chosen to represent the council on the Mount Bruce centre’s board.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Nelson will act in a non-voting capacity, but will have speaking rights. He welcomed the council’s nomination.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s an absolutely wonderful facility with a huge amount of potential,” he said after the vote.<\/p>\n

Last year, the centre was brought back from the brink of closure after facing significant financial challenges.<\/p>\n

Since then, the board has been replaced and a new general manager appointed.<\/p>\n

\"Masterton<\/p>\n

\nMasterton councillor Tim Nelson will represent the council in a non-voting capacity on P\u016bkaha National Wildlife Centre’s board.
\nPhoto: LDR\n<\/p>\n

A report tabled at Wednesday’s meeting recommended there be no council observer at the centre, but after discussion it was decided it was appropriate to have one.<\/p>\n

“I believe we do still need to have the council oversight,” councillor Stella Lennox said, citing the council’s financial contribution to the centre.<\/p>\n

At a public excluded meeting last year, the council agreed to provide a loan of $200,000 to P\u016bkaha, on the proviso the council had a non-voting board observer with speaking rights. No appointment had been made until now.<\/p>\n

P\u016bkaha’s 2023\/2024 annual report showed debt of about $3 million, rising operational costs and falling grant money.<\/p>\n

Since its appointment, the new board closed a multi-million-dollar deal with iwi and creditors that kept the doors open.<\/p>\n

The council was one of many supporters, including Central Energy Trust, who stepped up to help save the centre financially to keep it going.<\/p>\n

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaka chicks at P\u016bkaha National Wildlife Centre in 2024. Photo: LDR P\u016bkaha National Wildlife Centre in Wairarapa is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-363289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}