Woodhill Sands Trust - Trust Talk August 2022

Trust Talk is a news update from the Woodhill Sands Trust to keep our community up to date with developments at Woodhill Sands. 

In this update, we discuss "Who owns Woodhill Sands?" 

This is a question that is often asked. Who are the owners of Woodhill Sands?

In simple terms, the answer is that ownership of Woodhill Sands sits with the riding community as a group. The role of the Woodhill Sands Trust is to be the guardian (kaitiaki) of the venue for the benefit of the riding community.

No individual or group of individuals has or have an ownership interest which entitles them to privately benefit from Woodhill Sands. All the Trustees work on a volunteer and unpaid basis.

Understanding the complete ownership picture requires some interest in and knowledge of legal structures. We talk more about this below.

Members of the riding community are all welcome to participate in decisions about how the venue is to be used to serve the needs of Auckland riders while supporting the development and growth of competitive and recreational riding in New Zealand.

How to get your voice heard? You can either contact the Trust directly (info@woodhillsands.co.nz) or join one of the venue user groups and have your say through that group.

Legal structures were needed to be set up to allow for ownership and operation of Woodhill Sands by and for the riding community. These structures could have taken the form of an incorporated society, but instead the steering group which guided the transition to community ownership decided that a Charitable Trust would better suit community ownership of Woodhill Sands.

Woodhill Sands Trust is registered under the Charitable Trusts Act, but is not registered with Charities Services so does not have donee status, which precludes tax deductions for cash donations.

Support from Auckland Council was essential to the purchase of Woodhill Sands by the riding community. Consequently, the legal structure for the purchase had to be approved by Auckland Council. Ultimately, Council required the land to be purchased by a company - WST Company (2016) Ltd- controlled by the Woodhill Sands Trust.

The land owner on the public record is WST Company (2016) Ltd. This company is controlled by Woodhill Sands Trust. The Trust serves the riding community.

Trustee appointments are overseen by ESNZ and NZPCA.