New online information service for Maori landowners

Beverley Murray (top right image) is the Development Consultant for the Tairawhiti Te Tumu Paeroa office. She believes the new online tool, My Whenua (promotional image above) opens up a new avenue for Maori Land Owners to stay connected to their whenua.

A new online information and notification service by Te Tumu Paeroa, is currently being rolled out to Maori land owners across the Tairawhiti region and Aotearoa.

Called My Whenua it provides landowners and trustees with a website specifically about their land block – photos, maps, facts, meeting minutes and more. With 100 My Whenua sites now live, it means over 10,000 owners have this service available to them.

Beverley Murray, Development Consultant at the Tairawhiti Te Tumu Paeroa office says, “My Whenua is an excellent tool for the land owners and trustees to keep up to date with what is happening.  For example if they miss a hui and want to read the meeting minutes their My Whenua website will have details. And they get notified by email for any news or updates. The website has opened up a new avenue to enable everyone to stay connected - especially those who may not live close to their whenua.”

Jamie Tuuta, Maori Trustee and head of Te Tumu Paeroa, sees that My Whenua makes it significantly easier for more owners to be informed and engaged with their land.

“With My Whenua we can provide owners with easier access to more information about their land than we ever have before. We have realised we needed to evolve with our communication from traditional ways of reaching people. Not only will My Whenua help the current owners – it also helps the next generation of landowners to be connected with their land”.

The rollout of 1,500 sites is well underway and it’s expected within 18 months every owner of land administered by Te Tumu Paeroa as responsible trustee, will have access to a website about their land.

Te Tumu Paeroa administers approximately 400 Ahu Whenua trusts within the Ngati Porou rohe, with approximately 32,000 Maori land ownership interests.

To see a demo video of My Whenua visit their website or watch the presentation below.

If you own land administered by Te Tumu Paeroa, and want to get access to My Whenua as it is rolled out, update Te Tumu Paeroa with your current email address by clicking here