John MacDonald started the trust in July 2019, around the time Queenstown’s council published a case study highlighting the dire situation many local voluntary organisations and service providers faced.
Issues include unaffordable rental rates on properties, occasionally with unsecure tenures, and a reliance on operational grant funding and fundraising to keep the doors open — a situation that’s worsened since.
The trust’s goal is to create a bespoke co-working environment for Queenstown charity, social and community groups based on similar models in New Zealand, including Tauranga’s Kollective.
John, the past chair of the trust, stood down from that role last June due to his declining health — he’d earlier been diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy-P, a rare condition that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease — but continued on as a trustee.
Recently he made the call to step down as a trustee — enabling his daughter, Hannah, 25, to step up.
"It’s great," he says.
"She’s seen my passion for it and it got under her skin, I think."
Hannah says it’s a huge honour to follow in her Dad’s footsteps, something that was spurred on when he made the tough decision to resign as a Queenstown councillor in March 2021.
"To have that core vision there is so important to me, but it’s also very aligned — it’s so special."
It’s her first trusteeship, but she’s grateful her Dad’s still very much part of the hub, now in an advisory capacity.
"I’ve sat in a lot of boardrooms with Dad growing up and, I’ve still got to finish it, but did four years of a law degree, so that all helps ... but even just sitting in a boardroom, it’s a real learning curve."
The trust’s interim chair is Hamish Wilton — other trustees are Ron Mackersy, Jennifer Belmont, Heath Copland, Alexa Forbes, Lisa Guy and a to-be-confirmed Ngai Tahu representative.
John, who now lives in Christchurch, says while it’s been painfully slow going to date, in part due to the bureaucracy involved when dealing with Queenstown council-owned land, the trust’s making good progress.
While land was secured at Frankton’s Five Mile last year from council, at a peppercorn rental, the lease was only signed in March.
Initial concept designs, prepared by Wingates architects, were released in November, but "you can’t get your final drawings and costings until you have certainty over the land", John says.
Hannah says with each passing month the need for the hub grows more pressing.
"Every time we all sit at that table there are more personal stories we’ve heard and then those from within the community all talking about why this is needed ... it’s 100% urgent."
That’s particularly so when predicted population growth’s taken into account.
Last week, Mountain Scene reported present predictions are that by 2054 the district’s resident population will be about 150,000, with a peak day population of up to 220,000 and a visitor population to Queenstown’s CBD alone of 70,000.
"Looking at the vision for what we’ve already got, and seeing numbers like that, [we] have to think on an even bigger scale," Hannah says.
John: "We’re going to build a facility for anyone that wants to come from that sector — the more the merrier."
The trust’s planning to build the hub in stages — the first is estimated to cost about $15million — and ensure one of the buildings is capable of operating off-grid in the event of a major emergency or natural disaster.
"In that case, we’d want as many organisations as we can get [based at the hub]," John says.
"And how many organisations are wanting to come to town but can’t ... because they can’t find somewhere affordable to go?"
Despite the tough economic climate, John’s optimistic the first building or two will go up next year.
"I want to get it going so I can see the first sod turned," he says.
