WORD FROM THE CHAIR

from Open Space issue 104 - May 2023

REMEMBERING MURDOCH ROSS

**Bruce Wills, chair QEII board of directors**

I am based in the Hawke’s Bay and our place, like many properties, had slips, fallen trees and broken fences. Due to being on a hill, damage was minor compared with those who lost their homes or were inundated with water or silt.

Just as we were beginning to get used to a “new normal”, the arrival of 2023 brought with it a new set of challenges - most notably, Cyclone Gabrielle and other extreme weather events.

Through other work outside of QEII, I had the opportunity to have an extensive flyover of much of storm damaged Hawke’s Bay. It was heartbreaking to see the enormity of the destruction and it was challenging to make sense of how we rebuild our land and our infrastructure. For our covenantors who have been affected by these severe weather events, the thoughts and sympathies of the entire QEII team are with you.

For now, it is about clean-up and repair, then we will focus on what’s next. How do we better prepare ourselves and our properties for the next Gabrielle? There are lots of learnings and although Mother Nature will always have the final say, there is much we can do to better prepare for the next one. The subject of a future column, I am sure!

In this issue (pages 10-17), we go over the types of damage we are seeing to covenants, share some insight into the response from QEII reps and outline some resources available to those affected. Please reach out to your QEII regional rep if you have any questions, concerns or even learnings to share.

We have recently said farewell to two of our regional representatives, Joanna Buswell from North Taranaki, and Greg Blunden from the Far North and Kaipara. We have also welcomed many new faces to our field-based team. For your reference, our regional rep directory has been updated – you’ll find this on page 39.

The regional representative role is one that is often kept for many years, and this is true in the case of Greg Blunden. Before his retirement, Greg reached the milestone of 25 years of service to the Trust, a milestone

also reached by the current Whangārei rep, Nan Pullman, making them two of our longest serving QEII reps. I’d like to sincerely thank both Greg and Nan for their many years of service and helping landowners protect and improve special places all over Aotearoa New Zealand with open space covenants. You can read about Greg’s time with the Trust in his feature on page 28.

Sadly, this will be the last update that I will write in Open Space as I have reached the maximum number of years on the QEII board. I was delighted to be appointed Chair in 2020, following two three-year terms as a director prior to that. In my first update as Chair, I reflected on the pandemic and the shift in priorities. It seems somewhat poetic that my time as Chair is bookended by another major event that has the potential to shape and change the course of what we do and how we do it at the Trust.

It has been an absolute privilege to have been on the QEII Board for the last nine years. During this time, I have visited many outstanding covenants all over New Zealand, met numerous passionate covenantors and worked with a team of fabulous, dedicated QEII people. I have enjoyed every minute and will miss you all.

QEII is an iconic institution; its work to protect special places across our landscape is unparalleled. I am immensely proud to have been involved and sign off with a huge thanks to my fellow directors, to Dan and the team in Wellington, to all our Regional Reps and most importantly, to our landowners who have chosen to protect their special places with a QEII covenant.

Thank you and keep up the good work!