Mount Wellington Licensing Trust public meeting re conversion to a Community Trust
Electors at a public meeting on 28 October voted 35 to 27 to revoke the Mount Wellington Licensing Trust’s resolution to convert to a Community Trust. This is a process allowed for in the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (SSAA).
MWLT respects that decision, and MWLT (and its group structure) will continue unchanged.
What we heard
The meeting made clear that the conversion to a Community Trust was not in itself the main concern.
People were concerned about what might follow it, including the potential wind-up of Mount Wellington Trust Hotels and consolidation of investment assets with the Mount Wellington Charitable Trust, whose board has a majority of independent trustees (see below).
MWLT had not commissioned the final pieces of detailed legal and tax work before the vote, to avoid spending community funds on work that might not be needed.
Electors have told MWLT they want the full picture first, including a finished Community Trust Deed and advice on tax. This was heard and understood.
Why the structure matters
The $40 million MWLT investment portfolios are held by MWTH ($32.5 million), who previously owned the hospitality assets, and MWCT ($7.5 million), through whom charitable grants are made to the local community.
MWLT and MWTH are required to pay income tax, although accumulated tax losses reduce that tax for the time being. When the current accumulated tax losses are used up, tax could take in the region of $300,000 to $500,000 a year, if the structure is left unchanged, which is money that could otherwise be granted to community groups. As an indication, MWCT granted $720,000 in the 2025/26 financial year.
The income of registered charities such as MWCT are generally exempt from income tax, which is why MWLT proposed the investment portfolios would eventually be held by MWCT.
MWLT’s aim is simple: to hold the community’s assets in the structure that delivers the most to the community over the long term.
Governance and accountability
In 2025 MWCT’s Trust Deed was changed so that its board has one or two elected MWLT members and two or three independent trustees, as a board controlled by the Licensing Trust’s elected members risked the charity not being seen as independent, and could place the MWCT charitable registration, and its tax-exempt status, at risk.
Democratic accountability remains and under either structure elected members have the following controls over MWTH/MWCT:
- Appointment of MWCT Trustees (after recommendation by Board Appointments Panel)
- Approval of changes to MWCT Deed
- Appointment of MWTH Directors (after recommendation by Board Appointments Panel)
- Approval of changes to MWTH Constitution
- Can remove Directors (MWTH) or require resignation of Trustees (MWCT)
- Approval of MWTH wind-up (as 100% shareholder)
- Approval of changes to the SIPO (parameters/guardrails on investing)
- Approval of Annual Budget (including overheads and granting allocation)
- Representation on MWCT Board and Group Sub-Committees
- Approval of Sub-Committee Terms of Reference
- Representation on NZCLTA (the official “voice” of Community/Licensing Trusts)
Next steps
Under the SSAA, a new resolution to convert MWLT to a Community Trust cannot be passed for at least 12 months (ie not before August 2027).
Before any new resolution is considered, MWLT intends to:
• obtain independent legal and tax advice on the options;
• set out a preferred pathway, including where the assets would be held;
• update the draft Community Deed for public comment, with protections such as public elections, the district boundary and the role of elected members built in; and
• hold community sessions to explain the rationale and processes
(Meeting minutes and the presentation notes will follow soon)