Vision Kerikeri AGM 2026 – Help us build a Fighting Fund!
Vision Kerikeri held its Annual General Meeting last week, attended by 26 people – 19 members and 7 visitors. We thank everyone who came, and we forgive the tea and cookies for very nearly out-earning the donation basket.
What We Covered
Three presentations anchored the evening:
The year in review
The formalities were dispatched efficiently: minutes confirmed, accounts received, and the committee re-elected (the queue of challengers was, as ever, manageable).
Treasurer's report
Membership subscriptions remain steady – thank you. The headline, however, is that VKK spent $15,638 on expert advice for the Spatial Plan and the FNDC Proposed District Plan, of which $6,100 was generously covered by Our Kerikeri. Our experts worked at substantially reduced rates for the community – we found the best, and they gave us mates' rates. Our cash balance (excluding Friends of the Wairoa Stream, whose finances pass through our books but are neutral to VKK) stood at roughly $7,200 at the end of August.
The Proposed District Plan and the Kiwi Fresh Orange development
The frank assessment from the floor: despite thoroughly researched, expert-backed submissions, our input – like that of other community groups – was politely praised and largely ignored by planners and commissioners. Members spoke plainly about a Council that collects some $130 million in rates yet leans heavily on expensive external consultants while in-house engineering expertise has withered. Meanwhile, the KFO development was described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: developer-funded infrastructure, genuinely affordable housing, and better connectivity for Kerikeri. If we fumble it, the alternative is a future our children and grandchildren will not thank us for.
What Happens Next
Consultation has taken us as far as consultation can. The next stage is one the Council's staff cannot wave through with a courteous nod: the PDP Appeal Hearings before the Environment Court. There, evidence is tested, experts are heard, and outcomes are decided on merit rather than administrative momentum.
That is where VKK is heading. And that is why we are asking for your help.
The Vision Kerikeri Fighting Fund
Twenty years ago, community groups like ours helped reinstate building height limits, protect the character of the town basin, and open up the Wairoa Stream walkway. Those wins were not gifts – they were fought for, argued for, and paid for.
Now the biggest planning decisions in a generation are on the table, and the venue has shifted to the Environment Court. Court proceedings require expert witnesses: planners, engineers, and landscape specialists. Even at the discounted community rates our experts have kindly offered, this costs real money – and our current balance of about $7,200 will not carry us through the hearings.
We need to raise a Fighting Fund of $12,000 by March 2027.
To make it concrete:
$150 sponsors one hour of expert witness time
$500 covers a half-day of hearing preparation
$1,500 funds a full expert witness day in court
Every dollar goes directly to the case. Nobody at VKK is paid; our overheads remain, as always, stubbornly minimal.
How to Contribute
Internet banking: [Our account number is 38 9020 0683647 02]
Account Name: Vision for Kerikeri and Environs Incorporated
Please add your name in the Particulars field and Fight Fund in the Code or Reference field
Pledge: email us at visionkerikeri@gmail.com with the amount you'd like to pledge, and we'll send you the details.
In person: at any VKK event (the basket will be there – but so will a QR code, for those of us whose wallets contain more loyalty cards than banknotes)
Donations of any size are welcome, and we will publish a running total on this website so you can see the fund grow.
Why It Matters
If the KFO opportunity is realised well, Kerikeri gets infrastructure, housing that nurses, teachers and young families can actually afford, and a town that works. If it is fumbled, we get the default: scarcity, inequality, and consultants' reports gathering dust.
VKK has spent twenty years showing up. Help us make sure that this time, showing up is done where it counts – in front of a court that has to listen.
Vision Kerikeri Committee
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