Forest Hapū Clusters (FHCs) were developed in accordance with the Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust Deed and based on tikanga and mana whenua.
To establish the FHCs, the Trust consulted widely with hapū and shared its findings. Three FHCs have been established with the fourth yet to finalise their mana whenua agreements:
- Waimihia
- Taurewa
- Pureora/Marotiri
- Waituhi
Each FHC is an individual Trust with elected trustees and protocols for ensuring funds get to iwi members.
If you are affiliated with one or more FHCs, you are entitled to be a beneficiary of those FHC Trusts as well as with Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust.
If you don’t affiliate to any FHC, you can still be a beneficiary of Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust.
At the end of 2011, TST consulted with hapū about amending the FHC Establishment Process to make it more hapū driven. TST Iwi members agreed to these changes, allowing TST to begin establishing the FHC Trusts.
You can find out more the FHC Establishment Process and Hapū Allocation Process here.