The Rogers Charitable Trust farm, bequeathed to Te Awamutu College by Dr Lindsay Rogers, sold on 30 November 2023. The Trustees previously opted to put the Cambridge Rd farm on the market and utilise the proceeds to continue to honour Dr Rogers’ intentions, but in a different way.
Former Rogers Charitable Trust Board Chairman and Trustee Craig Yarndley said the decision to sell the farm was four years in the making and was not made lightly. He said in 2019, the board commissioned a wide-ranging review of the operation of the farm, with the original intentions of Rogers as the criteria for measuring the effectiveness of the venture.
When Rogers died in 1962, his will stated: “That when his youngest son turns 21 the residual estate to be paid to the ‘Board of Governors of the Te Awamutu College’ to erect a hostel(s) or boarding establishment to provide accommodation for pupils attending the college (Clause 4) and that the ‘Board of Governors’ may modify the conditions in his will as long as the ‘general intention thereof be observed’.”
He had a concern for secondary students whose educational opportunities might be disadvantaged because they lived some distance from school and travel was an issue. His plan at the time was for the school to build a boarding hostel for these students, but it did not progress. This was the basis of his wishes for Te Awamutu College in his will.
“Our 2019 review was to determine if continuing to own and operate the farm was the best option for the school,” said Craig Yarndley.
“We didn’t have the same commitment from the community and trustees (that we'd had in earlier years) to help with the operation so with the reduced community support and the changing legislations with regard to farming, it was becoming too hard,” said Craig Yarndley.
Fellow Trustee and Former Chairman of the Rogers Charitable Trust, Jock Ellis, agreed running the farm was becoming complicated and the returns weren’t reflected in the value of the property and buildings.
Craig Yarndley, a chartered accountant, says the property was valued at about $4 million, but the return (the funds provided to the school) had been less than 2 per cent, plus rising costs and a lower payout this year meant this might even be less. He says several strategies had been tried over the years to improve the return, but the advice from experts was to sell.
Jock Ellis says those returns had been used in ways that tried to ensure students weren’t disadvantaged — as per Rogers’ intentions.
But now the trustees believe they can do better by selling the farm and making good use of the funds. The intention is to maintain the charitable trust, and both protect and grow the base fund.
Craig Yarndley believes the school community would still be better off financially and therefore able to help more students.
New Rogers Charitable Trust Chairman Wade Bell has a background with DairyNZ and in rural banking and is now Pioneer Brand Products farm systems manager for Waikato, BoP and Northland.
Bell says he is passionate about the dairy industry, but he is also passionate about educational outcomes and achievement for students and doing the best for Te Awamutu College.
“Despite my passion for dairying, the rising cost of compliance and associated risks to the college are becoming disproportionate to the returns generated.”
Bell believes the cash investment from the sale of the farm is the best way the trust can continue to make substantial and valuable financial contributions to benefit all students at Te Awamutu College.
The farm was sold by Noldy Rust of Ray White Te Awamutu on 30 November 2023 for $3,706,000.
