About Your Trust

WELCOME TO THE WIRI LICENSING TRUST

Our purpose is to positively influence our local community through nurturing relationships, networks and organisations that do good in our hood.

We are a community owned business that responsibly manages two hospitality venues and a portfolio of commercial real estate assets in South Auckland. We are governed by people elected directly from our community to ensure accountability and alignment to our purpose.

The Wiri Licensing Trust gives back to our local community with donations, grants and sponsorships. We have given back over $60,000 in direct sponsorships and grants from profits of our commercial operations over the last year.

The net proceeds from Trillian Trust gaming machines located in our hospitality venues are also distributed each year to local community groups. In the past year, close to $2,000,000 was distributed to groups in the Wiri Licensing Trust community.

Our community is wonderfully diverse, energetic and progressive. There are so many good people working hard in our community to make this a wonderful place to live. The Wiri Licensing Trust wants to be connected and available to help these groups nurture sporting, cultural and community interests as we move with the times. Our new logo incorporates a wide range of colours inspired by local sports teams, schools, community groups and national flags to reflect that inclusivity and positivity.

So, if you live in the Wiri Licensing Trust area, our business is your business too! So, let’s get together to give back to the causes, initiatives and organisations that are striving to make our community a better place to live, work and play.

Our area

The Wiri Licensing Trust boundary contains an exciting, growing, vibrant and diverse community which we are dedicated to supporting. The area is more or less is bounded by the Southern Motorway, the Manukau Harbour and Puhinui Road.

what is a LICENSING TRUST?

In the early history of New Zealand, living conditions were often difficult, and hard drinking and the often-consequential drunkenness can be seen as a reaction to the times. Abuses, which were common during the nineteenth century, inevitably brought increasing restrictions through legislation.

These abuses gave rise in the late 1800s to the temperance and prohibition movements which drove a move to give control of Alcohol back to the community through the process of local body elections.

In 1893, the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act aligned licensing districts with parliamentary electorates. Licensing polls were to be held with each general election. There were now three options to choose from. These were “continuance of the status quo”, reduction of the number of liquor licences by 25 percent, and “local no-licence” which would prevent public sale of alcohol within that electorate. Continuance and reduction only needed a majority, but local no licence needed three-fifths majority.

What resulted was that a number of areas voted for a prohibition on alcohol sales. Clutha was the first in 1894, Ashburton and Mataura followed in 1902, Invercargill, Oamaru, and Grey Lynn in 1905, and Bruce, Wellington South, Wellington suburbs, Masterton, Ohinemuri and Eden in 1908. 1911 saw the peak of the prohibition movement when it failed by only 20,000 votes to carry national prohibition. Thereafter the strength of the prohibition movement faded. But it was 1999 before the last “dry” areas disappeared.

Source – wikipedia

how is the wiri licensing trust different?

In 1970 the Wiri Licensing Trust purchased from (what would become) the Manukau City Council the land at 254 Roscommon Rd, which is now home to Our Local, one of our three hospitality venues.  

On the 28th of April 2004 when the Manukau City Council entered into the Deed of Gift for the property at 639 Great South Rd which encompasses the site which includes Woodside Bar & Kitchen, Wendys, Wiri Trust House, Krispy Kreme, and a range of other retail outlets.  The Wiri licensing Trust also owns the F-Bar in Maich Rd Manurewa, although this is leased to an operator.  

The Wiri Licensing Trust does not control the sale & supply of alcohol in South Auckland. This function is delivered by Auckland Council in partnership with the District Licensing Authorities. 

SPONSORSHIPS

Returns to the community are generated from the commercial property and hospitality portfolios and usually take the form of sponsorships and marketing activities with various community groups that are doing good in our community. As these sponsorships are funded from commercial operations (hospitality & property) we are able to be more flexible and develop long-term relationships that benefit our community while also supporting increased revenue or branding for the Wiri Licensing Trust and its venues. 

GAMING FUNDS

The Wiri Licensing Trust, in 2021 selected Trillian Trust as the operator of the gaming machines at our venues under the Class 4 Gambling Act. Trustees of the time were very mindful of ensuring that at all times the Licensing Trust operates in the most compliant manner possible and generates the least possible community risk while continuing to support the community organisations that rely so vitally on these funds.