Update on Pūkenga Rau – A Place of Skill, Growth, and Community

Clive Somerville

Chief Executive

SWIFT saddened to learn Toi Ohomai reviewing Tokoroa education delivery

CEO of the South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT), Clive Somerville, says the organisation is saddened to hear Toi Ohomai is evaluating education delivery in Tokoroa.

“Based in Pūkenga Rau, Toi Ohomai is an active member and service provider in the South Waikato community. It was unfortunate to learn that it is evaluating its current position in Tokoroa, with the option being proposed of ceasing its education delivery from the end of 2025.

“Our thoughts are with the staff who are currently going through a consultation period in relation to Toi Ohomai’s proposal,” he says.

SWIFT owns the Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is a tenant and it manages all tenancies.

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About Pūkenga Rau - Q&A

About Pūkenga Rau

What is the Pūkenga Rau building and why was it established?

The Pūkenga Rau building in Tokoroa is a purpose-built trades training centre designed to foster growth and investment in the South Waikato region.
The building opened in November 2023.
Its primary goal is to provide local access to vocational education and skills development, supporting both the community and the regional economy.
It was developed alongside Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology as the training provider operating from the space and main tenant.
The training facility within the building is operated by Toi Ohomai Te Pūkenga and was named “Pūkenga Rau” to reflect both the development of personal skills and the collective aspirations of the South Waikato people, especially the Raukawa iwi.
The goal was, and will remain, for the facility to play a key role in the region’s economic and social development by equipping residents with valuable skills and supporting workforce development.

What are the details of the space and how has Pūkenga Rau been used to date?

The building covers 3,550 square meters over two floors, including varied learning spaces, meeting rooms and office facilities, with significant parking and easy access to major transport routes.

The space is currently used by SWIFT and Toi Ohomai, with Toi Ohomai sub-letting some of its space at this time. Some smaller office space within the building is also sub-let to local businesses through SWIFT.

Funding and Development

How was the original building funded and how much did it cost? What was SWIFT’s role in its development?

The building was funded with grants from the Provincial Growth Fund, Trust Waikato and SWIFT.

The centre was constructed at a cost of $15.4 million.
The largest portion of the funding came from a government Provincial Growth Fund grant of $10.84 million, awarded in August 2021.
Trust Waikato contributed $1 million through its Significant Capital Projects Fund, which supports major community infrastructure projects across the region.
SWIFT provided the remaining balance $2.6M and played a central role in leading the project. The building is owned and operated by the trust.

Tenancy and Usage

What percentage of the floor space is occupied by Toi Ohomai?

Why is Toi Ohomai closing its Tokoroa campus at Pūkenga Rau?

You’ll need to refer to Toi Ohomai’s statement, and speak to them directly.

How do the lease and/or tenancy arrangement work for building Pūkenga Rua building?

As Toi Ohomai is part of Te Pűkenga, their lease of the space sits with the Crown.

The initial lease was for 10 years, so the Crown has 8 years remaining on its lease - June 2033.

What has the Crown told you about what they intend to do about their remaining lease? What are the options?

We haven’t got to the point of discussing these details yet, or what the potential options are.

Future of Education and Training

Given that it has existing other satellite campuses outside of the city, is there consideration of Wintec offering tertiary courses in Tokoroa?

As we’ve just received the news about Toi Ohomai ceasing its education services in Tokoroa, we have not seriously considered what other training providers could be partnership options in the future. But of course we would be very open to discussions with Wintec as a potential partner.

Would SWIFT look at running its own training courses from the site?

No. SWIFT will not provide courses and training itself. That’s not our core business. We will continue to work with partners who can support skills and workplace training needs for the South Waikato community.

What does this mean for future training opportunities for the people of South Waikato?

The impact of the Toi Ohomai options being taken away will be significant.

We would love to able to replace like with like and find a large-scale provider of training services by a single provider. We’ll be looking at all options as we move forward, but as of today it’s too early to provide any details around what that could look like.

Transparency and Impact

Has this been a waste of Crown funding?

All we can say is that at the end of the day, South Waikato has an amazing community asset here. With Toi Ohomai pulling out, we now have an opportunity to do something differently. But overall SWIFT will work to ensure the asset plays a role in the region’s economic and social development by equipping rangitahi and older residents with valuable skills and supporting workforce development.

We’ll be doing our part to ensure that the investment by the Crown, Trust Waikato and SWIFT provides a positive return to this community.

Pūkenga Rau

Pūkenga Rau is a purpose-built trades training centre located in Tokoroa, established to empower the people of South Waikato through vocational education and skills development. Opened in November 2023, the facility was created to address local workforce needs and to support the region’s economic and social aspirations.

The Story behind the Design

Rau Papa was inspired by the name Pūkenga Rau, by Raukawa representatives, given to the newly established Trades Training Centre in Tokoroa.

Rau Papa speaks to the whakapapa of the land on which Pūkenga Rau stands, the whakapapa of ahikaa and kaitiaki of the land, as well as the residents of the communities occupying the land.

Finally, Rau Papa speaks to the aspiration of continued growth and strength of whakapapa well-being and abundance of the South Waikato community, with the support and guidance of positive initiatives like SWIFT that encourage the attainment of higher learning