Ruth Tahana-Wood doesn’t believe that 28 days is enough notice to end a residential tenancy. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
It's supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they've been hurt and deceived.
It's the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It continues to have around 70 residents and 30 short term workers.
However, a resident Stuff spoke to said he had recently returned home after roving with itinerant travellers only to be met with bad news.
He'd just been re-establishing his tarot card reading hut, and now fears it's now going to be bulldozed.
That's because community members were recently sent an email from property owner, Prema Trust, saying they would need to vacate in 28 days, by the end of May.
A resident at Kawai Purapura has spent months re-establishing a tarot hut that promises “spot on” card readings for $65. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
"After telling us that the foundations of this community are honesty, communication, transparency, compassion and empathy, they've completely gone against their own ethos in these actions," another resident Flynn Rutherford said.
The Prema Trust is run by trustees Phil Cottingham and his wife Jenny, who also goes by the name Sivitiri. They are behind the Wellpark College of Natural Therapies and Sacred Earth Retreat in Karekare.
Rutherford said money being collected in rent from Kawai Purpura appeared to be have gone into other failing businesses associated with the trust and elaborate trips to India.
"They've treated this place like a cash cow and milked our teats dry," he said.
"All they care about its this place's ability to produce money for them. Beyond that, these spiritual beliefs don't hold any resonance for them."
Flynn Rutherford said decades of effort made by residents into the land had been “thrown back in their faces”. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
Prema Trust chair Phil Cottingham told Stuff he was limited in what comment he could make, but said he was "aware that [residents] were aggrieved".
"[But,] I can tell you right now that no money has been put into pilgrimages or into another entity."
He said that "considerable money" had been reinvested into Kawai Purapura and its maintenance.
"There's still a way to go of course, these things are progressive, but a considerable amount has been spent."
Cottingham did not deny the trust was facing financial issues. Wellpark college, which is owned by the Prema Trust, was put into liquidation following a shareholders resolution last year.
Phillip and Jenny (Sivitri) Cottingham pictured in 2010. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
Company records show it owed around $500,000 to creditors.
The property in Albany, meanwhile, has a rateable of value of nearly $9 million.
"You have to understand that we are a charitable trust and we have an obligation to make sure that the trust's welfare is paramount, and decisions have been made for the welfare of the trust," Cottingham said.
In contrast, property occupied by the Cottinghams' Sacred Earth retreat in Karekare is directly owned by them, not the trust.
Yet, according to its website it has a temple named after Sivitri, "supported" by Prema trust, and used for "devotional singing and chanting".
Many of the dwellings at Kawai Purapura date back to Centrepoint days. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
'Whispers on the wind' around mystery purchaser
The Albany land had been put on the market last year, but was reportedly withdrawn after failing to find a buyer, and residents were under the impression the community was safe.
However, the Prema trust informed Kawai Purapura residents in an email that they had unexpectedly recently been approached by a buyer and decided to sell.
The email did not name the buyer but said they had attended several events and workshops at the community and was committed to preserving the "the nature and spirituality of the site".
One resident told Stuff he had heard "whispers on the wind" about their identity: "I've danced with him before, and he has a good energy."
However Cottingham's letter also said the buyer needed to undertake significant renovations to meet compliance and so residents would need to leave for "health and safety" reasons.
Living in a communal environment has its quirks, but residents say Kawai Purapura’s natural surroundings have had a positive impact on their lives. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
One who identified himself as Karthik said the ambiguity had fuelled speculation within the community that the land would be redeveloped into a housing subdivision.
"I don't know what deal has been done with the new owner, but them wanting it to be vacated is strange... Who has so much money that they can afford to lose a million in rent a year?," Karthik said.
He said he felt for some residents who had lived on the property for 40 years, aged in their 60s, who would now suddenly have to face the Auckland rental market.
The community held a meeting where it was decided they would approach the Tenancy Tribunal to have it determined whether the notice to vacate was legal.
Resident Ruth Tahana-Wood said she was "disgusted" by the way things had come to an end after living there 10 years.
"I thought we would get 90 days, which is normal, because I've got my own facilities here... but 28 days to move out and find a property is just impossible."
Tahana-Wood said she and others had a put a lot of effort into building up the facilities.
"They must have known a long time ago that were going to sign on the dotted line of the sale. Why we weren't told earlier? It's probably because the rent payments might stop."
- This story was first published by Stuff.