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Wellbeing Waikato- An Update

A) Resourcing our FutureSince our transition to an independent charitable trust in early 2026, Wellbeing Waikato has been focused on our business plan priorities while also strengthening the foundations that will allow us to continue as a trusted, enduring and valuable part of the wellbeing ecosystem in the Waikato region.Like all community and purpose-led organisations, our ability to create sustained impact ultimately depends on resourcing. Since our establishment as the Waikato Wellbeing Proj...

Kai Challenge Update

Wellbeing Waikato (and Waikato Wellbeing Project) has had food security as a major focus from 2022. We have produced overall reports on the state of food security in the region, completed the region’s first foodshed assessment and undertook research on the lived experience of kai motuhake and its relationship with whanau wellbeing  with Ngati Maniapoto, focused on Te Kuiti[3]. To support this work, we committed resource to contract a Kai Champion, initially Dr Amber Hammill and more recen...

The Waikato Affordable Energy Challenge

The Waikato Affordable Energy Webinar Series1 was established to build a shared, evidence-based understanding of New Zealand’s electricity system at a time when affordability pressures are becoming increasingly visible for households, businesses, and communities. The intent is not to reach a single agreed position, but to surface where there is convergence, where there is contest, and what this implies for practical pathways forward.Across the series, a consistent message has emerged: New Zeal...

Social Investment- Waikato Style

Our Business Plan proposed that Wellbeing Waikato could support the development of a place-based, integrated social investment approach for the Hamilton city centre, both in its own right and as a possible model for other localities in the Waikato. Drawing on New Zealand’s social investment principles—targeting resources to those with the highest needs, using data and evidence to guide investment, collapsing resource competition and duplication and focusing on long-term wellbeing outcomes.Ou...

Local Government Reorganisation: on Hold for Now

When the Government announced the “Head Start” programme for local government reform earlier this year, it was always going to test something deeper than structure. It was testing whether complex regional systems can be redesigned on compressed timelines without losing coherence, and whether pace can ever be substituted for place without unintended consequences.The decision this week to pause the process until after the election is, in that sense, not surprising. It feels less like a shift i...

Seeing the Waikato Through a Different Lens: Community Compass reports

Recently we have been sharing a district-by-district wellbeing snapshot of the Waikato, using one of our most useful (and still under-used) data tools: the Community Compass reports, produced by Justin Lester and the team at Dot Loves Data.These reports bring together strong quarterly data across housing, employment, business activity, crime, education, and broader wellbeing indicators. But their real value is not just in the numbers themselves—it is in what sits behind them.They help surface ...

Housing Home Truths - Why the System Comes Before the Market

This month on FreeFM’s Connect with Community Waikato Series, I spoke[1] with Holly Snape about the Salvation Army’s Home Truths report by Alan Johnson and Major Campbell Roberts[2], and what it reveals about the deeper structure of housing in Aotearoa. This followed on from us hosting Alan in early September where he took our viewers through the report and its implications. The full recording of that webinar and his slides are on our website: https://www.wellbeingwaikato.org.nz/kainga--hous...

Wellbeing Waikato in the News

As well as our own channels, public fora and FreeFM, Wellbeing Waikato also regularly contributes via other media.Here are several examples over the past 2 months:A. Regional Economic Development in the Waikato. A short article authored by Harvey and Dr David Waite of the University of Glasgow,  published on their Glasgow Social Sciences Hub. This paper argues that the long-standing separation of “urban” and “rural” thinking in New Zealand is increasingly unhelpful, particularly in ...

Webinar: Home Truths - What the data is really telling us about housing.

We’re excited to be hosting a webinar with Alan Johnson, co-author (with Campbell Roberts) of the Salvation Army's recently released Home Truths report.It’s a genuinely sharp piece of work — cutting through a lot of the noise to show what’s actually driving housing outcomes in New Zealand. Affordability pressures, supply issues, who’s missing out, and why — it’s all there, clearly laid out.What makes this session particularly useful is that it won’t stay at the national...

Social Investment in New Zealand

Social Investment emerged as a formal approach in New Zealand in 2016, introduced by the government to address the country’s social and economic challenges through a shift from short-term, reactive solutions to proactive, long-term investment in people. This strategy aims to enhance outcomes for individuals and communities by focusing on sustainable improvements over immediate fixes. Over the years, the concept has grown and is now championed nationally by the Social Investment Agency (SIA).Wh...

Additional Trustee: Call for Expression of Interest

In February this year, Wellbeing Waikato was established as a Charitable Trust. Our Deed sets out the key governance principles and structures that guide the trust and can be seen here.The Deed sets out the rules for trustees, including their number, term and the process for selecting new trustees. The trust must have a minimum of three trustees, and a maximum of seven. The trust was established with three trustees, Delwyn Abraham (Chair), Mike Rolton and Don Scarlet.The trustees want to seek ad...

Affordable Housing

Wellbeing Waikato (and previously Wellbeing Waikato Project) has been actively involved in improving housing affordability since 2021. We have supported regional leadership groups such as the Waikato Housing Initiative to better understand the current situation through a housing dashboard and a stocktake of the current number of homes being built, compared to the projected future demand.In 2025, we further explored the current state of affordability in the region in a report “Hiding in Plain S...

Affordable Energy

Along with kai security and housing affordability, energy (and more particularly electricity) affordability is a key factor which influences household budgets daily. While the rapid increase in fossil fuel prices since February has made ICE vehicle fuelling more expensive; domestic, commercial and industrial power prices remain a very significant drag on business, community and household prosperity.Data from MBIE and research shared by the Community Energy Network (below, note different time sca...

Social Investment

Following on from last year’s Social Investment Summit, Wellbeing Waikato has been researching and exploring more deeply what Social Investment is, how it is being applied in New Zealand, its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. This work was a priority in our 2026/27 Business Plan.A paper has now been drafted and is current under review prior to publication. The paper explores the following dimensions:Problem Definition- Why Social Investment?What is Social Investment?Context and Essentia...

Local Government Reorganisation

The government has launched a Head Start programme for local government reorganisation. Under the programme two or more territorial and/or unitary authorities can submit an outline proposal to establish a new unitary authority covering part or all of a region. Proposals need to be submitted by 9 August 2026. Councils that do not make  a proposal will be included in a mandatory “backstop” process after the 2028 local government elections. You can read more about the process here.Wellbein...

Connect With Community Waikato

We are delighted to be partnering with Community Waikato and Free FM and Community Waikato to present a monthly discussion on data and what it means. Every month Harvey will  sit down with Community Waikato CEO Holly Snape, to explore a current topic and look carefully at what the data says, what it means for the Waikato and how people can get involved.You can listen to the stories so far here. A big thanks to Holly for inviting us to join the korero....

Expressions of Interest: Wellbeing Waikato Trustees

Call for Expressions of Interest: Trustees About Wellbeing Waikato Wellbeing Waikato is an independent charitable trust dedicated to strengthening long-term wellbeing across the Waikato region. Established in February 2026, it builds on the foundations of the Waikato Wellbeing Project. Our vision is simple and enduring: our mokopuna are thriving. At the heart of our work is a belief that better decisions—by government, business, and communities—start with a deeper underst...

Submission on Local Government Reform (Head Start Programme)

Wellbeing Waikato has submitted to all territorial authorities in the Waikato region regarding their response to the government's Head Start programme. The programme has invited councils to submit different amalgamation options for unitary authorities across the Waikato and New Zealand. Councils that don't submit proposals would enter a 'Back Stop' process where the government decides on a future model instead.At present, all councils in the region are consulting on different model options ...

New Webinar Added with Te Waihanga | The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission

An Exciting Addition to Our Affordable Energy Webinar SeriesWellbeing Waikato is thrilled to announce that Te Waihanga | The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission is joining our affordable energy webinar series on Wednesday 15 July 11am. We will host Graham Campbell, Director of Economics and Research and Pippa Player, Principal Adviser, Policy from the Commission. Graham and Pippa will take us thorough their recent report "Shifting Currents: Energy Infrastructure in Tra...

The Waikato Affordable Energy Challenge

The Waikato Affordable Energy ChallengeThe Waikato sits at the heart of New Zealand’s electricity system—home to major hydro generation along the Waikato River, extensive geothermal resources, and large-scale thermal generation at Huntly, with wind and solar continuing to expand.Yet despite this abundance, electricity is becoming less affordable for many households and businesses. Evidence shows these costs ripple through household budgets, reducing what’s available for essentials like hou...

Webinar: What Would it Take for Housing to be Affordable in the Waikato?

Housing affordability, or more correctly its unaffordability, is a significant determinant of wellbeing. Many cities and communities are grappling with house prices (to rent or to own) which are now significantly out of proportion with incomes.Unaffordable and unavailable housing creates a cascading series of other challenges, from less money for other households needs, especially food, to insecure housing and ultimately severe housing deprivation and even homelessness.In the Waikato, collective...

Presentation to Hamilton City Council Community Committee

21 April 2026.In support of the homelessness report: Agenda of Ordinary Community Committee Meeting - Tuesday, 21 April 2026IntroductionKia ora and thank you Chair, Mayor and Councillors. Ko Harvey Brookes toku ingoa, I’m the Executive Director of the Waikato Wellbeing project.I’m here today to thank the council for its work on homelessness and encourage it to keep going! I’m also here because our research and work points to a well-known truth- housing IS a vital underlying factor which ma...

Next Steps for the Waikato Wellbeing Project

In previous newsletters we’ve described how the WWP was initially established, funded and operated. We’ve also talked about the results of our 2025 independent review, and further work to explore a series of future operating and funding options for the project.The key outcomes of that work included:A need to further refine our operating model to better show how our work leads to real world changes and impactsA need to broaden our funding and operating model to ensure financial sustainability...

Clarifying our Role

As the WWP continues to evolve and change, so does the rest of the wellbeing community in the Waikato, and across Aotearoa New Zealand. We have been working to keep our contribution as clear and focused as we can, so that we can continue to add value.Our distinctive contribution lies in high-quality primary research, deep engagement with lived experience, and rigorous synthesis across silos. We set our agenda by identifying system pressures early, clarifying trade-offs, and translating insight i...

The Increasing Importance of Household Affordability

As our programme has progressed, the vital role that household income and affordability plays in prosperity and wellbeing has become increasingly evident. For example, while the Grocery Commissioner has found that retail food is slightly (+3% in 2023) more expensive in New Zealand than the OECD average[1], this cannot fully explain why thousands of children and families in the Waikato regularly go without food.Affordability is high on everybody’s mind right now as the Iran conflict enters its ...