Paeroa racecourse developer Wayne Wright’s final conversation with former Hauraki mayor Basil Morrison ended in laughter.
Morrison had been in Wellington for Waitangi Tribunal hearings when Wright snr called him about a proposed street name at the racecourse development. Morrison missed the call, but rang him back during a lunch break.
The discussion centred on the iwi-supported name Taumaharua – meaning “Black Rock” – for a major road running northeast from the chapel site.
“I said to him, the three iwi, mana whenua, support that. And I strongly recommend it.”
Wright had initially wondered whether the name might be too long or unfamiliar, but after a light-hearted exchange with Morrison, he agreed to adopt it.
It was the last time they spoke.
“I said, I’ll catch up with you on the weekend. I’m back Friday night – and of course, he died Friday night.”
Wright snr died on March 20.
Earlier that same day, Morrison said, Wright had been at the racecourse he purchased with late wife Chloe in 2020 – still working, still planning.
“He had all these ideas – shift this dirt over there, get this moved over there, hurry up and get the chapel built, when’s the carpet going to be finished,” Morrison said.
Wright later returned home, where Morrison understood he died suddenly.
“I just can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s cut me to the quick, to be honest.”
Despite his wealth, Morrison said Wright snr remained modest and unassuming.
“You wouldn’t know when you were talking to him that he was an extremely wealthy man,” he said. “He was very humble and very generous.”
Through informal koha collected from use of the racecourse grounds, Wright snr directed thousands of dollars to local causes, including the Paeroa RSA and the Paeroa Museum Society.
He and his late wife Chloe, who died in September, 2023, built a business legacy through Best Start Educare, founded in Tauranga in 1996, which grew into New Zealand’s largest early childhood education provider.
In 2020, the couple purchased the Paeroa racecourse – a long-stalled site that local leaders had struggled for decades to see developed.
“For us, it’s more about leaving a legacy than it is about making money,” Wright told The Profile at the time.
Morrison said that vision remained central to everything Wright snr did.
“He just wanted it to wash its face. He wasn’t looking to make a profit.”
That vision is now a roughly $60 million development, expected to transform Paeroa. Plans include housing, apartments, a chapel, small businesses, a cafe, and a restaurant.
Wright had hoped to see the project completed by the end of the decade.
Now, Morrison said, the future of the project will rest with Wright’s family, who will carry forward the vision he and Chloe had.
“And so, if I’m willing and the body’s willing, and I don’t get completely gaga – and if the family wants me to – I’ll continue to work for his vision.”
Wayne Wright snr was farewelled at a funeral service at the Holy Trinity Church in Tauranga, on Saturday, March 28.
BY KELLEY TANTAU
