Peter van der Putten was the Secretary of the Whitianga Community Services Trust. He helped set up the present structure and buildings although its work had begun several years earlier as the Whitianga Resource Centre.
Being Secretary was a position Peter held until his death on 18 December 2025. As this is written, it is seven months since Peter’s death and honouring his life and his achievements in this area is long overdue.
The Informer was in contact with his daughter Vanessa to enable us to know some of the earlier details of Peter’s life.
Peter was the eldest of nine children and first arrived in Whitianga in 1992. Before that he had lived in Auckland since coming from Holland at the age of 18 to begin a new life in New Zealand.
His career path in Auckland reflected his tremendous work ethic and natural leadership starting at a carpet company, moving into knife making and then Coronet Silverware and Hella New Zealand where he worked in senior management roles.
But after a few years, Peter decided to change direction. He had his eyes on a restaurant in Albert Street, Whitianga and he decided to purchase that lease and with his wife, Marijke, became the owner of a kiwi restaurant. This was a new venture for them. They changed the restaurant to a bar and grill and called it PJ’s. They renovated it and made it a music and gathering space for young people with a Music club and live instruments mainly on a Sunday. This was in 1992. Karaoke was popular and PJ’s became the town’s focus for entertainment.
It was all going very well, but then Peter’s Dad passed away in Holland and he took a one -way flight back to his home country. It was months before Peter could return to New Zealand and the turnover at PJ’s went down. Peter and Marijke sold their PJ’s venture in 1996.
Through his daily contact with the local community at PJ’s, Peter had seen a real need in the town to look after young people and to address loneliness. He decided to help out in the community and get to know it more. He became Chairperson of the Business Association. Back then, the Business Association was part of the Information Centre and it actually staffed the Information Centre.
For a period of time Peter was Secretary of the Information Centre and became involved in what was then called the Whitianga Resource Centre. He decided to become a member and two years later, became the Chairperson and applied himself to do the funding applications for this Incorprorated Society. In 2001, he went to a three-day social agency conference in Rotorua where he learned that the Tauranga Council had brought together on one site, a lot of old buildings which had become a combined ‘Hub’ for all the social services. It was called Compass Village. This got Peter thinking about what could be possible in Whitianga. He met with the people at Compass Village, speaking with them about forming a Trust to replace the incorporated society and how they had formed the Hub. He asked for their help and brought the idea of the Hub back to Whitianga.
A public meeting organised for the local community received a lot of positive support. In August 2001, an inaugural meeting of the Trust was held and Peter was one of the first Trustees.
Peter and the Village Hub
The services of the Trust were growing and they were working in a very small building. For a time the Trust moved to the old hospital on Buffalo Beach Road. However, under the Treaty Settlement, it meant that if there was a new owner, the Trust would have to vacate it within six months. So that decided for Peter to work towards a building of their own. This wasn’t to come for a few years. The Trust renovated the old hospital quite a lot, but all the time Peter was looking for a dedicated site.
The old offices of the District Council situated where the Skate Park is now, came up for tender as the Council was moving into the current Monk Street premises. Peter spoke to the Council – they could purchase the buildings, but they would need a place to put them. The most favourable was the site of 2 Cook Street. It was a larger site and not too far away from town. The TCDC buildings were not sufficient to accommodate all the services even then, so through the Trust, Peter applied to Trust Waikato and Lotteries who funded the current building to just over a million dollars in grants.
So the site and the suite of buildings, forming a village Hub at 2 Cook Street, Whitianga became a reality in 2010. It had been nine years since Peter first heard About Compass Village in Tauranga.
In other towns the resourcing of community needs was from separate buildings. Peter said at the time, “This is the best situation and with changes in policy and in community needs, we can be flexible with less red tape to deal with. I believe I have a heart for this work.” Peter didn’t seek this path, but along the way, made a conscious decision to put something good together for the community.
The Whitianga Resource Centre marked its 43rd birthday in March, 2026.
Peter often told the story of how the Resource Centre started. “I came along well after things began. in 1983. Dr Dan, (resident Doctor of the Whitianga Hospital at the time) felt that the younger people and the unemployed needed support. These concerns were shared by Anglican Vicar, Rev Keith King and Presbyterian Minister, Rev Stuart McKenzie, who recorded a note in his diary on 17 March 1983 as, ‘Established the Whitianga Social Services Group at a meeting in Mercury Bay House. This was a small office in Albert Street he invited them to use. That’s where it began.”
Peter felt that the current building had been his biggest achievement; not because of the building, but because of what it has made possible and easier for people in the wider community. “It’s what I love to do.”
Peter van der Putten was a much-loved father of his four children with Marijke: Vincent, Marc, Yolanda, and Vanessa; a treasured Opa to his 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Peter became a resident of New Zealand in 1968.
He had been an avid sailor, a dedicated Freemason working his way up to the esteemed rank of Grand Master,
His family expresses heartfelt thanks to Maria and Guy, Phil, Stuart, Pauline and Jenny, for their true and loyal friendship to Peter and his family over many years.
He is remembered with deep love by his brothers, sisters, and extended family who live in Holland, with whom he always shared a special bond despite the distance.
Peter was a proud dad, a visionary leader, and a true pillar of the community. His legacy lives on across both sides of the world, in the family he loved and the town where he helped make possible a thriving community centre.
