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Keep New Zealand Beautiful have announced the finalists for the Most
Beautiful Towns and Most Beautiful City in New Zealand for 2019.
The Beautiful Awards, run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful, aim to
celebrate environmental excellence exemplified by communities,
businesses, schools and individuals in New Zealand.
There are six finalists across three location-based categories: Most
Beautiful Small Town, Most Beautiful Large Town and Most Beautiful
City.
Each finalist must demonstrate sustainable and environmentally
conscious behaviours across four key areas: Litter Prevention and
Waste Minimisation, Community Beautification, Recycling Projects and
Sustainable Tourism.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful CEO Heather Saunderson says the calibre of
entries this year has been fantastic, and all of the finalists have
worked hard to secure a spot in the top six.
“It’s great to see such amazing environmental initiatives across some
of New Zealand’s beautiful towns and cities. We are so pleased to see
the great work from these regions who are striving to create
sustainable and vibrant communities. I am looking forward to visiting
all of these places with our celebrity judge Michael Van De Elzen,
and it will be a tough decision to find a winner,” says Saunderson.
The two finalists for Most Beautiful Small Town this year are Hanmer
Springs and Waihi.
This is the second year for Waihi as a finalist in the awards,
missing out to last year’s winner Raglan. Waihi was selected as a
finalist this year as a result of the community’s ongoing effort to
keep the town clean, working with schools to reduce waste and for
implementing a waste minimisation plan aimed at reducing waste sent
to landfill by 13% by 2020.
The resort town of Hanmer Springs in the Canterbury region of the
South Island, known for its beauty and thermal pools, is committed to
its sustainable tourism initiatives and environmentally conscious
development.
The two agricultural towns of Cambridge and Pukekohe are finalists
for Most Beautiful Large Town.
Cambridge is working to create a ‘zero waste community’ through
ongoing education around waste management and community waste and
recycling initiatives, as well as beautification through extensive
tree planting throughout the area.
Pukekohe is committed to sustainable growth and implementing
programmes that positively enhance the local community. Often
referred to as the food basket of New Zealand, Pukekohe has a strong
focus on agriculture and education.
Finalists for the award of Most Beautiful City are Hutt City and
Whanganui.
Hutt City Council promotes a zero tolerance policy for graffiti and
promotes local urban art initiatives. The Council has helped to
facilitate a collaboration between Chorus and local artists to paint
telephone cabinets to help minimise graffiti and bring art in to
everyday places.
Whanganui is taking a proactive approach to tackling litter and waste
with a community strongly engaged in an array of litter prevention
and waste minimisation initiatives. The city is also undertaking many
beautification and sustainability programmes to enhance their local
environment.
The last phase of judging will involve the Beautiful Awards judging
panel visiting the finalist towns and cities from late August. The
winners will be announced at the Beautiful Awards Gala Dinner in
Auckland on Thursday 24 October 2019.
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