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.