7-Day Makeover a hit in Wainuiomata
Wainuiomata received a ‘‘Seven Day Makeover’’ last week, which saw hundreds of residents help to spruce up Queen St, the suburb’s long-standing shopping street.
Residents young and old rolled up their sleeves to get stuck in for the makeover project, which was backed by a $5000 grant from Hutt City Council. Esther Venning, the ‘‘make stuff happen champion’’ for the Wainuiomata Development Plan Steering Group, was involved from the start.
The makeover was like an oldfashioned working bee with all people of ages and abilities helping out, she said.
Hundreds of people had given time and skills, and dozens of businesses had given much needed supplies or money. Four unique deck seats were made from 95 sleepers donated by Pestproof Pest Control, which were shipped to Wainuiomata at no cost by Mainfreight.
From there, builders including Rodney Hargreaves worked long hours to make sure the seats were ready to go by the time the party started at the end of the makeover last Saturday. Queen St now features a colourful Fairy Garden, picnic and deck seating, a xylophone, basketball area, apple trees, outdoor piano and remembrance tree. A number of additional projects have also been sparked which will be rolled out over the coming months.
When the makeover was announced, Venning said it was just what the community needed, after a rough few months which featured The Warehouse announcing it would close its Wainuiomata store in February. Since then, Westpac Bank had announced its Wainuiomata branch would close along with 18 other small branches nationwide.
In the end, the makeover managed to highlight what was great about the Wainuiomata community, its ‘‘amazing people and aroha’’, Venning said.
‘‘This makeover has been bursting with kindness, creativity and fun. You can feel the heart in every project so come visit, relax and explore them all.’’