NZ’s ‘most beautiful’ towns face off for national titles

The top six finalists have been narrowed down in this year’s Keep New Zealand Beautiful awards.

Cambridge, Pukekohe, Hutt City, Whanganui, Waihı¯ and Hanmer Springs will face off as judges tour the country to find out what makes each pocket of Aotearoa special.

This year’s judges will be celebrity chef Michael Van De Elzen and Keep New Zealand Beautiful chief executive Heather Saunderson.

Saunderson says it will come down to which community can boast their civic pride by keeping their little patch green.

‘‘So that will be around things like beautification, sustainability and waste management,’’ says Saunderson.

‘‘What we will really be looking at is what goes on behind the scenes with things like community groups and school volunteer groups, that’s what we want to delve into.’’

There will be three winners between the six finalists for titles of Most Beautiful Small Town, Most Beautiful Large Town and Most Beautiful City.

Cambridge will go head to head with Pukekohe for the title of Most Beautiful Large Town and Saunderson says it will be a tough decision.

‘‘Pukekohe have done a lot of initiatives about sustainability around agriculture.

‘‘Cambridge is very similar, they’ve been working to create a zero-waste community, and it will be very interesting to see how they’re dealing with the influx of new people while at the same time maintaining that civic pride.’’

Hanmer Springs and Waihı¯ are in the running for the Most Beautiful Small Town title.

And while Hanmer Springs boasts beautiful hot pools and an emphasis on environmental tourism, Saunderson says she’s been impressed by Waihı¯ beautification projects that have been pushed by local high school students.

‘‘There was an area [Hauraki District Council] wanted to build on, but the kids were very vocal that they wanted to turn it into a reserve, so together, they turned what was going to be just another building in their own space.’’

Whanganui and Lower Hutt will also vie for the title of Most Beautiful City.

‘‘Whanganui is really community focused, a lot of civic pride.

‘‘Hutt City has a real focus on waste, they view litter as a huge problem locally and nationally, so they’re one of the few groups doing litter auditing.

‘‘Not very sexy but it is a huge problem and they’re doing a great job dealing with it.’’

Van de Elzen said it was an honour to be invited be part of this year’s judging. ‘‘This is totally up my alley, I love it.’’ Both judges were in Pukekohe on Thursday and although Van de Elzen has family in the area, he’s not going to let that impact his decision.

‘‘I spent a lot of my youth here in Pukekohe on an onion farm, racing around on go-karts getting muddy and dirty. But I’m going to be impartial.’’

The winners will be announced at the Beautiful Awards Gala Dinner in Dunedin on October 24.

There will 14 awards given out including Best Street and Best Loo, along with sustainability awards for community groups and businesses.