Flowers return to city mosque
The flowers that lined the Palmerston North mosque after the Christchurch terror attack have been returned to the sitealbeit in a slightly different way.
In the days that followed the March 15 attack in Christchurch where 51 people were killed and 49 people injured, communities around the country left flowers outside their local mosques in a sign of solidarity, strength and friendship.
Locals in the city left hundreds of bunches outside the Cook Street mosque and the Manawatu¯ Muslims’ Association asked the council for help with removing the flowers.
Members from the recycling and compost team returned a number of times to collect the wilting flowers.
Seeing the immense symbol these flowers represented, the council team came up with a quiet plan. They removed all of the cards and messages and returned them to the Centre.
They then removed the paper and put the flowers in an isolated spot in the council’s composting area where they slowly turned into compost.
The team then built some planter boxes and used the compost to plant daylilies.
This week council representatives handed these over to the Islamic Centre.
Chief infrastructure officer Tom Williams said the attacks left a lasting impact on our city as well.
“Our Muslim community is so important to our city and we witnessed that in the days following the attack.
“This is just a small gesture to say to this community they are so loved, and we hope every time they walk past those planters they realise Palmerston North cares.”
Councillor Zulfiqar Butt accepted the flowers on behalf of the Muslim community and thanked the Palmerston North community for their love and support this year.