Creating the most beautiful small town

Something all of us in Te Hiku have long known was confirmed to the whole country last week: Kaitāia is New Zealand’s most beautiful small town. That ‘best kept secret’ was revealed during the annual Beautiful Awards. These are awarded by Keep New Zealand Beautiful, a not-for-profit charitable organisation that’s been educating Kiwis on how to Keep New Zealand Beautiful since 1967. The awards were announced last Thursday evening at Parliament House in Wellington, and I was lucky enough to attend the event alongside Councillor Felicity Foy, Kaitāia Business Association Chair Andrea Panther, and the Council’s Manager - Major & Recovery Projects, David Clamp.

Kaitāia was up against Foxton for Most Beautiful Small Town, which is defined as having between 1,000 and 9,999 residents. Awards nominations are made under a range of categories, such as Most Beautiful Large Town, Most Beautiful Small City, Community Awards and Local Hero Awards. Winning entries are recognised for initiatives such as litter prevention, waste minimisation, community beautification and recycling projects, as well as sustainable tourism initiatives.

What clinched the award for Kaitāia was the amazing work of our Te Hiku Open Places Revitalisation Project team. This community-led initiative won $7 million in COVID-19 economic recovery funding and from the Provincial Growth Fund. With Council support, community members have been working for more than a year in Kaitāia, Awanui and Ahipara creating public artworks and placemaking projects. These include fantastic public artworks that have gone up along streets and laneways celebrating our whenua and heritage. We now have Dalmatian Lane, Awanui Gates and, most recently, Ao Place beach alleyway. There are also new and hugely popular pump tracks at Ahipara and Kaitāia, gas barbecues and picnic tables at Allen Bell Park and Jaycee Park, new playground equipment, sports facilities and so much more.

None of this would have been possible without the vision and leadership shown by our community. Councillor Felicity Foy, who is part of Te Hiku Masterplan working group, and was instrumental in winning the $7 million project funding. Kaitāia Business Association Chair, Andrea Panther, has been an invaluable project manager, ably assisted by iwi representative, John Paitai, Te Hiku Community Board Chairperson, Adele Gardner, Suzie Clark, Kevin Hoskin, and landscape architect, Delwyn Shepherd.

This project perfectly demonstrates the way I think local government should operate – community led with ‘local’ front and centre. Ensuring that our communities feel listened to and included is how we achieve community buy-in and create a sense of ownership. That’s how we create great places that people care about and want to live in. That’s how we get people involved in local government. Unfortunately, we are seeing greater levels of centralisation being promoted through proposed local government, three waters and the Resource Management Act reforms. I fear that these changes will remove local voices from the decision-making table and that the provinces will be forgotten. The people of Te Hiku have reminded us exactly how things should be done and together they have created a most beautiful small town.