There was a second nod for Taupō in the form of the Kiwis’ Choice Award, won by the Te Ātea lakefront space.
Tauranga took out the Most Beautiful Large City award, defined as a major urban area of 100,000 or more residents; and Whakatāne won Most Beautiful Large Town, defined as a medium urban area 10,000 to 29,999 residents.
The conveniences at Okere Falls Scenic Reserve near Rotorua were named best loo, with judges taking into consideration the location, the facilities, cleanliness, interior, exterior and the surrounding environment of the toilet.
Tauranga beat Christchurch to take the large city award, with judges praising the city’s huge strides taken to invest in itself.
“The city now revolves much of its thinking around three main pillars: making it a vibrant and inclusive city, and a city which celebrates the environment.
“Beautification efforts and campaigns, increased cycleways and walkways, and cultural storytelling in conjunction with iwi are making the city even more desirable to live in,” judges said.
“Tauranga also has a large community environmental fund and is championing trees and shade to be part of the city’s infrastructure, with tens of thousands of trees planted and over 11,000 hectares of wetlands restored.”
Although Taupō missed out on the Most Beautiful Large Town category, it was still granted the Supreme title.
Judges praised the town’s environmental efforts, with Keep New Zealand Beautiful chief executive Heather Saunderson saying this made Taupō the standout winner.
“Out of all the towns and cities I visited, Taupō ranked among the highest for the many climate-conscious initiatives it undertakes, excelling across every other criteria, making it the clear winner of the Supreme Award.”
One of the highlighted initiatives in Taupō was the Kai Rescue Programme, which takes excess food from local cafes and supermarkets to community members in need.
Judges also praised the regular community litter collections, the Downstream Defenders programme which aims to reduce waste entering the lake and sustainable transport schemes including e-bikes and hybrid cars for Taupō District Council workers.
Taupō will receive, as part of the Resene awards sponsorship, a mural painted in their town by a local artist up to the value of $10,000.
In winning the Most Beautiful Large Town award, Keep New Zealand Beautiful chief executive Heather Saunderson praised Whakatāne’s environment space with a new tree strategy aimed to increase canopy cover by 20 per cent over the next 20 years.
“Additionally, there’s a community-led focus on building up less affluent areas, making sure that everyone in the town prospers.
“Examples include the re-building of the local skate park to provide a gathering place for youth, a community garden for anyone to enjoy, and programmes aimed at engaging with the elderly to help rest-home residents get out and about safely,” she said.
Winners: Most Beautiful Tiny Town (urban area 999 residents or less), Awanui; Most Beautiful Small Town (small urban area with 1000 to 9999 residents), Arrowtown; Most Beautiful Large Town (medium urban area 10,000-29,999 residents), Whakatāne; Most beautiful small city (30,000-99,999 residents), New Plymouth; Most Beautiful Large City (100,000 or more residents), Tauranga; and the Supreme Award, Taupo.
