New community group aims to take a leaf out of Paihia's book and transform Kerikeri township

Kerikeri residents will be urged to reclaim their town at a public meeting on Tuesday evening. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A new community group hopes to apply the lessons learnt by Focus Paihia to make Kerikeri a more unified town where locals pitch in to make it a better place.

When Focus Paihia was founded in 2009 the tourist town was famously fragmented and looking tired and run down.

The newly founded group launched a series of town improvements, starting small but working up to major projects such as rebuilding a grim toilet block on Marsden Rd, turning an unsightly waterfront parking area into what is now a popular park, and creating a mountain bike park at Waitangi.

In many cases Focus Paihia's volunteers avoided being mired in red tape by doing the work first and asking for permission later.

Their work has received national acclaim and led to the entire town being named Community of the Year in the 2015 New Zealander of the Year Awards.

Now Kerikeri is hoping to emulate that success with a public meeting on Tuesday evening the first step in setting up a group modelled on Focus Paihia.

Kerikeri resident Annika Dickey said people had been talking about setting up a group like Focus Paihia for years but nothing had happened.

"I thought, 'I'm going to stick my neck out and get it started'. I've had so much help from the community and I'm hoping the numbers will be there to see how Focus Paihia did it."

Dickey expected Tuesday's meeting would determine the group's initial direction and membership.

That would be followed by a "visioning exercise" to decide how the group wanted the town to look in 10-20 years' time, and some small, high-impact town improvement projects to bring the community together.

"You can moan and groan about the council but rates can only go so far in such a big district. We have to step up and make a change. It's about us getting together as a community," Dickey said.

"I hope that having one cohesive voice about what we want will also make it easier for us as a community to make decisions, and easier for the council to know what we want."

Opua and Kaeo residents have also carried out community-driven town improvements inspired by Paihia's example. They include turning a weed-infested wasteland at the top of Opua Hill into a public park and upgrading Kaeo's playground.

■ The meeting will start at 7pm on Tuesday, March 12, at the Turner Centre on Cobham Rd, and be facilitated by the founders of Focus Paihia. The doors will open at 6.30pm. All welcome. Go to www.kerikeriourtown.co.nz for more information.