Huntly mayor responds to 'worst town' award with hilarious poem

Huntly has been named New Zealand's worst town, winning the popular vote on the Facebook page "S*** Towns of New Zealand" to claim the country's least sought after accolade: "S*** Town of the Year".

Waikato district Mayor Allan Sanson responded with some funky fresh rhymes.

"The people of Huntly are proud of their town so were rather surprised with the prestigious award presented to them last night," Sanson said.

Local icons: Topp Twins mural on the side of the S1. Photo / Trudy Price, Twitter

"We've compiled this lovely poem to express our support for the mighty town of Huntly, which is in the heart of the great Waikato district. Come on down, I'd be happy to show you around."

Below is the poem the mayor released in response to the "worst town" accolade.

So some people have decided that Huntly's sh*t
But we're not having a bar of it.
We know it is only a bit of fun
But we're tired of Huntly being under the gun.
NZ's big business clearly disagrees
Sleepyhead's interested – potential's what it sees.
If it's sport you're into, league's Huntly's game
Hohaia, Nikau, or Koopu - if you want a name.
Entertainment? Huntly pulls out the stops
Just like our favourite twins, Huntly's Topps.
The river runs through it with all its might
We promise you, our Huntly is not shite.
But most of all, it's Huntly peeps
That makes this place one for keeps.
So come on down and take a look
Huntly's a hit, not sh*t, in our book.

Huntly is perhaps famous for towering smoke stacks, the Deka sign, its fading Topp Twins mural and being the place where both the S1 and the Waikato river apparently flow through without thinking to stop.

Illustration / Rod Emmerson

S*** Towns praised the New Zealand conurbation for its "staggering array of attractions including a filthy power station, a filthy river and the country's only maximum-security primary school".

In a final face-off against Porirua "P town", Huntly claimed 67 per cent of the public vote.

The satirical "awards", now in its third year, was claimed by Hawera in 2018 and Gore in 2017, which the Facebook page refers to as "basically an open wound".