Competition organisers said Whanganui and Hastings both demonstrated sustainable and environmentally conscious action taken by their councils in the past 12 months. Photo / Bevan Conley
Competition organisers said Whanganui and Hastings both demonstrated sustainable and environmentally conscious action taken by their councils in the past 12 months. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui has missed out on being named New Zealand's most beautiful small city for 2021.
The Keep New Zealand Beautiful award for cities with a population between 30,000 and 99,000 was given to the other finalist in the category, Hawke's Bay city Hastings.
Whanganui was 2020's winner of Most Beautiful Small City and Hastings won Most Beautiful Large Town as well as the Supreme Award. A change in the judging criteria for 2021 put them up against each other.
Whanganui also won Most Beautiful City in 2019.
Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall said he was disappointed the river city did not win, but he congratulated Hastings.
It was clear a city could not rest on its laurels and expect to win every year, McDouall said.
"While we've done a lot of great things - Drews Ave, the Waste Plan - we've got to keep enhancing all that and this won't be the last time we apply.
"Already I'm planning to win the 2022 edition."
He said they would look more to what the community was achieving and not just the work of the Whanganui District Council in the next application to the competition.
He cited volunteers' work at places like Rotokawau/Virginia Lake, Bason Botanic Gardens and Bushy Park Tarapuruhi as examples of good work being done that wasn't necessarily just the council.
The Kai Hub food rescue work was another great example they could use to try to win next time, McDouall said.
The Keep New Zealand Beautiful organisation said Hastings, which won the 2020 Supreme award, had built on its waste and litter prevention campaign with two mascots named Like the Litter Legend and Colin the Cheeky Chucker.
"... creating a fun and engaging way for children to learn about litter," Keep New Zealand Beautiful said.
"Hastings has also established an eco-committee, initiated a New Zealand-first analysis into the trees in their parks and reserves and has a continued focus on sustainable tourism and community beautification."
The organisation said Whanganui and Hastings both demonstrated sustainable and environmentally conscious action taken by their councils in the past 12 months across the following key areas: litter prevention and waste minimisation, community beautification, recycling projects, sustainable tourism and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Whanganui & Partners strategic lead of visitor industries Paul Chaplow said the organisation was proud of Whanganui and its "ever-lasting beauty".
"The great thing about Whanganui's Most Beautiful status is that it endures in people's imaginations and we find visitors really enjoy affirming the fact that Whanganui is, indisputably, one of the most beautiful cities to be found in this country full of beautiful cities," Chaplow said.
"Being a finalist again has added to this legacy and we were thrilled to once again give New Zealand's other beautiful spots compelling competition."
He said Whanganui & Partners was keenly anticipating the outcome of the awards - especially since the city had been given the UNESCO City of Design status.
"With this extraordinary title in mind, we offer our warm congratulations to Hastings and will focus on the positives – we won't face the challenge of fitting all four special wins onto our billboards ... at least until next year."
The 2021 Supreme Award was given to Whakatāne for its tree audit and policies as well as creating a tighter cohesion between rural areas and the township when it came to environmental actions.
