Spring clean for Te Puke town centre

Ready for Te Puke's Spring Clean Up - from left EPIC Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen, Lorien Martin from Poutiri Trust, Jo Reha (The Daily), Pomare Butler (Poutiri Trust) and Clint Reha (The Daily).

There will be a clean sweep of Te Puke next week.

EPIC Te Puke has organised a spring clean for the town and, helped by The Daily Cafe, Poutiri Trust and EmpowermentNZ, the Te Puke Spring Clean Up will take place on September 9.

Purely by coincidence, the clean-up is during Keep New Zealand Beautiful's clean-up week.

The event has been set up to comply with alert level 2 requirements.

EPIC Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen says the main issue is numbers at the get-together at the end of the clean-up which will be managed to prevent any large gathering of people at The Daily Cafe.

''There won't be a problem during the clean-up as everyone will be spread out, but it's everyone coming together at the end,'' she says.

Volunteers should register at the EmpowermentNZ hub on Jocelyn St from 2pm on Wednesday.

''They can pick up a vest, gloves, a bag and get a location to clean-up.''

She says once they have finished, volunteers can go to The Daily, drop off the litter in a trailer, get cleaned up and have a slice of pizza.

''We'll have some spot prizes for people who find one of the numbered tokens we are going to hide around town,'' she says.

People can pre-register via the EPIC Te Puke Facebook page.

''We are focusing on just the downtown core area, picking litter from gardens and gutters and things like that,'' says Rebecca.

The second part of the Te Puke Spring Clean Up is for the businesses.

EPIC have secured funding to support town retailers with a spring clean and will be distributing a cleaning kit and offering a window wash.

''Retailers have told us how important it is to have a clean and tidy business, and Covid has taught us how important it is for health and safety,'' says Rebecca.

''In the best interest of the community, we are promoting the Te Puke sprint clean to lift spirits and ensure a tidy, safe and welcoming retail environment.''

EPIC will also cover cleaning the windows of empty shops. A grant from Western Bay of Plenty District Council has helped pay for the initiative.

■ Rebecca says she is still hoping the annual Halloween treat trail in Te Puke will go ahead, although any changes in alert levels could put the event in jeopardy. This year the Halloween event is scheduled to be on Friday, October 30.