"The calibre of participants and impact they are having on their own communities is just awe inspiring. To be selected from among your peers is just so humbling," he said.
The two awards were great recognition of the hard work by local people to improve the look and feel of their town, he said, and the best thing about the projects was that they had brought the community together.
"Once Paihia was renowned for being disconnected and difficult to deal with. Now we have some unity and such a sense of pride," he said.
The group was now working on an on-line "tool kit" of advice for other towns that wanted to replicate Paihia's success. Mr Harnish said the tool kit could be applied anywhere, but would give examples of what had worked for Paihia.
Kawakawa is one of the first places to apply Paihia's lessons. The town has already used people-power to save its indoor pool, which had been threatened with closure, and volunteers are now transforming it into an attractive facility no future council would dare shut down.
Focus Paihia has carried out many beautification projects over the past six years but treasurer Sarah Greener said the transformation of the well-used but unattractive carpark was by far the most ambitious - and the most controversial.
"However, the results are fantastic, well beyond what we could have imagined. From day one the community told us they wanted a people friendly waterfront," she said.
The park, called Horotutu, was built in three months with 257 volunteers giving more than 9000 hours, not including the time people put in feeding the workers or looking after their families and businesses.
Mrs Greener estimated the park would have cost $1.3 million if built by commercial contractors.
The actual cost was $180,000, 90 per cent of which Focus Paihia paid for from its own income channels, in particular the Paihia Op Shop.
The group also received support from businesses and the council.
