Awanui gets second Keep NZ Beautiful nomination - for its flash new loo

The Te Hiku toilet block at Awanui is a finalist in the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards’ Best Loo category.

Just days after Awanui learned it was a finalist in the Most Beautiful Tiny Town category at the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards, the town’s colourful toilet block has been named a finalist in the award’s Top Loo category.

Earlier this month Awanui was named as one of two finalists - along with Leigh - in the Most Beautiful Tiny Town category in the KNZB awards, something the town and its inhabitants celebrated.

Part of the reason for the nomination was the transformation of the town as part of the Te Hiku Open Spaces Revitalisation Project, on which work began in April 2021, funded by a $7 million grant from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund (PGF). The award winners will be announced in November.

Now, the Te Hiku o te Ika toilet block in Awanui, which was part of the revitalisation project, has been named as one of three finalists in the Top Loo category. The other finalists are Ōkere Falls Scenic, Rotorua, and Waiuku Public Toilets, Auckland.

KNZB said the public spoke and nominated Te Hiku o te Ika Loo as the Best Loo for the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards and the judges have selected it as one of three finalists. There were over 500 entries for the Beautiful Awards this year, and KNZB wants to celebrate the amazing mahi and sustainable initiatives that our towns and cities finalists have done and continue to do.

The judges were very impressed with the community support and the amount that has been achieved.

Kaitāia Business Association member Andrea Panther, who was one of the main drivers behind the Te Hiku Open Spaces Revitalisation Project, said the two nominations for Awanui in the KNZB awards were a reward for all the hard work the town, and its community, have done over the past few years to give Awanui a much-needed boost.

Panther said Awanui had once been a thriving and bustling town, but in recent years it had become tired looking and in need of some major work, so it was important the revitalisation project got the $7 million PGF funding, which was also spent revitalising Kaitāia and Ahipara with 81 infrastructure, art and placemaking plans. A key focus of the project was to bring together community groups and businesses, and to place Te Hiku iwi at the centre of the decision-making process to ensure the right projects were delivered to the right places, say those involved.

Another key driver was to ensure locals delivered the schemes. Far North District Council provided SiteWise Health and Safety prequalification support for 61 businesses across the district and provided 75 people with specialised safety training. This support enabled local businesses to tender for revitalisation projects and to do so for future council projects. The revitalisation project was centred around sustainability and improving environmental, social and governance outcomes.

Panther said both nominations for Awanui were well deserved as the town and its people had put in a huge effort to turn the town’s fortunes around.

“They are great rewards for all the hard work that has been done there, and elsewhere in Te Hiku. Awanui is now becoming a destination place and the new park is just abuzz with families on the weekend, with people stopping and having lunch there. It’s really got the town humming and the locals are loving the extra visitors.’’

She said the community should take a lot of pride in the award nominations, and they were determined to continue making Awanui a more attractive place to visit, live and do business in.

Since the nominations were announced many former Awanui residents have flooded social media with praise and comments that they cannot wait to return to see all the good work that has been done.

Leigh, 100km north of Auckland and with a population of about 600, is the other finalist in the Most Beautiful Tiny Town category, along with Awanui.

All Beautiful Awards winners and recipients will be announced at the Beautiful Ball to be held at Parliament House on November 9.

The Supreme Award recipient will win a mural painted in their town or city by a local artist, valued at up to $10,000.