Paihia shows how to achieve

TOP TOWN: Celebrating Paihia's new status as Community of the Year last week were Grant Harnish (left), Tania McInnes, Tiffany Holland (with the trophy) and Anne Corbett.

Paihia's win in the New Zealander of the Year awards will give the town national exposure and pave the way for even bigger projects in future according to community leaders.

The Bay of Islands town was named Community of the Year at the awards function in Auckland on Wednesday night. And while the 400-page nomination was organised by the community trust Focus Paihia, it encompassed dozens of volunteer organisations and clubs, myriad events and town improvement projects, and included Opua, Haruru Falls and Waitangi.

Focus Paihia chairman Grant Harnish said the town's transformation over the past six years showed what could be achieved when a community took responsibility for its own destiny.

The win put Paihia on a national stage as a town that was determined to help itself rather than sit back and wait to be helped. It would also pave the way for even bigger projects that would need not just community and council backing, but central government support as well.

Mr Harnish believed Paihia had won because so many different groups were pulling together and community spirit had improved so dramatically.

Focus Paihia treasurer Sarah Greener said the group was keen to share what it had learnt and help create similar changes in other Far North towns.

"It's about reducing this zombie town effect people are talking about. These places are people's homes and should be celebrated and developed, not lost," she said.

"We want to see more communities taking back ownership of their towns, not just sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it for them."

More than 700 people attended the awards function, including last year's New Zealander of the Year, Kaitaia GP Lance O'Sullivan, and many of the country's movers and shakers. Paihia's $5000 prize will go to a yet to be decided project.

A 'party in the park' celebration will begin on the Paihia waterfront at 5pm on Saturday. Bring a plate of food to share.

Upcoming projects in Paihia include a mountain bike park in Waitangi Forest, a social survey, improved lighting on Williams Road and expanded CCTV (by the Friends of Williams House).

Groups involved in Paihia's Community of the Year entry included the Cruise Ship Committee, the Waitangi Golf Club, the Bay of Islands Rotary Club, the Paihia Community Patrol, Bay Bush Action, Fish Forever, Business Paihia, Friends of Williams House, the Paihia Op Shop, the Bay of Islands Yacht Club, the Paihia Fire Brigade, St John Ambulance, Bay of Islands Special Olympics and the Paihia branch of the Motel Association of New Zealand.