Waiariki Whānau Mentoring youth mentor Thomas Peato and local rangatahi are giving local streets a spruce-up. Photo / Annabel Reid
Observers may have noticed parts of Rotorua looking a little sharper lately with berms trimmed, rubbish cleared, and lawns neatly edged.
That tidy-up was driven by local rangatahi (youth) who have stepped forward to give their streets a festive spruce-up.
A crew of about a dozen young people, led by Waiariki Whānau Mentoring youth mentor Thomas Peato, have gathered once a week through December for a full day of maintenance mahi (work).
Peato believed “a healthy environment helps mould a healthy mind” and said he wanted to put that belief into action by “cleaning the ’hood”.
He grew up in the Glenholme and Fordlands suburbs, and said he knew first-hand which streets needed attention.
Some streets were “pretty rough”, he said, so the kaupapa (initiative) naturally began there.
The idea had been brewing for close to a decade.
Peato and a group of friends had set out waterblasting houses, but their momentum was cut short when Covid-19 arrived.
Another wave of community action was sparked in 2023 after three suspected suicides occurred in the Fordlands community within a single year.
Locals marched from Wrigley Rd to Harvest Church on Malfroy Rd, looking for ways to support whānau and strengthen the community.
The clean-up kaupapa resurfaced shortly after, but “life got busy”, Peato said, and momentum again faded.
Peato worked as a youth mentor, supporting 15- to 24-year-olds from the area with cultural reconnection, goal-setting and pathways into study or work.
The group talked about ending the year with a fishing charter, which Peato said was a chance to finish strong and put kai on the table.
He also set them a challenge: why not earn it by giving back to their local streets?
“They were all for it,” Peato said.
From there, the rangatahi led the charge, mowing berms across the community, picking up rubbish and taking care of lawns for kaumātua (older people) along the way.
On December 10, the group tidied ord Rd, Pullar Place, Irene Place and three kaumātua’s lawns.
For Peato, it was about rebuilding a sense of “pride”.
Working alongside the Fordlands Community Centre and Waiariki Whānau Mentoring, he hoped the clean-ups would get the wider community moving in a “better direction” together.
Peato said residents often came out of their homes to thank the group, offer encouragement or drop off cold drinks while the rangatahi worked in the heat.
For many residents, the sight of young people out caring for the streets had been uplifting, especially heading into the Christmas period, he said.
Social media feedback had been “really positive”, he said, with locals praising the effort, reassuring them the initiative was “doing what it’s meant to”.
The kaupapa was also a way of “trying to think outside the box” on how to get rangatahi into “sustainable employment”, Peato said.
He hoped the weekly clean-ups would become a stepping stone into long-term work, as many of the youth he supported struggled to find jobs because of their backgrounds and a lack of local job opportunities.
Tobias Rohe, 19, and Jose Tamehana, 16, were among the rangatahi mowing lawns on Wednesday in the final clean-up of the year.
The group worked from 9.30am to 3.30pm, tackling Meadowbank Cres, Lasenby St, Hyde St and Ewert St.
Rohe and Tamehana, who both lived in Fordlands, said they loved helping their community.
They said residents, including people they knew and others they had never met, expressed gratitude for their work.
The pair said they had been applying for jobs locally but had not been successful yet and were “definitely” keen to continue the mowing mahi next year.
Labour market statistics showed Rotorua’s Neet (not in employment, education or training) rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 16.9% in the year to September 2025, higher than the 13.3% national rate.
To create more opportunities, Peato had been developing his own small business, All Done Maintenance, with the plan to eventually employ rangatahi.
He hoped more employers, contractors or homeowners might reach out with tasks the youths could take on, whether lawn mowing, painting or general maintenance.
Those wanting to support the initiative could contact Peato by email at thomas@waiarikiwhanau.org.nz.
Peato intended the “cleaning the ‘hood” kaupapa to continue into the new year.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.