Taupō has been named the most beautiful large town in the country for the second time in four years at the annual Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards.
The awards were held online on Thursday and are Aotearoa’s longest-running sustainability awards and provide a benchmark for environmental excellence.
Mayor David Trewavas accepted the award via video link and said winning the prestigious title again was testament to Taupō’s great community spirit.
“As a council, we are proud of the amount of work we do and the partnership approach we take with our schools, businesses and volunteer groups like Tidy Taupō and Greening Taupō, to protect and enhance our town,” he said.
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“It really is a team effort to keep Taupō beautiful and this award showcases the hard work of both our council and the community in looking after the place we all love,” he said.
Run annually since 1972, the awards inspire, recognise and acknowledge individuals, schools, community groups, towns and cities who are working passionately to keep Aotearoa beautiful.
In 2018, Taupō claimed the top spot in the same award and the Great Lake Pathway was also a finalist in the Kiwi’s Choice Award for 2021.
This year, finalists were judged across five categories – litter prevention and waste minimisation, community beautification, recycling projects, sustainable tourism and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of Aotearoa, and I cannot thank everyone enough for continuing to keep it that way – there are so many great initiatives underway across our town,” Trewavas said.
“From our community and school planting days, where we saw 15,000 native trees planted in one community area alone, to our regular community litter pick-up events, we are one team working together.”
He said he was also proud of some of the council’s initiatives including increasing the amount of plastics recycled by nearly 20 per cent and diverting roughly five million plastic containers from landfill.
“Our council team is always looking at new and innovative ways to do things and it was great to see the redevelopment of our Great Lake Pathway gifting old pavers to schools and community organisations for re-use.
“At the moment, we’re transforming our town to create people-friendly spaces that better connect us with our surrounding environment and strengthens pedestrian and cycling access.
“We want to be a town that is known world-wide for our pristine environment, so I am very proud to accept the award as New Zealand’s most beautiful large town,” he said.
