Beautiful Awards 2019 Winners Announced

Keep New Zealand Beautiful (KNZB) have announced the winners of this year’s Beautiful Awards at a gala dinner held at the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin this evening.

Whanganui was crowned the Most Beautiful City as well as winning the award for Best Street. The winners for Most Beautiful Large and Small Town awards went to Cambridge and Waihi, respectively. The Most Beautiful Towns and Cities finalists were judged by KNZB’s CEO, Heather Saunderson, and celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen.

Michael loved the fact that everyone in Whanganui was getting involved in making the city better, from the local council to the surrounding iwi. “The recycling centre was just incredible and really set Whanganui apart – I wish every town and city could have one,” says Michael.

The Beautiful Awards is an annual competition that recognises the environmental excellence of individuals, groups, businesses and schools.

Eleven other awards were presented at the ceremony to individuals, businesses, communities and places to celebrate their environmental excellence across New Zealand. Lower Hutt City, a finalist and strong competitor against Whanganui for Most Beautiful City, was given the Outstanding Service Award for their continuous and well-rounded efforts to become environmentally sustainable.

KNZB’s CEO Heather Saunderson says, “The selected finalists have each demonstrated bold leadership in implementing innovative sustainable projects that help reduce their environmental footprint and build resilient towns and cities. These towns and cities are truly leading the way in tackling a variety of environmental issues, and we believe that their call to action will inspire others to create change.”

The full list of winners can be viewed here.