WELCOME FROM THE MAYOR
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Welcome from Mayor Hamish
H
aere mai ki Whanganui. Welcome to New Zealand’s most beautiful city.
Its official - Whanganui was named New Zealand’s Most Beautiful Small City in 2020 and Most Beautiful City in 2019. Spend a little – or a lot – of time in Whanganui and you’ll find the ‘most beautiful’ title well-deserved. As New Zealanders take the opportunity to check out their own backyard in 2021, many are taking a closer look at this very special place, because the word is getting out – Whanganui is gorgeous. The Whanganui River – Te Awa Tupua – flows from the mountains of the Central Plateau through the city to the Tasman Sea. We don’t turn our back to the river here, rather it is a reference point for everything. Our Saturday morning riverside market is a busy community meeting place, alive with entrepreneurship, music and connection, while restored river vessels offer a picturesque connection to the past. Our town centre boasts one of the highest concentrations of heritage buildings in New Zealand and this
unique built heritage is celebrated during an annual Heritage Month. As a council we have prioritised and supported the retention of these buildings, recognising that, whether they’re public amenities or privatelyowned, these buildings are very much part of the fabric and aesthetic of Whanganui. Design is in our DNA and master craftspeople and architects have made their mark on our district. From homes to public buildings, from small and perfectly formed to grand and imposing, whether you love colonial, Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, mid-century modern, brutalist, or contemporary eco-friendly architecture, you’ll find some of the best examples in the country around every corner. Our many parks and public spaces offer accessible places to enjoy nature, exercise, relax, photograph and socialise. Established trees and beautiful gardens abound in this garden-lovers paradise, with its temperate micro-climate and friendly soils. As if that wasn’t enough, we don’t have just one beach – we have four and they are stunning. These are places for family bonfires, spontaneous cartwheels on shining
sand, sunset walks with distant mountain views, fantastic surfcasting and summer dips in the warm West Coast waves. Did I mention the arts? Whanganui has long been an arts town. It is home to the New Zealand Opera School, the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare O Rehua, the Tylee Cottage artist-in-residency programme, the Whanganui Regional Museum, New Zealand Glassworks
