Porirua City A Finalist In The International Awards For Liveable Communities

Porirua City has just been named a finalist in the three categories entered in the 2010 International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom Awards).

They are:

Whole of City - Category B (average daytime population of between 20,000 – 75,000) This award is judged against six criteria: natural and built landscapes; arts, culture and heritage; environmental best practices; community participation and empowerment; healthy lifestyle and strategic planning.

Environmentally Sustainable Project Awards
This recognises innovative Projects that demonstrate sustainability and environmental awareness, and have a positive impact on the local community and environment. We have entered our Porirua Village Development Project.

Bursary Award
Only communities entering the Whole City section are eligible to apply for a Bursary Award. PCC entered the Waitangirua Park waharoa and associated carvings project. The winner will receive funding of up to £10,000 Sterling towards the project costs.

Mayor Jenny Brash says she is excited to see Porirua being recognised on an international stage and that the city is a finalist in all three categories entered.

"Getting to the finals is a significant achievement for our city. It shows the world what we all know and that is that Porirua is a great place to live with communities and organisations that work well together for the good of the whole city.

"I understand that the international judging panel is very rigorous and demanding in their questioning of each of finalist. Making the finals is testimony to the quality of life that we enjoy here in Porirua and contradicts the widely held negative view of Porirua. If we win, hopefully it will silence our detractors for good."

There was a record entry for this year’s UN-backed LivCom Awards with communities from across five continents bidding for a place in the finals to be held in Chicago, USA, from 4-8 November 2010.

PCC Chief Executive Roger Blakeley says the benefits of winning the awards could be huge.

"It's invaluable for marketing our city to have Porirua recognised as a "leading community" and named one of the most liveable communities in the world. This is an opportunity to showcase Porirua City's Best Practice on an international stage and influence International Best Practice and it will further enhance our own civic pride."

Past recent winners of the Whole of City award in our population category include:

2004 Qian Dao HU PR China, 2005 Erandio, Spain, 2006 Brasschaat, Belgium, 2007 Kladno, Czech Republic, 2008 New Plymouth, New Zealand and 2009 Newark on Trent, England.

"New Plymouth City Council has told us that winning the award in 2008 has had huge spin-off benefits for them in marketing their city and building international networks," Dr Blakeley says.

The LivCom Awards were launched internationally in 1997 and are endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme and the scheme is run as a UK Registered Charity.

For full details of the Awardsgo on-line on www.livcomawards.com.
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