Motueka groups successful at environment awards

November 25th

Three Motueka organisations, the Motueka Arts Council (for its 'Welcome to the Godwits' programme), the Greenwood Medical Centre, and Lynda Hannah's 'Living Legacies' were highly commended at the Nelson Tasman Environment Awards 2010 held last night.

The awards recognise and celebrate people and organisations who are making a difference today, and for the future," said Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne. "These people have demonstrated the use of good environmental practice, environmental enhancement and sustainability. The Awards have been running since 1999, and this year we received 81 entries, and the judges have had a hard time choosing from many worthy entries."

Motueka's engineering firm Parkes Automotive was one of the 11 major spoonsors of the awards.

Greenwood Medical Centre was highly recommended in the Commercial/Emerging category. Its citation said the Centre is "commended for the environmental and sustainable performance it has achieved with its new practice facility".

"In conceptualizing the new building, the Practice owners created a brief for the architects that called for the building to reflect the latest thinking in sustainable commercial business practices. Through careful, thoughtful design and appropriate application of existing technology, they have created a building that uses a fraction of the resources consumed by many other buildings of similar size and function, while creating a working environment that is pleasant and enjoyable for both the staff and patients.

"The building utilizes latest technology lighting, sustainable heating fuels, natural ventilation, and solar water heating to achieve these results. The financial payback on their investment will continue to reward the business owners throughout the lifetime of the building."

The Motueka Arts Council's commendation in the Heritage/Events and Culture category was for its mounting of the Godwits Celebration weekend, which took place on 11-12 September in Motueka.

"This colourful, informative, well organised event utilised the skills of many community groups and young people to tell the story of the godwit migration and the importance of the Motueka sandspit and estuary," the citation read. "In preparing for the event the Arts Council consulted with the Department of Conservation, environmental groups and local iwi."

was one of two businesses highly commended in the Commercial/Leadership category. It is a natural funeral company which has a sustainable, holistic and celebratory approach to life, death and funerals, and is run by Motueka's Lynda Hannah. In particular, it offers "natural burials", an advisory service for councils and other organisations who want to know how they can provide a more environmentally sustainable burial option for their clients with Natural Burial Parks.

"The owners have had to break through the barrier of traditional thinking regarding burial methods," the citation says. "They have been leading, innovative and persistent in the face of resistance. While we are yet to see a large number of natural burials, the services provided by Living Legacies have been 10 years in the making. The owner initially faced the challenge of changing the traditional thinking of councils and society. Living Legacies are vanguards of the movement of natural burials in New Zealand. Since their inception companies providing similar services have been set up in Auckland and Wellington. "

Motueka Valley-based Stonefly Lodge won the Best Use of Renewable Energy category. This project demonstrates the clever use of a range of renewable energy sources (micro hydro, wind, solar & biomass (wood)) that meet the requirements of a totally off the grid system, while still providing all the comfort and amenity expected by guests of an upmarket luxury lodge, its citation said.

"The design has been meticulously thought out and implemented in an integrated way that provides a total solution, including demand reduction through selecting the most efficient appliances and lighting systems. The lodge's total power consumption is less than half that of an average New Zealand household. It appears totally seamless and guests invariably want to know more, inspecting the features of the alternative power supply has become a must do activity.

"Guests go away from their stay having a better understanding of energy conservation and the environmental impacts of excessive power use, and the key advantages of renewable energy."

Popular author Gerard Hindmarsh was also one of two winners in the Heritage/Events and Culture category, with his book 'Kahurangi Calling - Stories from the backcountry of Northwest Nelson'. "The book successfully blends stories of the social and natural history of northwest Nelson and the relatively recently formed Kahurangi National Park," its citation read.

"It is a well crafted book that weaves a tapestry of events with information about the natural features of a unique part of the Nelson Tasman region. It includes stories of the battle to retain historic huts, the asbestos mining in the Cobb Valley and the day to day lives of some of the characters who have lived in this remote part of region."

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