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Supreme Award Winner
The Supreme Awards celebrates exceptional achievements in local governance, recognising innovative projects and outstanding leadership.
Pathways to the Sea Strategy – Ngā Rerenga ki te Moana
Waikato District Council
Waikato Regional Council’s Ngā Rerenga ki te Moana Strategy improves safe fish passage through flood infrastructure, especially pump stations that harm native tuna. Based on six years of research with 14 partners, it tested fish-friendly technologies achieving up to 100% safe passage. With strong iwi partnership, the strategy embeds ecological...
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Excellence in Placemaking
A Place for Everyone
Hastings District Council
A Place for Everyone showcases the newly refurbished, reopened Hastings municipal centre. A stunning building in its own right, the centre forms an integral part of Toitoi, the city’s arts and event centre, and the entertainment and hospitality precinct. The...
Award Sponsored by Beca
Excellence in Organisation and People Development
Whangārei’s Organisational Strategy
Whangārei District Council
The Whangārei Organisational Strategy is a ground-up development to build a more inclusive, cohesive and effective organisation. The strategy had been driven (somewhat unusually) by the second and third tier managers across the organisation. The Judges said: The success of...
No award sponsor
Excellence in Organisation and People Development
A World Class Customer Experience Transformation Project
Selwyn District Council
This was a programme of customer service transformation – including the construction of a customer service centre, inculcating a customer culture, and enhancing the skills of the customer service staff. This was achieved in six months with the Council having...
Award Sponsored by Datacom
Excellence in Community Engagement
Amberley Beach Coastal Adaptation Project
Hurunui District Council
The Hurunui District Council Coastal Conversations Project focuses on 6 small beach communities and how each community in the District will take control of their future and how, as a community, they will adapt to the changing hazard risk over...
Award Sponsored by Department of Internal Affairs
Excellence in Collaborating for Results
America’s Cup 36 Base Infrastructure
Auckland Council
This entry covers the infrastructure necessary to prepare the Auckland Waterfront to host America’s Cup 36 – a project brought in on time, under budget and with a legacy that extends beyond a single event. Note: The Wynyard Edge Alliance...
Award Sponsored by MartinJenkins
Excellence in Digital Local Government
Buzzly – Aotearoa’s digital youth engagement and insights platform
Auckland Council
Buzzly is Aotearoa’s digital youth engagement and insights platform, specifically designed to bridge the gap between young people and local government. Developed collaboratively by Auckland Council, Datacom, AWS, and Mission Ready HQ, Buzzly transforms traditional youth consultations into interactive, and...
Award Sponsored by Datascape
Excellence in Digital Local Government
Christchurch City Information Network (CCIN) – Early Fire Detection Sensor Network
Christchurch City Council
This is a highly successful pilot project of a sensor network as a means for detecting fires in the Waitākiri / Bottle Lake Forest Park. The network sends warnings to authorities in real time and protects wildlife, facilities, and people....
Award Sponsored by Datacom
Excellence in Cost-Effectiveness
Climate Resilience versus Recovery Costs for Transport Networks
Auckland Transport
Auckland Transport analysed 215 landslides from 2023 storms, showing prevention is far more cost effective than recovery. Preventative works cost as little as 15–30% of recovery, aligning with global findings. AT has shifted towards resilience-focused design, with modelling showing $670M...
Award Sponsored by Co-Lab Solutions
Excellence in Placemaking
Destination Kāwaroa
New Plymouth District Council
Destination Kāwaroa, led by Taranaki Foundation with Ngāmotu, Ngāti Te Whiti, NPDC and NP Partners, transformed Kāwaroa Park into an intergenerational play and learning space celebrating the area’s nature, culture and stories. Featuring sensory play, water and hill elements, accessible...
Award Sponsored by Beca
Excellence in Collaborating for Results
East Urban Lands – Oroko Rise
Taupō District Council
Taupō District Council partnered with developers and Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust to deliver Oroko Rise, an innovative affordable housing project. Combining private expertise, iwi leadership, and council planning, it increases supply without ratepayer subsidy. Launched in 2025 with strong demand, it...
Award Sponsored by Morrison Low Advisory
Excellence in Organisation and People Development
Great Workplaces
Far North District Council
This initiative emerged from a staff survey taken during the first 2020 COVID-19 lockdown where 83 per cent of staff reported their productivity was the same or better working at home. Great Workplaces was launched with the initial objective to...
Award Sponsored by Capability Group
Excellence in Placemaking
Hastings District Council’s Place Based Housing Solution
Hastings District Council
In five years, the waitlist for social housing in Hastings has increased from 57 people to approximately 640. The Place Based Housing Solution is the result of a conversation between the council, the Crown, iwi, NGOs and social service providers...
Award Sponsored by BERL
Excellence in Māori-Council Partnerships - Te Tohu Waka Hourua (the Double Canoe)
He Whare Hono ō Tūwharetoa
Taupō District Council
In a historic moment for Aotearoa, Taupō District Council and Ngāti Tūwharetoa have further strengthened their partnership and connection by coming together in one purpose-built whare ‘He Whare Hono ō Tūwharetoa’. This landmark three-story whare stands as a testament to...
Award Sponsored by Buddle Findlay
Excellence in Cost Effective Impact
Hurunui District Water Safety Project (protozoa compliance)
Hurunui District Council
Hurunui District Council manages 17 water schemes with 26 water sources spread across a district of 8,641 km2. With around 14,000 residents, the district has the 6th lowest population density of any local authority in New Zealand. In 2015, the...
No award sponsor
Excellence in Placemaking
It’s Flaxmere’s Time
Hastings District Council
It’s Flaxmere’s Time is both a revitalisation programme for Hastings District’s lowest socioeconomic community and a means for building trust and engagement between the people of Flaxmere and the Council. The programme is an amalgam of housing development, parks development,...
Award Sponsored by Beca
