Paeroa’s shopping district is getting a community-led makeover.
The Main Street Clean-Up will be taking place on April 12 on the section of Normanby Rd/Belmont Rd that runs between Victoria St and Marshall St.
Event organiser, the Paeroa Business Association (PBA), is calling on businesses and locals to help out with the working bee, doing tasks like brushing down shopfronts, clearing cobwebs, cleaning windows, and general frontage tidy-ups.
Shops along the main street are being approached by the association to ask them to participate in the event.
The working bee is stage one in the PBA’s plan to beautify Paeroa’s shopping district.
“We’re working to add value to the town, to add some personality to the main street, where it might be more inviting for people to stop,” committee member Rhys Carmichael said.
“And we’re also well down the line of the community lighting project for the main street – we’ve got some good grants out there at the moment waiting for consideration.”
Also still in the pipeline is the community radio project, which Rhys said would add atmosphere to the street.
“We do need the support of local businesses and shopkeepers and everyone to do their part,” Rhys said of the clean-up day.
“The more people that can come along and help on the day and want to be involved, the better.”
Committee member Rosie Scott said the association also has eyes on specific parts of the street which need extra attention.
The PBA is in discussions with shop owners and a young local artist to develop temporary murals on boarded-up shopfronts, for example, and there is a project underway for other beautification initiatives once the clean up is complete.
The PBA, which took over from the former Positive Paeroa community group in September, 2024, has already had some wins for the town, Rosie said.
“I think with any transitioning organisation it has been a hard year [with] a little bit of a learning curve for us… but we’ve progressed past that and we are now in a position of actually getting things in place,” she said.
The PBA has seen a lot of success with its Business After 5 and Women’s Breakfast meetings, she said, and with already-completed projects such as new town flags and the mural on the side of E Ronnie’s Cafe, spearheaded by former committee member Linley Rose.
“We’re also working on a website, which will have things going on in town, places where people can connect and key contacts,” Rhys said.
“Because that’s what we’re here for. We want to be the advocate, the organisation that’s helping businesses in town grow and prosper.”
DETAILS: For more information about the Main Street Clean-Up on April 12, email enquiries@paeroa.org.nz or find the Paeroa Business Association on Facebook.
