Business – Make Warkworth shine

We have just finished a month-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Kowhai Festival, making it the second longest-running community festival in the country, after the Blossom Festival in Alexandra.

We welcomed over 20,000 people into the centre of Warkworth for the Huge Day Out (not bad for a population of around 4500), with lots of visitors staying more than a day visiting cafes, tourist attractions, wineries and retail outlets, and spending money in the area.
We are now faced with the annual influx of tourists, not just from Auckland but from around the world, and the questions have to be asked: Are we doing all we can to get them to stay and spend their money here? What can we do as a town to make the area more attractive to visitors?

As I walk around Warkworth, I notice some buildings and shop fronts that could do with a little TLC. Maybe it’s just a quick coat of paint before summer is upon us; maybe we could plant a few flowers to brighten things up; or perhaps there are weeds that need to be pulled out. The question is, whose responsibility is this? Should my landlord do it, or is this just something I need to do for my business to make the best of the seasonal influx of customers?

If we all gave our business frontages a quick spruce-up, if everyone pulled out a few weeds or perhaps put a planter box out front, imagine the difference it would make to our visitors’ first impressions. They’d stay around longer and spend more for sure.

I often talk to visitors who say they love the small-town feel. They talk about how quaint our town is and how friendly we are. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they spoke about how beautiful and clean the town is too!

Warkworth, with the river at its heart (imagine the life it will bring to the area when it is dredged) has so much potential. Just a little bit of care and effort could make it absolutely stunning. Visitors will want to spend more time here wandering around and visiting shops.

This year, we have the wonderful team at Jennian Homes Rodney to thank for a completely new set of festive street flags for Christmas – this generosity will add fresh colour and pizzazz to our streetscapes. Now, if every business did a little bit to tart up their frontages, we would not just be quaint, but absolutely beautiful.

Murray Chapman, One Warkworth, Manager
www.onewarkworth.co.nz