The Sustainable Paremoremo Project began in February 2008.  It comprises of a group of people who gather together once a month at the local Community Club to share their interest, knowledge and enthusiasm for the environment.  Founded by local woman Barb Cooper and North Shore City Council Education Officer, Kate Jackson, the project has been the catylst for a wide range of changes that have occurred within the local area.

The gatherings usually consist of either workshops where local people work together to establish collective goals, or speakers who are invited in to provide extra knowledge.  The supper afterwards is always a great time for sharing ideas and meeting new neighbours.  The underlying vision of the group is about
‘caring for ourselves, our families, our neighbours and the environment.’
The project has been supported by NZ  Forest & Bird, Auckland Regional Council, North Shore City Council, University of Auckland, Kaipatiki Project, and the Albany Community Board.
Areas of interest are strongly focused on resourcefulness and protecting the natural environment.  Topics focused on include:
  • Insulating our homes, smarter home upgrades
  • Composting, bokashi, worm farms
  • Gardening, edible foods, good nutrition
  • Visits to local properties
  • Native plant and trees, identifying and protecting, planting
  • Native birds, identifying and protecting, surveying
  • Focus on pest plants and animals
  • Stream protection
  • Reducing rubbish, composting, recycling, disposable nappies
  • Getting to know neighbours to enable sharing of resources and looking out for one another
  • Some of the changes that have occurred within the area include:
  • Connection with the Forest & Bird and the North Western
  • Wildlife Link to help create a corridor for birds to move between the Waitakere Ranges and the Gulf Islands
  • Pest free Pare established – 65 households signed up to eradicate pests on their properties
  • Community plantings – clusters of neighbours working together to remove noxious weeds plant communal areas such as the roadside or edge of reserves
  • New bus service established to take older children to schools on the shore reducing the number of parents having to take extra trips to pick up their kids
  • Community garden –in conjunction with the school a community garden has been established
  • Neighbourhood networks –creating a way to simply re-establish neighbourhood networks
  • Naturally Smarter Homes pilot project to encourage local people to make naturally smarter choices in their home and on their property
  • A number of local residents have sought help from Kaipatiki to clear streams of weeds on their properties and replant with native species

The Paremoremo Community under the umbrella name of ‘Sustainable Paremoremo’ are the winners of the ARC 2010 Environmental Awards most Sustainable Community Award.