Dairy Land Hawera

A prize of $10,000 is being offered for a new design to revitalize the shut-down, boarded-up Dairyland, Hawera's southern gateway visitor centre.
The loss-making centre was closed last September by owner Fonterra Group, which stated that a tourism operation was not a core function for a dairy products manufacturer.
Fonterra was planning to take the displays elsewhere. Business and community leaders throughout Taranaki were shocked by the sudden move.
But within a month a group led by South Taranaki Mayor Mary Bourke, had started work on a possible rescue plan.
The competition prize is being funded by the Mayoral Project Committee of the South Taranaki District Council.
Miss Bourke said yesterday: "My vision for five years hence is Dairyland brought up to date and booming as a first contact point for people entering the region from the south and a place of interest for locals wishing to entertain and educate both personal and business guests.
She said the only part of the present displays worth retaining and upgrading was the milk tanker ride. New display possibilities could be based on any of the showcase features in the brief. The cafe would be a fundamental element but not necessarily on its rotary milking platform.

Nigel Ogle, the modelling and working miniatures genius who built the Tawhiti Museum, is a member of the gateway group and will be a design judge. Other members are solicitor Ken Horner, regional councillor Neil Walker and Don Stockwell, the STDC business adviser.