24 May 2006
Mayor exults over West Coast win
Waitakere’s mayor Bob Harvey is celebrating the success of garden designer Xanthe White whose West-Coast inspired garden
won a silver medal at the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday.
The acclaimed garden is inspired by Karekare Beach, a place that Mayor Harvey has loved since his earliest days as a
surf lifesaver.
“Karekare is one of the most special places on the planet – that’s an undisputed fact,” he says.
“The rest of the world has seen Karekare in films like The Piano - but the sheer other worldliness of the scenery has to
be seen to be believed. The fact that it’s so unspoiled compared to so many overblown tourist destinations speaks for
itself,” says Mayor Harvey.
Xanthe’s vision of Waitakere’s West Coast will be seen by at least 160,000 visitors to the show.
The dramatic garden evokes elements of the West Coast’s temperamental landscape through use of black sand, recycled car
tyres, päua insets and glass features.
Mayor Harvey is the author of two books about Waitakere’s West Coast, Rolling Thunder and The Untamed Coast.
ENDS