When your job involves heading out at 6am to clean public toilets and pick up rubbish, a can-do attitude is essential.

Luckily, Taupō District Council environmental ranger Liam Andrews has that quality in spades.

Last week Liam was named Kaitiaki o te Tau - Ranger of the Year, an annual award given to the member of the parks and reserves team who best represents Council’s values.

“It was a surprise, it was definitely nice to be recognised,” Liam says.

“The team is brilliant to work with, one of the best I’ve been in. Some days, in the middle of winter, it’s a hard job, but we all do our part and try to enjoy it. You just have to always try and have a laugh and keep everyone up and about.”

Liam and his team do some hard mahi to keep the Taupō District beautiful and he says the smiles on people’s faces make it all worth it.

“People are pretty positive when they see you picking up rubbish or when they’re going into a toilet you’ve just cleaned. “

Parks operations manager town centres Julie Gordon says Liam consistently goes above and beyond, and nothing is ever too much trouble.

“Liam is such a team player,” she says.

“He’s a well-liked and respected member of our team, everyone in council who has been involved with him comes back saying what a pleasure it is to work with him.

“He’s helped out other teams – it doesn’t matter what we throw at him, he just takes that attitude and gets on with it. It’s what we want from all our team members.”

The award was given during a rangers’ team day last week, a well-earned opportunity for the team, who normally work in shifts, to take a break and spend some time together.

Julie says the Ranger of the Year award is in its fifth year and the recipient gets a beautifully carved trophy that was paid for and donated by district parks manager Greg Hadley.

This year’s winner was extremely tough to pick, she says. Others who were “nipping at Liam’s heels” in terms of enthusiasm for the job, work ethic, and being great team players included Hamish Bowler, Jedi Te Aho, Awhimate Eru, Paul Reyes, Evan Hallett, and Benjamin Whimp, who won last year and was very close to going back-to-back.

As we head into the warmer summer months, and with major events coming to town, Taupō District Council’s parks and reserves team will be busier than ever. If you see them out and about, be sure to say hello and thank them for their hard work keeping the district beautiful.

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