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Dedicating hundreds of hours to help protect the place he calls home’s resulted in Arrowtowner Mark Hosie being honoured by his community.
Hosie was lured to Arrowtown’s The Fork and Tap last Wednesday night to attend the judging of the Arrowtown Autumn Festival beard-growing comp.
Unbeknown to him, it was all a ruse to ensure he was present to be presented with the Autumn Festival’s ‘Unsung Hero’ award.
Festival chairwoman Nichola Bentley says every year the festival committee asks the community to nominate an Arrowtowner who’s gone above and beyond, making a significant impact on those around them.
Previous winners include Jean and the late Bob Britton, Jane Foster, Russell Heckler and the late Noelene Tait.
Bentley says the community’s "absolutely packed" with people who offer hours of time and effort to make a difference for others — and, last year, Hosie stepped up to the plate, hugely.
Originally an engineer from Southland, Hosie holidayed in Arrowtown for 45 years before retiring to the village 11 years ago.
Last year, the village faced a significant planning challenge laid down by Queenstown’s council — Bentley says the proposed urban intensification plan change had the potential to "change the face of Arrowtown as we know it".
Hosie, she says, took the challenge head on.
He erected 12-metre-high scaffolding to provide a visual representation and led an information campaign as convener of the Friends of Arrowtown Village, joined by equally passionate and supportive locals.
With help from Rosie Hill and Graeme Todd, of Todd Walker, the Arrowtown Promotion and Business Association, Assembly Architects and many others, Hosie liaised with council and motivated the community to have their say.
Ultimately, that resulted in more than 1000 submissions to support the heart of Arrowtown retaining its historical planning and design guidelines.
"Personally, Mark committed hundreds of hours and significant funds towards passionately promoting the protection of the village he has called home for many years," Bentley says.
"He did this for the good of our community now, and particularly in the future."
Bentley notes Hosie’s a man to see things out — and the fight’s not quite over, given an appeal’s just been filed to protect the design guidelines which are not yet secure.
