The achievements of a busy farmer, an active retiree and a community organisation were honoured in the annual Community Civic Awards.

Hinds farmer Peter Lowe received the Mayor’s Award for Public Service, Methven’s Robert Maxwell, a Civic Award the Ashburton RSA the Ashburton Medal at a ceremony last week.

Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said each of the recipients had “demonstrated significant dedication to our district through your substantial volunteer work”.

Peter Lowe has received the mayor’s award for public service, the highest civic honour bestowed by council for significant and sustained contribution to the district

Countless people in the Ashburton District have benefited from the volunteer work of Lowe Brown said.

“If you have played rugby in the Hinds area, farmed anywhere in the district, or attended Ashburton College, then the chances are very high that he has worked hard on your behalf.

“All these groups and organisations are much richer for his contributions and he has never sought the limelight, despite the huge number of hours given.

“Whatever the role, he has been in it for the right reasons and never for his own ego.

Hi volunteer work has spanned more than 40 years and all this while running a high-performing farming business with wife Diane, Brown said.

He has served and led committees for the Hinds and Southern rugby clubs and was made a life member last year.

He chaired the board of trustees at Hinds School and Ashburton College, and he has been a member of the Hinds and District Lions for over 10 years.

Peter’s voluntary work with farmers and the environment began with the modestly-named Hinds Drains Working Party.

Environment Canterbury acknowledged Lowe in 2018 for his leadership in developing a new more sustainable era of water management for Mid Canterbury.

He has since overseen groundbreaking work, the development of Managed Aquifer Recharge and the establishment of the Hekeao Hinds Water Enhancement Trust.

“His work in this water space is hugely important, as it shows farmers the tools and science now available to reduce the impact of things like nitrate leaching,” Brown said.

Robert Maxwell has cleaned nearly every single headstone in the Methven Cemetery over the past two to three years

One of the Methven community's unsung heroes received a Civic Award

The retired farmer once lived at the base of Mt Hutt and now lives at Methven House.

A member of the Methven Lions since 1986, when the club began talking about a project to clean up old gravestones at the cemetery, Maxwell led the charge.

He has spent 12 to 15 hours a week at the cemetery, in all weathers, completing the work.

He even paid for many of the cleaning materials himself.

Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan said Maxwell has polished and cleaned up every headstone where possible and the standard of workmanship has been described as excellent.

 “He had to clean up 100 years of moss, lichen, dirt and dust on some of the headstones and that involved a lot of physical scrubbing, using wire brushes, the occasional toothbrush and not to mention a lot of bending and kneeling.

“He has helped preserve an important slice of the district’s history and brought respect to the memory of those who have gone before us.”

Ashburton RSA received the Ashburton Medal for supporting war veterans in the community over 108 years

Mayor Brown said like many other small towns in New Zealand, Ashburton’s RSA was established after World War One and has had to reinvent itself in modern times.

“Today, it is proudly amongst the few RSAs remaining with a physical location.

“Over the past seven years, a small and committed team led by president Merv Brenton and vice-president Allan Johnstone has worked hard to keep the place open, as well as support serving and returned members of the Armed Forces, and non-service members.

“The fact that Ashburton has continued to stay open and as busy as it is, is a testament to the hard work of Merv and Allan and a series of presidents and committees, who have all worked to increase and diversify membership and make the RSA a venue for everyone.”

There RSA has no paid general manager, with all the work of the role done by volunteers, who manage a small number of paid staff.

“The ability of the committee to keep the hospitality side of the business afloat during Covid and now during a cost-of-living crisis is to be commended.”

The RSA supports 144 returned service people and veterans, as well as assisting the Ashburton Cadet Unit, and its members range from teenagers to those in their 90s.

Alongside the pastoral care work the RSA does for veterans and members, they visit schools on Anzac Day and Armistice Day, and run services at rest homes. The RSA also organises services for the community on Anzac Day.