Christchurch City Council's International Relations Team has won a top prize at the Sister Cities NZ Air New Zealand Awards.

This is the second year running that the team has won a first place in the awards. The prize was awarded at the annual New Zealand Sister Cities Convention in New Plymouth this week.

Last year the team won the prize in the Best Youth Project category and this year it won the prize for the Best Cultural Project category.

The project entry covered the cultural aspects of the opening of the City Council's Sister Cities' Gardens at the old Halswell Quarry in February.

Representative delegations from Christchurch's six sister cities were at the opening of the gardens.

The gardens cover nearly 20 hectares and forms part of what will become a 55-hectare garden park.

The gardens were initiated by Turning Point 2000, organisation established in 1995 by the City Council to celebrate the Millennium, the 150th anniversary of European settlement in Canterbury and the 160th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi by Ngai Tahu.

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