A formerly down-trodden and crime-ridden part of Nelson has completed a transformation by being named New Zealand's top community.
Victory Village has won the community section in the inaugural New Zealander of the Year awards.
In 10 years, the community's crime figures have declined from the worst in the top of the South Island to well below the Tasman district average.
Victory Primary School, once one of the worst achieving and most disruptive, is now being used as a model by the Ministry of Education.
Principal Mark Brown says roll turnover has dropped from 60% a year to just 10%.
