Tidy Towns, Sustainable Communities Awards 2012 

CONGRATULATIONS ARMIDALE!

OVERALL STATE WINNER

THE KEEP AUSTRALIA BEAUTIFUL NSW
TIDY TOWNS - SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AWARDS 2012  

With its rich heritage, natural beauty, commitment to sustainability and environmental protection, Armidale is the winner of the 2012 Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Overall Tidy Towns, Sustainable Communities Award.

After many months of assessing, judging and planning, the highly anticipated Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Tidy Towns, Sustainable Communities Awards were held over three days this weekend (2nd to 4th Nov) in the 2011 Overall Award winning town of Kyogle, NSW.

More than 250 delegates converged on the town, eager to discuss the issues affecting their communities, share insights, look at solutions, meet with others passionate about their community and of course hear the results.

Saturday morning saw the presentation of the Category Awards. Many towns and communities were rewarded for their outstanding efforts to create a more beautiful, sustainable environment for their region.

On Saturday evening The Hon. Robyn Parker, Minister for Environment and Minister for Heritage was special guest at the annual Awards Dinner, where Armidale was named the recipient of the most coveted title of the year – Overall State Winner, for its outstanding entry in 2012.

Bernie Murphy, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW congratulated Armidale as deserving winners of the 2012 Overall State Tidy Towns, Sustainable Communities Award.

“The vision for Armidale Dumaresq Council’s Community Strategic Plan is ‘Excellent Lifestyle, Sustainable Growth’.  This commitment is reflected in Council’s sustainability goals and targets and is supported by the community. Armidale is a beautiful town in many ways.  It is obvious that residents are proud of their community networks, the local environment and proactive uptake of sustainability. We congratulate Armidale for taking out the Overall Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Award for 2012 and wish them luck in the National Awards.” Mr Murphy said.

Situated half way between Sydney and Brisbane and only two hours from the coast, Armidale, which is the administrative seat of Armidale-Dumaresq Council, enjoys a warm summer, a cool autumn, a crisp winter and an exhilarating spring. The distinct seasons are what led to the area being dubbed ‘New England’.  Resting high on the Northern Tablelands, it is the most cosmopolitan NSW city outside Sydney, catering for harmonious living for nearly 26,000 citizens from 53 different nationalities.

Armidale is a model for sustainable communities. A dedication to the philosophy of community development, volunteering, cooperation and commitment to environmental wellbeing are backed with obvious civic pride. The assessor, Peter Clark says “I was impressed by this charming rural city with its lovely homes, beautiful parks, tranquil streams, heritage and art, old and modern. Armidale is a city with a strong economy and growth thanks to strong industry and business sectors. Well planned and laid out, this appealing city is well positioned to capitalise on its location as a hub between Sydney, Brisbane and the north coast.”

Award winning aspects of the town include:

·         Armidale-Dumaresq Council, the Down to Earth Gardening Group and Sustainable Living Armidale are working together on a number of initiatives to increase the production and consumption of local produce, including organising a bi-weekly farmers’ market, transforming six tennis courts into a community garden and planting street pots with winter veggies to promote home-grown gardening

·         The Armidale community are now diverting around 60% of their green waste from landfill and plan to increase this to 65% in 2013.  To support this, Council developed the 'City to Soil' program where green waste is collected fortnightly in compostable bags made from broccoli! Contamination rates of less than 0.05% are reported

·         Armidale City Bowling Club has been able to offset carbon emissions and provide habitat for native species through the purchase of a 2.4 hectare site which is being planted with trees. The Club works with Council, Landcare, The Tree Group, and the High Country Urban Biodiversity project to regenerate Dumaresq Creek in Armidale

·         Council works in collaboration with NSW councils and NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and a range of local community organisations on initiatives to reduce wood smoke pollution

·         While there are many examples of fine historic buildings throughout the area, Saumarez Homestead is the shining example. The homestead is the province of the National Trust of Australia and, with the support of more than 80 local volunteers is being restored and revitalised.

Armidale will now vie for the title of National Overall Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Winner at the Keep Australia Beautiful National Awards in May 2013.

Each Overall Tidy Town – Sustainable Communities Award winner (by population category) was analysed by a State judging panel to determine the coveted title of NSW Overall Tidy Towns, Sustainable Communities Winner for 2012.   

 The Overall Tidy Town, Sustainable Communities Award recipients by population category are: 

 A full range of environmental and sustainability initatives were awarded in 2012, and we congratulate each and every
one for their outstanding commitment to the environment.

HERE

The Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards program is made possible by
the generosity of its sponsors.