Keep Australia Beautiful NSW has announced Scone as the overall winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW 2022 Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns Awards at an event on 4 March hosted by the 2021 Award winner, Singleton.

Scone has been practicing principles of sustainability as a matter of survival for many years and although new to the Sustainable Communities Tidy Town Awards, their projects and programs entered in 2022 were exemplary.

Keep Australia Beautiful CEO, Val Southam said that ‘Scone has an inspiring ability to overcome challenges and motivate the community to work towards a better future. We could not be prouder to announce Scone as the NSW Tidy Towns overall winner.’

Lead Tidy Towns judge, Doug MacDonald noted that “it was evident that they have been committed for a long time and that their thinking is clear and purposeful”.

Scone’s projects were as diverse as the individuals and groups involved in seeing through each of the 7 initiatives entered, and what has made Scone stand out is a clear collective vision for what a sustainable Scone looks like.

Scone took out multiple category wins, the Scone District Garden Club won their respective population category for Habitat & Wildlife Conservation, and the Scone Literary Festival took home the Heritage & Culture Award.

The principle and four (4) students at Belltrees Public School deserve a special mention, winning two Highly Commended Awards in Waterways & Marine Protection and Young Legends categories, and being crowned the Winner of the Communication & Engagement category for their inspirational project ‘Regenerative Agriculture at Belltrees’.

Scone Tidy Towns Committee Chair, Ian Judd, was over the moon with the announcement made at the annual Tidy Towns Awards Dinner on Saturday night at the Singleton Civic Centre, saying just how much the Tidy Towns Awards mean to the Scone community and for environmental progress across the state.

“To be called a Tidy Town is a badge of honour, a reflection of a community focused on striving for sustainable excellence. It is about the people and the relationships developed by community, schools, Councils, and business to create an environmental, social and economically sustainable community. It is about the love people have for their town and the pride they have for showcasing it to others. Tidy Towns is the way towards developing a great town – it is bloody brilliant.”

KAB NSWs Awards Program Manager, Elliot Stephens, said that “The ability of Scone’s community groups to collaborate with one another and work towards a shared goal is the perfect demonstration of what the Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns program is all about, and we are eagerly looking forward to receiving entries when the 2023 Tidy Towns Program opens in late March.”