News: Tidy Towns Awards
Keep Australia Beautiful National Association has announced the seven state finalists for its Tidy Towns Awards for 2009. Atitjere (Harts Range), NT; Kambalda, WA; Stansbury, SA; Oatlands, Tas; Horsham, Vic; Tamworth, NSW and Caloundra, Qld are in the running for this year's award, now in its 40th year.
Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers are motivated by the award to donate their time to undertake practical local initiatives, from litter prevention and energy conservation to bush regeneration and the preservation of local culture and heritage.
Diane McIntosh, of the Kambalda Tidy Towns Award committee explains some of the initiatives that saw her town achieve a nomination for the Tidy Towns Awards this year.
“We had no recycling whatsoever, so I got the kids at (Kambalda Primary School) school to lobby the council, and then approached SETA to get a recycling bin. The council has since placed bins at the other schools.
“We also did our best to get rid of prickly pear. We had a lot of it: I got all of the kids at the school to map out where it was. The council has since poisoned it, and has actually taken some of it away.
“A few year’s ago we also put a trash and treasure outside of the tip, so that people can drop off things that are too good for the tip.”
Kambalda is mining town located in Australia's Golden Outback, 620km east of Perth, with a population of 4,200.
Winners for the 2009 Tidy Town Awards will be announced May 8.
