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Dandaragan cleans up regional Tidy Town awards

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Dandaragan has claimed the title of Mid-West-Gascoyne Regional Winner for the 2009 Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities Award for the second year in a row.

Keep Australia Beautiful WA Tidy Towns State Program Manager Gail Dodd, said that Dandaragan’s community spirit was impressive and that the community had achieved remarkable results for a small country settlement of only 240 residents.

“It is very clear that the community is passionate about their patch and work hard collectively to maintain and develop the town,” she said.

“Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities is about much more than keeping towns clean and tidy. The awards reward and recognise towns for initiatives that involve the community in preserving their culture, protecting the environment and improving the sustainability and amenity of their towns.”
Category winners for the Mid-West-Gascoyne were:

• Community Action: Dandaragan
• General Appearance: Dandaragan
• Recycling and Waste Management: Dandaragan
• Natural Heritage Conservation: Dandaragan
• Enhancing Cultural Identity: Meekatharra
• Water Conservation: No award

“It was inspiring to see dynamic entries from schools this year. The ‘Moora Less’ Committee at Central Midlands Senior High School was highly commended for leading the Moora community in embracing the Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities concept,” Mrs Dodd said.

“Watheroo Primary School was also highly commended for showing strong leadership in sustainable practices.”

Initiatives that contributed to Dandaragan’s success included establishing a resource centre building; developing the St Anne’s church parkland; securing a rural property lease for the football club; running a play group; fundraising through knitting and sewing days; and fitness programs.

Mrs Dodd said Dandaragan now would compete with other regional winners for the overall WA Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities title to be announced at the State Awards Ceremony on 20 November at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. All regional category winners are in the running for a State category award.

“We were really impressed with the work done by the entrants in Mid-West-Gascoyne region and I congratulate Dandaragan, the category winners and all entrants and wish them all the best in their ongoing efforts to build vibrant and sustainable communities,” she said.

The Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities judges for the Mid-West-Gascoyne region included representatives from the Department of Environment and Conservation and guest judge, Peter Ashton.

Keep Australia Beautiful in Western Australia is supported by the Department of Environment and Conservation. Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities is sponsored by the Packaging Stewardship Forum and Grundfos. Golden West Network (GWN) is a media partner.

For more information about Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities contact Gail Dodd on 6467 5131.

Registrations for the 2010 Tidy Towns’ program are now open.