May 1, 2009

Tamworth’s tilt at the title of the 2009 Tidiest Town in Australia will be known next Friday May 8 at a gala awards presentation in Canberra.

A contingent of Tidy Town supporters are off to the national capital to be there for the Keep Australia Beautiful ceremony hosted by the Governor-General Quentin Bryce at Government House. It is the 40th year of the Tidy Town awards and Tamworth would love to mark that milestone with a winning milestone of its own.

Tamworth was the winner of the NSW state title last year and as NSW’s best example of a sustainable community went into the national judging to decide the best place in Australia.

The national presentation will acknowledge the country’s most outstanding civic place and the leading community-minded centre. The finalists are Atitjere in NT, Kambalda in WA, Stansbury (SA), Oatlands (Tas), Horsham (Vic), Caloundra (Qld) and Tamworth.

Judging in Tamworth last December included an assessment of over 40 different city spaces.

There are 11 categories in the national title, from community action, partnerships, litter prevention, resource recovery, environmental innovation, water conservation, energy innovation, environmental protection, youth achievement, heritage and culture, and the overall Dame Phyllis Frost Award for the supreme champion, named after the Keep Australia Beautiful founder.

Tamworth’s judging round included inspections and tours of Adopt a Road community action, gardens and parks, Forest Rd landfill, schools, memorials, sports grounds, landcare areas, museums, Penfords, the equine centre, housing developments, residential sustainable gardens, the Calala water treatment works and Meals on Wheels.

The fact that the judging was a couple days after Tamworth had been declared a natural disaster area from devastating storms and flooding did not count against it.

Keep Australia Beautiful said the awards were more about promoting a program of sustainable community pride and endeavour and it was the partnerships of Tidy Town committees and councils that counted towards the awards success.

The judge met with more than 20 different groups, residents and businesses who are part of the community action Tamworth sees under its Tidy Towns and civic partnerships, including many of the 44 355 committees across the council region.

Mayor James Treloar has said that the "judging of the award is not so much how pretty we look – but more about how community-minded Tamworth and the residents of the council region are."

"It’s also about the civic pride we show."