October 29, 2009
Tamworth has won more gongs and shown off its best bits to a whole new wave of admirers who have voted Tamworth a top spot to visit this week.
Mayor James Treloar says the feedback from many of the 630 delegates from this week’s NSW Local Government Conference was of overwhelming surprise and knockout reactions.
He says many visitors were ‘absolutely dumbfounded” by what they found when they arrived in Tamworth.
“I think that a lot of people who visited for the first time were absolutely amazed. And for a lot of people who haven’t been here for a while there was the same reaction – they were blown away at what we have here,” Mr Treloar said late Wednesday October 28 after the five-day conference wound up.
“So many people just could not believe the amount of infrastructure that has been put into place in the last few years. And the change in this city in the last 10 years has been amazing. I think we forget what it was like.”
Mr Treloar singled out Peel St as a massive vote winner.
“I mean it was just such an atrocious street and there’s been an enormous improvement. I think we have become very complacent about how good it looks,” Mr Treloar said.
“It’s been amazing to see the absolute amazement of people seeing our city through their eyes. It is magnificent. And there’s been enormous praise for the friendliness of people. The delegates have had a great experience and been absolutely delighted with what they’ve seen and done.”
General manager Glenn Inglis says there was some incredible feedback from councillor delegates in the wake of Tamworth Regional Council being named the most progressive council in NSW for 2008/2009 by winning the AR Bluett Memorial Award on Sunday.
The award goes to the council that achieves the most outstanding results for its community in the year and is the most prized award of all in local government.
Mr Inglis said many delegates also took the opportunity to tour some city spots, including the Forest Rd landfill to see how TRC has handled its recycling, and to examine council services and facilities. He said AELEC and TRECC had come in for high praise too. Another big vote winner for delegates was the chance to plant their own tree in Tamworth to leave a memorial –but also reduce their carbon footprint. He said many city delegates, from some of the 40 Sydney bodies, were here for the first time and impressed with what a regional city could produce.
Tamworth is on show again for the second time in a week to statewide delegates from Friday – with even more critical eyes being cast over the city. Tamworth will come under scrutiny by some of the best in the business when it hosts the Tidy Towns state awards weekend.
Mr Treloar said the next event will also show off the city’s diversity and enormous variety in infrastructure because visitors this time around will see the Capitol Theatre, Darling St community centre and its two main parks, Anzac and Bicentennial, which will host event functions.