Beef Capital crowned Queensland’s ‘Tidy Town’

Acting Mayor Neil Fisher says the award is a testament to all the hard work, dedication and innovation across council.

Councillor Donna Kirkland, Councillor Tony Williams, Councillor Shane Latcham and Acting Mayor Neil Fisher. Picture: Contributed

ROCKHAMPTON Regional Council has been named the overall winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful 2020 Queensland Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns award.

The judges commented Rockhampton delivered a range of well planned and executed projects demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainability and the community across all awards categories, making the town highly deserving of the win.

Running nationally since 1990, the awards have evolved to encompass projects and initiatives with a focus on environmental sustainability and resource management to reflect a growing awareness of the importance of community-led environmental action.

The awards recognise the hard work undertaken by regional towns, councils, individuals and groups and share these best practices and ideas to continue to improve rural towns.

Acting Mayor Neil Fisher said the award was a testament to all the hard work, dedication and innovation across council.

“Being announced as the overall winner is a result of the strong performance across multiple nomination categories,” Mr Fisher said.

“As well as taking out the overall award, we were pleased to be announced winners for the Environmental Sustainability – Water and the Resource Recovery and Waste Management categories.

“It is great to see the concepts of our circular economy, which began just a few short years ago, come into fruition.

“This is a win for our whole organisation, and our community.”

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Waste and Recycling Councillor Shane Latcham said being awarded in the Resource Recovery and Waste Management category was a shared win for council’s Waste and Civil Operations units.

“This award recognises innovation and achievements in reducing and managing materials that would otherwise go to waste and is a great example of council working toward building a circular economy for the Rockhampton region,” Mr Latcham said.

Infrastructure Councillor Tony Williams said working alongside the team at Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling to recycle materials for infrastructure projects not only benefited the environment, but it also delivered a considerable cost saving.

“Through this project, council has diverted 34,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste for reprocessing and reuse as concrete, asphalt and topsoil, saving council $5.6 million,” Mr Williams said.

Water and Supporting a Better Environment Councillor Donna Kirkland said she was thrilled with the results.

“The Environmental Sustainability – Water category recognises leadership and innovation in water conservation and management for the future, so it is fantastic to be recognised for the work we’re doing,” Ms Kirkland said.

“The Fitzroy River estuary is a vitally important waterway that supports an abundance of aquatic wildlife and provides significant recreational value to the local community, and the upgrades council and Fitzroy River Water have implemented have delivered more than a 20 per cent reduction in nitrogen released to the Fitzroy River estuary over the last two years.”

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