The winners of the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW (KAB NSW) 2023 Tidy Towns Awards were announced on Saturday 4 November 2023 at an event hosted by last year’s winner, Scone.
The KAB NSW 2023 Tidy Towns Overall Award was awarded to Bathurst, qualifying the town to represent NSW in the National Tidy Towns Awards to be held in Gascoyne Junction, Western Australia in 2024.
Running nationally since 1990, the Tidy Towns awards have evolved to encompass projects and initiatives with a focus on environmental sustainability and resource management reflecting a growing awareness of the importance of community-led environmental action. The awards recognise the hard work undertaken by regional towns, councils, schools, individuals and groups, encouraging the sharing of best practices and ideas to enhance our rural towns.
Overall winner Bathurst also won in the Litter Prevention: Clean Communities, Communication and Engagement and Heritage and Culture categories and received a highly commended in the Biodiversity Conservation category.
KAB NSW Tidy Towns Assessor, Doug MacDonald commented that “The Bathurst community is committed at every level to continue being a resilient, healthy, environmentally, and culturally sensitive community. There is very clear leadership from Council which has earnt strong support from the community.”
Val Southam, CEO of KAB NSW, said that “the Tidy Towns Awards inspire communities and councils across NSW to make a genuine and lasting contribution to their area through partnerships between local authorities, businesses, community groups, schools, and individuals.
“The commitment of the councils, organisations and individuals who entered is evident in the calibre of the entries received this year and I would like to congratulate this year’s winners and finalists and everyone that entered.” said Ms Southam.
The award program is run by Keep Australia Beautiful NSW with support from the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Upper Hunter Shire Council, Snowy Hydro, Australian Rail Track Corporation and TerraCycle.
ABOUT THE TIDY TOWNS AWARDS Since 1981, the Tidy Towns Program has been rewarding and recognising projects around litter, waste management, recycling, heritage, community spirit and other environmental areas in towns both large and small across the breadth of NSW. We endeavour to deliver an inclusive and positive platform that encourages shared learnings and inspires environmental action at the local level. The program recognises and celebrates those rural and regional communities who are pioneering the path towards a more sustainable future. For more information about the NSW Tidy Towns Awards visit: https://www.kabnsw.org.au/
