THE City of Mandurah received two major awards and honours at the Western Australia Sustainable Cities Awards held in Perth on July 31.
Despite narrowly missing out on the overall State Award, which was won by the City of Cockburn, Mandurah was named winner of the Community Action and Partnership Award and the Litter Prevention Award.
These awards were received for a number of projects which work towards Mandurah’s future sustainability.
They included the Stretch Festival, INQB8 art gallery, the Coodanup Bird Hide, Mapping Our Community Together, a number of EcoServices workshops, local Clean Up Australia Day and WA Beach Clean Up Day events and the 2011 Junior Council’s successful Anti-Litter Campaign.
Mandurah also received two High Commendations; one for Environmental Innovation and Protection (for initiatives such as the Significant Tree Register, Tree Preservation zones, State of the Environment Report and the ClimateWatch Trail) and another for Energy Innovation specifically for the CHERP project.
In June, awards judge and chief advisor for the Sustainable Energy Authority professor Ray Wills visited the three finalists Mandurah, Cockburn and Rockingham to determine the overall state winner.
While in Mandurah professor Wills was shown a range of exciting and innovative sustainability programs by City staff, including the Sustainable Mandurah Home, the Coodanup Bird Hide and Marlee Reserve.
Mr Wills was impressed by the City’s projects and submission.
At this year’s awards ceremony, held at the Parmelia Hilton Hotel, eight councils battled it out for a number of honours and more than 140 projects were entered in total. The Australian Sustainable Cities Awards, held annually by Keep Australia Beautiful, encourage, motivate and celebrate the local sustainability achievements of urban communities across Australia.
Local governments are judged on their innovative efforts each year in working towards building a sustainable urban environment for its community.
