The Collie Tidy Towns Committee has been acknowledged for its work in the community.
Collie’s group was recently announced as one of 41 Western Australian regional communities vying for Keep Australia Beautiful’s Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards.
Other South West entrants have included Augusta, Esperance, Greenbushes and West Arthur.
Submissions will be closed on June 15, with judges visiting each community by the end of July.
Collie’s Tidy Towns Committee was a state finalist in the Waste Management and Environmental Education categories in last year’s competition.
Collie was chosen as one of seven state finalists, having entered into each category.
The committee recently won the Heritage and Culture and Water Conservation categories in the 2014 South West Regional Tidy Towns awards.
The town won the national Tidy Towns title in 2006 along with the WA state title in 2005 and 2003.
The committee was also a finalist in Environment Award category for Collie’s 2017 Australia Day Awards.
The awards recognised the committee for continuing to “work to make Collie a tidy and sustainable community”.
The awards acknowledged initiatives including the purchase and distribution of pocket ashtrays and car litter bags for Collie citizens.
The group was also recognised for implementing the council’s education process for litter reduction and sustainable initiatives through print and radio.
The Tidy Towns Committee has sponsored the Beyond Gardens: Regional Roadshow GardenWise Seminar, to be held on Tuesday, March 28 from 4pm to 6pm at the Margaretta Wilson Centre.
The Beyond Gardens Team will be visiting Collie as well as Kojonup, Katanning, Tambellup, Gnowangarup, Lake King, Newdegate, Lake Grace and Narrogin.
Tidy Towns Committee chairperson Nola Green said the group was committed to ensuring the town remained clean and presentable for everyone.
“People think Tidy Towns, because of the title, is just picking up litter but it’s far more than that,” she said.
“Tidy Towns people tend to be passionate about their towns, passionate about their communities and are probably going to enter if they have got that passion, whether there is a prize or not.”
“I would say for our community, our major impact would be Central Park and also part of that would be that we were national winners in disability access and inclusion, being an inclusive community.
“That access, which is a built-in feature of all of Central Park, would be quite a compelling factor one would hope.”
The Shire of Collie recognised the Tidy Towns Committee’s work in the implementation of the third bin – for organics – in early 2016.
Ms Green said the bin campaign has reduced the amount of waste at the landfill site while the level of compliance with compostable bins was above average.
“The introduction of third bin, part of that from council was the state waste management strategy set goals for local governments to meet to try to reduce the amount of stuff that is going to landfill and so encouraging more reduce, reuse and recycle,” she said.
The Tidy Towns Competition state finals will be held in October.
Keep Australia Beautiful Council Chairman Michael Aspinall said the Tidy Towns competition showcased each town’s commitment to keeping clean and helping the environment.
“It is encouraging to see the range of communities entered and we look forward to hearing about these towns’ inspiring projects at the State Awards later this year,” he said.
“The Tidy Town awards recognise community efforts in areas such as heritage conservation, environmental sustainability and litter management.
“Over the years, these awards have brought communities together to achieve common outcomes that benefit the environment.”
