"Beyond our expectations" - that's how Parkes Shire Council's General Manager Kent Boyd described their success at the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Tidy Towns Awards.
Parkes scooped up six awards on the night held in Bathurst on November 2, including claiming the prestigious 2024 Overall Winner.
After years of hard work in front of and behind the scenes, senior Council staff and councillors had the opportunity to see the Tidy Towns awards in the flesh at their November meeting.
"We were extremely excited to be able to accept these amazing Tidy Towns awards on behalf of, not just Parkes Shire Council, as in councillors, but on behalf of our staff who have put all of the legwork in behind the scenes to bring these projects to fruition," said Deputy Mayor Marg Applebee, who attended the awards night with Cr Bill Jayet.
"There were many projects of a very high standard so that speaks to the level that our staff are working to in terms of delivery.
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"We did have an opportunity to talk to one of the people who came here to review all of these projects and he did mention that he sneaks in ahead of that review time to check out if anyone is scrambling to get sites ready for viewing, he said Parkes Shire Council were all on top of it which was very pleasing to hear."
Being overall winner, Parkes will host the awards next year, planned for October.
"That's an opportunity to showcase not just our town but Homegrown Parkes as part of that, which was also an award recipient that contributed to that overall prize," Cr Applebee said.
Cr Jayet said it was a great honour to receive these awards on behalf of Council.
"But I just wished some of our staff had of been there with us because they're the ones who do all the hard work and we're the ones who stand up and accept the awards," he said at the meeting.
Cr Jayet thanked the effort of those who wrote the submissions as well.
"And it wasn't just the major projects that they focused on, they also visited the library and were really rapt in how the history is being recorded... So there was a lot that went into gaining Parkes this Tidy Town award," he said.
Mayor Neil Westcott added, "It certainly is something of quite high esteem to win, it's not easily done".
Parkes goes on to represent NSW at the Australian Tidy Towns Awards in Beechworth, Victoria, in May 2025.
