Parkes is in the running for NSW Tidy Towns honours for 2024.
Parkes - through Parkes Shire Council and Central West Lachlan Landcare - is a finalist in four award categories at this weekend's Keep Australia Beautiful Awards as well as the overall Tidy Towns award.
Upgrades at Lake Endeavour and the splash park have earned us two finalist berths in the Liveable Towns Award, and Landcare's Homegrown Parkes is shortlisted for the Community Spirit and Inclusion Award.
The Raw Water Storage Lagoon is shortlisted for honours in the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Award.
The lagoon is a key component of Parkes Shire Council's water security project: it will store water pumped from the Lachlan River, and give Parkes 24 hours of security in the form of raw water that can be treated in the face of system failure or unplanned outages.
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The Akuna Road wetlands are filled with water from the council's advanced water recycling facility and are seeing the return of waterbirds to this area.
The shire's success in being shortlisted in so many categories is a reflection of work by council and community over years, and Mayor Neil Westcott said both the environmental and liveability aspects were important.
"There might be a lot of industrial development happening to the west of Parkes but at the same time the environmental side of what we do through Parkes Shire Council has been astounding the last 12 - 18 months," he said.
Developing the water play park at Kelly Reserve and improving accessibility at Lake Endeavour were some of the responses to the liveability survey the council did a couple of years ago.
"Family friendly areas to go are very important and I believe that as a council we've done that quite well," Cr Westcott said.
"It's going back a couple of years now but the fact we do have recycled water access to all our green areas in the town of Parkes, will make a huge difference next time we have a dry summer, and it just adds to he liveability and the reason people love to stay here, make it their home."
Keep Australia Beautiful NSW has been running the Tidy Towns program since 1981 which celebrates, recognises and rewards projects that reduce litter, minimise waste, encourage recycling, promote heritage and culture, biodiversity, and waterways protection, celebrate community spirit and many other environmental areas.
“The quality of entries in this year’s competition has been outstanding, showcasing the innovative and impactful projects and actions being undertaken across NSW,” said Val Southam, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW.
“I would like to congratulate all the finalists and entrants for their dedication to creating a more sustainable city for present and future generations.”
The winners of the 2024 Tidy Towns Awards will be announced on Saturday November 2 at two events to be held in the town of Bathurst, the overall Tidy Towns winner from 2023.
Several category awards will be presented at The Greens on William in the morning with the remaining category winners presented at a dinner at the Bathurst Harness Racing Club.
The Overall 2024 KAB NSW Tidy Town Winner will be announced from amongst the five finalist towns.
