Karen Gaffney (Lady Mayoress, Indigo Shire Council), Barbara Murdoch (Deputy Mayor ISC), Sarah Robinson, Anne Wilson, Jill Jarvis-Wills, Bernard Gaffney, (Mayor Indigo Shire Council), Iris Mannik, Aliza Robinson, Annette Walton (Youth Officer ISC).
The Victorian town of Beechworth has gone home with three awards, deservedly won at the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Awards 2015 held in Sheffield, Tasmania this evening. The overall 2015 Tidy Towns title went to Toodyay, Western Australia.
Beechworth won Energy Innovation, as well taking home two Highly Commended for Community Action and Partnerships; and Environmental Innovation and Protection.
The successful Patch to Pedal program involved a bike trail linking nine of Beechworth’s best backyard fruit and vegetable gardens. It was designed, promoted and run by Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability Group to inspire more people to grow their own food. The project also involved young people, prison inmates, a local business, and community helpers.
Whereas Healthy Woodlands, Happy Barking Owls is the Indigo Shire’s Environment Advisory Committee, involving local Landcare groups, Trust for Nature, and Community members to raise awareness of the importance of Indigo’s woodland habitat for the survival of endangered species, such as barking owls, squirrel gliders and phascogales.