Photo courtesty of Australia.com
Queensland capital the City of Brisbane and beautiful West Beach in Victoria were announced as the nation’s best at the Keep Australia Beautiful’s Sustainable Communities awards dinner tonight.
Brisbane have secured the Australian Sustainable City Award, while West Beach took the title of Australian Clean Beach for 2016.
The event was held in Frankston, Victoria – last year’s big winners – and was hosted by Catriona Rowntree.
Individual awards were also given for leading cities and beaches in the following areas: Litter Prevention, Waste Management and Resource Recovery (ACT and VIC); Environmental Sustainability (QLD and WA); Environmental Education (NSW); Community Action and Wellbeing (VIC and TAS); Heritage and Culture (WA and SA); and Young Legends (TAS, VIC, and NSW). See overleaf for full list of winners.
Overall Australian Sustainable Cities winner Brisbane City Council succeeds by trusting its own ambitious decisions, said Sustainable Cities judge Sue Burton.
“They plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2017,” she said.
“The scale of change required to meet this target and to be water smart, aim for zero waste, increase biodiversity, to be a resilient city and to deliver in partnership with community and industry requires long-term thinking and actions implemented beyond the usual political time frames.
“Brisbane does all this, and does it exceptionally well. Having won this award in 2014 this new recognition commends Brisbane City Council’s ongoing commitment to sustainability across every awards category.”
Clean Beaches overall winner West Beach, Saint Kilda is a popular recreation spot in an urban environment in close proximity to one of Australia’s busiest ports.
“Nevertheless,” said Clean Beaches judge Averil Bones, “West Beach remains clean and beautiful, with great facilities, a passionate group of committed residents, an engaged business community, and an effective and responsive council.
“It is no coincidence that West Beach, through the leadership of the Port Phillip EcoCentre, has also jointly won this year's Young Legends category. The dynamic young leaders emerging from the West Beach community are testament to a long-term commitment to litter prevention, recycling, environmental sustainability and education programs that engage and nurture the next generations.”
David Imrie, National Chief Executive Officer of Keep Australia Beautiful said “The consistently high quality sustainability initiatives springing up across the country are inspiring and encouraging.”
“Seeing our Young Legends volunteers, to small communities like Narooma in NSW, to sustainable businesses like Soft Landing and city councils like Randwick, Brisbane and Yarra all at their best, it’s a reminder that it takes all of us, in our own individual and community capacity, to create real and
long-lasting change to Australia’s environment.”
The city of Frankston hosted a full day for awards finalists, starting with a tour of Frankston and its winning sustainability projects, followed by workshops designed to inspire and creatively engage with sustainability issues.
Through the Sustainable Communities and Tidy Towns Programs, Keep Australia Beautiful share expert knowledge and experience to empower those who care about our environment to actively work towards a cleaner, more sustainable Australia.
Australian Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches 2016 Winners Table
| CATEGORY | SUSTAINABLE CITIES WINNER | CLEAN BEACHES WINNER |
| Overall Winner |
Brisbane City Council Queensland
|
West Beach Victoria
|
|
Special Commendation
|
N / A |
Victor Harbor
South Australia
|
|
Dame Phyllis Frost Litter
Prevention, Waste
Management and
Resource Recovery
|
Soft Landing Mattress Recycling
Australian Capital Territory
|
West Beach
Victoria
|
|
Environmental
Sustainability
|
Brisbane City Council
Queensland
|
Cemetery Beach
Western Australia
|
|
Environmental
Education
|
Randwick City Council
New South Wales
|
Narooma Beach
New South Wales
|
|
Community Action and
Wellbeing
|
Yarra City Council
Victoria
|
Dover Beach
Tasmania
|
|
Heritage and Culture
|
Albany
Western Australia
|
Victor Harbor
South Australia
|
|
Young Legends
|
Glenorchy City Council
Tasmania
|
Gio Fitzpatrick
West Beach, Victoria
|
|
Young Legends
|
N/A
|
Georgia Poyner
Narooma, New South Wales
|
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