Randwick City Council was recently announced the winner of the annual AR Bluett Memorial Award. The prestigious award is considered to be the highest accolade a New South Wales Council can aspire to and has been in existence since 1945.
Randwick City is located in the eastern suburbs of the Sydney metropolitan area. Covering an area of 36 square kilomtres, the City has a population of 121,500 people.
Randwick Mayor, Councillor Paul Tracey, said the Bluett Award is keenly contested each year. “Winning the award is a significant distinction for Randwick Council and the City of Randwick,” he said. “It’s like winning a gold medal in the Local Government Olympics.” The Trustees/Judges of the AR Bluett Memorial Trust congratulated Randwick on an outstanding achievement.
“Randwick City Council is a well deserved winner of the award, having completed an outstanding year of community service, Local Government management and achieving significant relative improvement,” the judges said. “Council has a refreshing and innovative approach to the many challenges confronting Local Government today, embracing rapid internal cultural change and demonstrating its core commitments to public service and community leadership.”
Mayor Tracey said Randwick made great progress in 2005-2006, initiating major changes in the way the organisation operates and in its achievements and improvements for residents and the whole area. This work was underpinned by Council’s unwavering commitment to customer service.
“We focused on getting the basics right for residents – building, maintaining and cleaning the City’s infrastructure and amenities,” the Mayor said. “True to our vision of ‘a sense of community’, Council has been building community cohesion and strengthening our social fabric as well.” Council has succeeded in planning for a sustainable future and engaging its community in the decision making processes.
Through the Randwick City Plan, Council’s strategic blueprint for the City, and alignment with the priorities and actions in Council’s annual management plan, the community can clearly see how and when Council is fulfilling its 20 year vision.
“Even with all Council’s initiatives and the extensive work we have undertaken, Council remains debt free, has a long term financial plan, and compares favourably with other similar Councils, despite having a low revenue per capita base,” Mayor Tracey said.
Randwick Council has a mounting tally of awards won over the last 12 months, including three awards from 2006 LivCom, the world’s prestigious awards for liveable communities.
