Tweed Shire Council in New South Wales has been recognised for outstanding community engagement for a pop-up shopfront educating on foreshore revitalisation.
About 2000 people visited the Kingscliff Matters shopfront project, which operated in Marine Parade for nine weeks from February to April this year.
The pop-up shop offered the public information about the Kingscliff Foreshore Revitalisation project, the draft Kingscliff Locality Plan, and the Kingscliff-Dreamtime Beach Coastal Zone Management Plan.
The project was well received and recently took out the Award for Community Engagement at the Australian Coastal Awards, held in Rockingham, Western Australia.
The award was accepted by Councillor Barry Longland, who said the community engagement project has attracted a lot of interest from other councils.
“It was an excellent process to engage the community through the shopfront and that was recognised by the Coastal Council.
“There was a great deal of interest among other councils at the conference. Many delegates came to talk to me about the shopfront process, how we set it up and how we received feedback.
“Having gone through that process, as councillors we now feel much more confident about the projects and their acceptance by the community.
“The award presentation was a great opportunity to acknowledge the great work of the Council staff who set up and operated the shopfront,” said Cr Longland.
The organisation that runs the award ceremony, the Australian Coastal Councils Association, is a national body that represents the interests of coastal councils and their communities. The organisation was previously known as the National Sea Change Taskforce.
Deputy Chair of the Australian Coastal Councils Association, Sharon Cadwallader, said the awards were established to acknowledge the achievement of individuals and organisations that have made a significant contribution to the Australian coastal environment, settlements and sustainability.
She said the standard of nominations for the 2016 Australian Coastal Awards was particularly high.
“Many of the people who took part in the projects that received awards are not well known public figures – they are community volunteers, council officers, researchers and others who are working on these projects behind the scenes, out of public sight. But the work they are doing is vital.”
