Two Central Coast Council projects have been honoured with wins at the NSW Local Government Professionals Australia Awards held in Sydney last week.
The awards recognise the excellent contributions and outstanding achievements and innovations being implemented to advance and improve the local government sector in NSW.
Council’s ‘Fire-Ed Up: Bushfire Resilience Program’ was recognised in the Community Development category while council’s Marketing and Tourism team was honoured for their ‘Rewilding Destination Marketing: Central Coast Council’s Eco Destination Journey’ project in the Special Project Initiative category.
Fire-Ed Up was developed by council in collaboration with Central Coast Academy of STEM Excellence (CCASE) and Rumbalara Environmental Education Centre (EEC) – to build resilience in young people by increasing their bushfire knowledge, to improve wellbeing.
The hands-on program for stage three (years five and six) prepares students, their families, and community for the risk of bushfires, integrating with the existing school curriculum. Delivered to 1300 students across 12 schools so far, 71.4 per cent of participants reported they felt less worried about bushfires after taking part.
Rewilding Destination Marketing recognises the journey taken by council’s Marketing and Tourism team to become the second destination in NSW to achieve international recognition as a sustainable destination through Ecotourism Australia’s ECO Destination Certification program 12 months ago – one of only seven ECO destinations in Australia.
The in-house team play a key role in driving the region’s visitor economy, tourism industry capability and positive reputation. The 20-month journey to gaining ECO certification shows the local tourism industry, stakeholders and council are committed to community and environmental needs through sustainable tourism.
Central Coast Council Director Community and Recreation Services Melanie Smith said it was an honour to be recognised among so many Councils across the state.
“We were up against more than 20 councils across several categories, so it is a great achievement to walk away with multiple awards.
“These awards recognise our outstanding performance while delivering positive, valuable outcomes for the Central Coast community.”
Council administrator Rik Hart said both bushfire education and tourism are crucial for the Central Coast community.
“The Central Coast’s tourism economy brings in millions of dollars every year, boosting local businesses as well as providing employment.
“The work our Marketing and Tourism team does, working in collaboration with key stakeholders absolutely deserves the acknowledgement it has received with the award.
“Also, with over 128,500 hectares of bushland, how we educate the community on bushfire preparedness is key for our region. The ongoing work we do alongside emergency agencies to raise awareness and share resources that will help prepare us all for severe weather events is particularly important, so it’s also fantastic to see the Community Education team walk away with a win for their bushfire education efforts.”
