You may think that the challenge of addressing global warming and the impact it has on our environment is just too big, and what little you can do is going to be too small to make any real impact!
For many of you in the Armidale community, you already have.
If you are a member of the Armidale Bowling Club or have participated in a tree planting program with the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity project, or both, then you have made a real difference and you are a winner.
The Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities awards for 2012 have been awarded, with the Armidale Bowling Club and the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity Project emerging victorious.
The Armidale Bowling Club have won a water conservation award in the category of 10,000 to 25,000 population for their ongoing water conservation practices within the club and the education of its members. CEO of the Armidale Bowling Club Phil Wheaton, who was in Lithgow to receive the award, has not stopped grinning since returning.
“It all came about through our association with the Northern Inland Sustainable Business Network (NISBN) which has been really successful,” said Phil Wheaton.
“It was thought that it would be good for us to enter the Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards.
“I arrived back in Armidale on the Sunday afternoon and went for
a drive around Armidale and believe that, as a community, we have to be involved in the Tidy Town awards.
“We take our environmental plan very seriously at the Bowling Club. We have replaced hot water boilers with quick recovery hot water cylinders, we have a program with our members called Every Drop Counts where members have a brochure that they can take away that has seven steps in that program.
“If they identify something within our premise that needs to be fixed, we do it, and it has really paid off.
“We water our greens through a Toro pop up system, we don’t use town water, we use bore water.
“We know exactly how many millimetres we are putting onto the greens.”
The Armidale Bowling Club has now taken its sustainable practices into the community by teaming up with the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity Project where members and staff of the Armidale Bowling Club have planted out 1500 trees and are looking to take on more plantings.
“This is another terrific initiative that ties our members to their community,” said Phil Wheaton.
“I see the whole Tidy Towns organisation as being a fantastic way for the community to get involved in their own lifestyle by improving their city.”
The other local award winner was the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity Project which walked away with the award for Wildlife Corridors and Habitats Conservation for work across the Northern Tablelands region.
Community co-ordinator for the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity project Brenda Shepherd was also thrilled to have won.
“We came away with the award because of our linking of community, council and organisations that work together to improve the biodiversity within the towns in the Northern Tablelands,” Brenda Shepherd said.
“The community and the region’s Councils got together to put this project up, it was a two milllion dollar project.
“The four councils (Walcha, Uralla, Guyra and Armidale Dumaresq) were awarded the funding and Southern New England Landcare offered to take on the management.
“For people in Armidale, it is the Creeklands that have had the most significant transformation; for Walcha it is the Apsley River corridor; Uralla has had work done in Alma Park and significant amounts of bush regeneration. Our project has just about used all of its funding and finishes at the end of January.
“It is up to volunteers to continue what the Hi-Cub Urban Biodiversity Project has been able to start.”
Both Phil Wheaton and Brenda Shepherd are hopeful that these Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities awards will be the catalyst for the whole community to get involved more and hopefully, in the future, walk away with their city being crowned the overall Tidy Town winner.
Story: Jo Harrison
