Media Release: LG Week Award Winners Announced
15 August 2012
Local knowledge. Local services. Local communities. 13 – 19 August 2012
Innovative NSW council initiatives highlighting excellence in communication and reporting were recognised tonight at the LG Week Awards ceremony at The Concourse in Chatswood.
In his speech Cr Ray Donald, President of the Shires Association of NSW stated:
“The RH Dougherty Awards and the projects nominated highlight just how important excellent communications practices are – without which members of the community would be none the wiser about the various initiatives and events available in their local area,” said Cr Donald.
“More and more councils are communicating using new forms of technology and embracing the weird and wonderful world of social media. We had several nominations for phone apps, crisis communications using Facebook and interactive community consultation websites, definitely signalling a sign of changing times,” he said.
President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Keith Rhoades AFSM agreed, stating:
“This year’s LG Week theme is Local Knowledge. Local Services. Local Communities. This theme was chosen because it best represents what our council’s strengths are (local knowledge), what we do (provide local services), and who we work for (our local communities),” said Cr Rhoades.
“The RH Dougherty Awards are the highest accolade a NSW council can receive in the area of communications. Tonight, we have some excellent examples of councils living the theme of Local Government Week 2012, with the Dougherty Awards recognising councils who have achieved excellence through communicating the great work they do to their communities.”
The RH Dougherty Awards and LG Week are managed by the LGSA and judged by leading experts in the communications field. The 2012 winners are:
Award for Excellence in Communication
Division A: population less than 30,000
Winner: Forbes Shire Council – Flood Event March 2012 Crisis Communications
Judges comments – “Truly an excellent effort by all to react to an emergency situation; responsibility was taken by all levels of Council to ensure the community was safe. This was an excellent campaign response to a crisis management plan.”
Highly Commended: Coonamble Shire Council – Coonamble Shire Community Strategic Plan
Division B: population 30,000 - 100,000
Winner: Leichhardt Council – Callan Park Master Plan
Judges comments – “This entry really stood out for original thinking. A quite different project whose strategic objective from the outset was to develop a best practice, transparent engagement process, facilitated by a pioneering, ‘web enabled’ consultation model called “Callan Park your plan”
Highly Commended: Port Macquarie-Hastings – ‘Staff Matters’ campaign
Division C: population over 100,000
Winner: Bankstown City Council – “Recycle Right! At Bankstown”
Judges comments – “What a sensational project! Nothing glamorous about the subject but a great project and also the fact that they want to share the knowledge is brilliant.”
Highly Commended: Rockdale City Council – Rockdale City Council’s New Year’s Eve Family Fireworks Event Control Plan
Awards for Reporting to your Community
Division A: population less than 30,000
Winner: Moree Plains Shire Council – Using Facebook to connect to the community with Facebook avatar Moreen Plains.
Judges comments – “This entry is deserving of praise for Moreen on Facebook alone! She’s a winner, humanising the council, enabling efficient communication to the residents of Moree Plains.”
Division B: population 30,000 - 100,000
No winner awarded.
Division C: population over 100,000
Winner: Lake Macquarie City Council – ‘Securing our Future’ booklet
Judges comments – “An excellent way of engaging the community on a difficult issue in a booklet beautifully presented. A great way of re-directing an existing budget allocation. The 16-page booklet was developed to inform the community about Council’s current financial situation, the desire for Council to regain financial sustainability, and Council’s intention to apply for a rate increase if community support could be demonstrated for one of the three funding options.”
Highly Commended: Rockdale City Council – Two projects - Emergency Dial Triple Zero and Surprise Navy Workouts
Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution
Winner: Natasha Comber, Manager Marketing and Communications, Dubbo City Council
Judges comments – “Natasha Comber’s excellence in communication came into its own with the breadth of work shown in the application put forward and the proof that she was integral to attracting locals and the general public to her destination, Dubbo!.”
Other Awards presented this evening
Other Awards presented last night include Local Government Procurement’s Robert Wilson OAM Award, the Office of Communities’ National Youth Week 2012 Awards, the Heart Foundation’s Healthy Community Awards, and the Cancer Council’s Alive and Well Partnership Awards.
The Robert Wilson OAM Award is sponsored by Local Government Procurement
This award acknowledges outstanding effort of an individual councillor or staff member in promoting regional cooperation. This year’s winner is Cr Phyllis Miller of Forbes Shire Council.
Photos of award winners will be available at www.lgsa.org.au/lgweek from 12 noon Friday 17 August. For urgent photo requests with a Thursday deadline, email sally.english@lgsa.org.au.