Titjikala is 2013 Tidy Town for the NT

The desert community of Titjikala, south of Alice Springs, is the Northern Territory’s 2013 Tidy Towns Winner and now in the running for this year’s Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Tidy Towns awards.
 
The national judge Dick Olesinski visited Titjikala earlier this week as part of his judging tour, to compare it against six other finalists across the country.
 
The Australian Tidy Towns Program recognise the hard work undertaken by individuals and groups in rural communities and share these best practices and  ideas to continue to improve our important rural towns.
 
Initiatives evaluated against the national awards criteria included community action and partnerships, litter prevention, resource recovery and waste management, environmental innovation and protection, water conservation, energy innovation, heritage and culture, and young legends.
 
Keep Australia Beautiful Northern Territory CEO, Heimo Schober, said: “The people of Titjikala take great pride in their community and have a rich display of heritage and culture.
 
“The people share their country and heritage through their arts, crafts and sporting activities.  The town’s park, swings, school, offices, homes, store and buildings stand out and shine with immense pride.”
 
With a population of less than 300 residents, the community of Titjikala is among the red sand dunes of the Simpson Desert. With the formation of the Northern Territory shire councils in recent years, the MacDonnell Shire Council has become central and instrumental in reinvigorating that community pride and re-engaging the Tidy Towns competition.
 
Five years ago, when the MacDonnell Shire was formed, Titjikala did not have a regular rubbish collection.
 
Households burned their waste in old drums on the street. This was not healthy or safe and the community struggled to be clean and attractive.
 
The MacDonnell Shire Council set goals and objectives so that over a number of years all their communities would be cleaner, healthier and more attractive.
 
Today Titjikala has a regular twice weekly rubbish collection that is safely disposed of at its waste management facility.
In response to these initiatives many sections of the community have become more involved to make Titjikala the clean and tidy town it is today.
 
In response to its community owners’ requests, the Community Store is a willing contributor to the tidiness of Titjikala by introducing its owners’ proactive initiatives. Among other examples, the store replaced its use of complimentary plastic bags with paper bags to better manage the local environment.
 
Nationally, the Tidy Towns program received 360 entrants, and 1300 category submissions across councils, shires, community groups, schools and individuals. These figures have increased from previous years, when last year KAB received 300 entrants and 1180 category submissions.
 
The current Tidy Towns title holder is Victor Harbor in South Australia, and is sponsored by The Do the Right Thing Program of the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum.
(News release contributed.)