PICTURED (from left) are Jeff Macleod, CEO MacDonnell Regional Council; Peter McLean, CEO Keep Australia Beautiful, Sid Anderson, President, MacDonnell Regional Council; Darren Wilyuka, Civil Works Assistant, Titjikala; Heimo Schober, Keep Australia Beautiful Council (NT) and Kevin Moneymoon, Civil Works Assistant, Titjikala.
The desert community of Titjikala south of Alice Springs last night won the national Heritage and Culture section of the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Awards 2014.
Titjikala were also highly commended for Water Conservation, in a tie with Wangaratta, in Victoria.
The overall 2014 Tidy Towns title went to Sheffield, Tasmania.
The award was picked up by community members including CEO Jeff MacLeod, and Sid Anderson (pictured), president of MacDonnell Regional Council.
Peter McLean, CEO of Keep Australia Beautiful said: “It’s amazing how the community have embraced artwork to combine all cultures and celebrate their unique community. Particularly the Arts Centre, where the initiative began.”
National Tidy Towns judge Dick Olesinski said at the presentation ceremony in Victor Harbor, SA: “Most residents of Titjikala have long ancestral relationships to the region with significant traditional knowledge of survival in the extreme arid conditions of the Simpson Desert.
“Predominantly of the Pitjantjatjara language group, Titjikala’s residents have maintained their natural water conversation principles and selectively learnt over recent generations the ‘western’ means of water consumption.”
2014 marks 45 years of the Tidy Towns Awards in Australia, with Keep Australia Beautiful receiving 1300 initiatives nationally, from over 360 entrants across councils, shires, community groups, schools and individuals.