After being shortlisted in four categories at the 2023 NSW Local Government Excellence Awards, Port Stephens Council has taken out a win and a highly commended accolade.
The NSW Local Government Excellence Awards celebrate outstanding achievements and promote innovation and continuous improvement within NSW local government.
Council General Manager, Tim Crosdale said the nominations alone demonstrate the excellent work being undertaken by the teams across a number of sections within Council despite limited resources and finances.
“Being acknowledged in four categories at the awards is proof of the team’s dedication, hard work, and passion, as well as the significance of working efficiently within available resources and relying on external funding,” Mr Crosdale said.
Council were finalists in the Asset and Infrastructure, Community Partnerships, Special Project Initiative and People Workplace and Wellbeing categories.
“I’m particularly proud we received highly commended in the community partnerships category for our Karuah Place Plan, which is the first in a series of plans that are developed in partnership with a community to increase liveability and wellbeing,” Mr Crosdale said.
“The Karuah community have taken pride in their plan and in just nine months, they’ve led 15 actions including beautification works, events, cultural projects and bush regeneration.
Council’s PSCare program took out the win in the People, Workplace, Wellbeing category for its focus on prevention, education and resources for employees both at work and home.
The award follows PSCare winning first place in the Wellbeing Category at the 2023 StateCover Mutual Awards and winning Best Health and Wellbeing Program at the 2023 Hunter Safety Awards.
Nominations at the awards also included the renewed amenities and kiosk building at Stuart Park, Hinton in the Asset and Infrastructure category and the Foreshore Drive project nominated in the Special Projects Category.
“The Stuart Park amenities and kiosk was a culmination of extensive heritage planning, a rigorous design process and engagement with the community and sporting clubs to make sure the design options met the needs of all the users and it paid off. It’s become the pride of the community and was a designated safe spot during the extreme weather events in June 2022,” Mr Crosdale said.
Council’s Foreshore Drive project was a replacement single-span concrete bridge erected following the total destruction of a multi-lined piped culvert road crossing in the March 2021 natural disaster event.
“The successful completion of the Foreshore Drive project was made possible through the collaborative efforts of multiple teams, who worked tirelessly to deliver the project on time, within budget, ensuring external funding requirements were met – and all within 9 months after the devastating natural disaster,” Mr Crosdale said.
“Awards nights like the Local Government Excellence Awards are a great opportunity for us to showcase our achievements, gain recognition in the industry and highlight our experience – but they also help our drive to continually look at how we can be innovative and improve how we deliver,” he said.
