Pingelly community groups named finalists in four Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Town WA awards

The Shire of Pingelly, the local primary school and one Pingelly teenager have all been named as finalists in the Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Town WA Sustainable Communities Awards.

The Shire is in the running to win the overall State title, as well as awards for general appearance, community containers for change and young legends.

Shire chief executive Andrew Dover said he was proud of the Shire for the nominations.

“This shows that the work that we are doing is paying off and is being noticed around the town,” he said.

“I would like to thank the Shire staff for all their hard work over the past year.”

For the young legends category the Shire nominated 14-year-old Dylan Cheney who runs Pickle Contracting, a gardening and handyman small business.

“The Shire nominated Dylan Cheney because at 14 years old, he is a commendable young man who volunteers his time to plan and run youth events in the community during school holidays,” Mr Dover said.

“He is also proactive in assisting elderly people and people with disabilities to maintain their properties through his small business Pickle Contracting.

“Dylan used the funds he had generated through this business to purchase cleaning equipment and chemicals, and he spent more than 10 hours of his time to remove graffiti around the town.”

Dylan said it was an honour to be named as a finalist.

“I had no idea I’d even been nominated, let alone short-listed as a finalist,” he said in a Facebook post.

“I started Pickle Contracting earlier this year as way to keep myself busy, I realise now it’s so much more than that.

“I’ve met some incredible people who have taught me many skills, given me opportunities beyond my wildest dreams and now whenever possible I like to give back to the community who’s supported me.”

The $1 million redevelopment of the Pingelly Memorial Park earned the Shire its finalist title in the general appearance category.

The redevelopment, which officially opened in November 2021, features immersive all-ages playgrounds, community barbecue spaces and an accessible toilet block.

“It is a pleasure to provide the facilities at Pingelly Memorial Park following its redevelopment to our community,” Mr Dover said.

“The park is now a source of pride for our town and is constantly activated with a mix of people of all ages and backgrounds.

“The Shire staff, along with contractors, have done an amazing job with this project and their work and the results of their work in the memorial park redevelopment is worthy of recognition.”

The Shire also nominated the Pingelly Primary School and its P&C for the community Containers for Change award,

Mr Dover said the school community had collected, counted and delivered containers to fund their nature playground.

“This project has been running since August 2021 and has been a combined community and school project with many getting involved in the counting, collecting and recycling,” he said

Other finalists from the region include the Shire of Narrogin in the environmental sustainability category for its treated water irrigation system, the Williams Community Resource Centre in the environmental education category for its Williams Wildlife Warriors program, and the Shire of Boddington in the litter prevention and waste management category for its Reduce Reuse Recycle group.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Perth on November 25.