Titjikala ready to celebrate their wins with special guests

15 December 2014

After being named Territory Tidy Town for a second successive year, the MacDonnell Regional Council community of Titjikala is set to celebrate the best way they know how – around a barbeque with their residents, Chief Minister Adam Giles, and other friends.

Titjikala will be in a festive mood this Monday 15 December as they spend the day with the National Tidy Towns Judge and the Chief Minister showcasing the qualities that have twice them qualified them as a finalist in the Keep Australia Beautiful, National Tidy Town Awards after a second successive time being named Territory Tidy Town.

Titjikala residents have been motivated and inspired by their continuing success.

The community has gone from strength to strength since their first win with various upgrades emerging around Titjikala. Broad community consultations have delivered the following partnerships and actions:

National Australia Bank supported erosion control revegetation projectMelbourne University community engagement architecture development projectNT Government’s Territory Housing community fencing upgrades to 22 homesTangentyere Projects through the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP) providing upgrades to sporting facilities at football oval and softball parkAlice Springs Metal Recyclers commercial engagement incorporating the 7mate TV series Outback TruckersArmy Aboriginal Community Assistance Program (AACAP) set to deliver a community wide sewerage system that will replace individual septics tanks and reduce health risks in the low-lying flood prone community

A highlight of the Chief Minister’s visit will be having the opportunity to see first hand, some of the projects, services and achievements that demonstrate what has been going so right in Titjikala:

Council’s Civil Works team will present various projects and upgrades they have delivered around the community including: installation of family parks, upgrades to the waste management processing, upgrade to the cemetery, flood mitigation and revegetation projectsMacDonnell Regional Council will demonstrate and explain its Home Care Services, Children’s Services, Youth Development and Community Safety servicesProgress will be demonstrated on other community engagement projects with the Australian Army, Tangentyere Projects and Alice Springs Metal Recyclers that respectively include a community wide effluent system upgrade from septic tanks to a mains sewerage, sporting facilities upgrades, and a major recycling project.

In addition to Titjikala hosting the first visit by a Chief Minister to their remote desert community, other visitors will include:

Keep Australia Beautiful National Tidy Town Judge, Jill GrantTellus Holdings Senior Geologist, Jaime LiveseyNorthern Territory Government Minister for Local Government and Community Services, Bes Price, who has been keen to visit the community since presenting Titjikala with their Territory Tidy Town award last year.

Titjikala artists were inspired when Minister Price made the announcement in 2013 and poured their emotions into artworks as they celebrated the small desert community’s first major win. Leading Titjikala artist, Marie Shilling’s painting of her community was chosen to be gifted to the then Minister for Community Services, Bes Price. Marie’s paintings have been exhibited in 23 group shows. She has been commissioned for the National Australia Bank ATM Arts Project and is represented in a private collection.

When the Chief Minister announced that for a second successive year, Titjikala was the Territory Tidy Town, emerging artist Nita Ferguson was commissioned by MacDonnell Regional Council to paint one of her landscapes for the Chief Minister. A regular artist in the Tapatjatjaka Art and Craft Centre, Nita’s paintings have been shown in 11 group exhibitions and she has recently had her work commissioned to become 15 square metre architectural feature in the international head office of mining company Santos Ltd.

Today the two separate paintings will be given as cultural gifts to the respective ministers. In front of Titjikala residents the Chief Minister and the Minister for Local Government and Community Services will also re-present the Territory Tidy Town trophies to the community officially recognising everybody’s fine achievements.

Tellus Holdings (the nearby salt mine they are developing was recently given Major Project Status by the NT Government) will also be attending to introduce themselves as the new neighbour. And as a potential future employer of Titjikala residents, Tellus will also be taking the opportunity to show their continuing support for Titjikala Council staff to attend the National Tidy Towns Awards in Tasmania.

Representatives from Titjikala and MacDonnell Regional Council will travel to Sheffield in northern Tasmania where the national winners of the Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Towns Awards will be announced at a gala presentation on Friday 27 February 2015.

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