Award Winning Projects Showcased

The Shire of Capel was the winner of two categories at the 2018 Children’s Environment & Health Local Government Policy Awards, hosted by the Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA.

View the policy awards showcase brochure here.

The Shire was named a winner in the Shade in Public Places category for its playground shade sail program, developed through a process of prioritisation using Cancer Council guidelines and as per the Council policy.

The Shire was also the winner of the Child Health and Development category for the Capel Youth Collective Drama Club, which is designed to provide opportunities for young people to learn and develop life skills to help them to achieve their goals.

Capel Shire Council President Murray Scott said winning the awards was a great achievement and one which reflected a positive change in the community.

“To see the Shire up against major metro councils and win two categories is fantastic and the staff involved should be very proud of the work they have achieved,” he said.

“Both of these programs improve the lives of people living in our community and promote healthy opportunities for children.

“The awards are a strong reflection of the dedicated commitment and work put in by staff, in particular, the community development team and the positive public health-related policy decisions made by Council over the past 12 months.”

Youth Development Officer Chloerissa Eadie said she had seen youth develop genuine relationships through team building activities and they had boosted their self-confidence through performance.

“The drama club has been a vehicle for engaging youth in the community and developed skills to respond to issues impacting on their lives,” Ms Eadie said.

Capel Shire Principal Environmental Health Officer Mark Chadwick said the Shire also received a high A+ report card rating for the Climate Change category, which reflected the sustainable work being done with schools across the shire.

One of the more significant projects completed in 2017-18 was the Recycle Right in Capel project, which was the distribution of 2000 kitchen bin caddies to encourage green waste disposal.

This project resulted in grant expenditure of $141,000 spent over three years towards waste recycling in the Shire.

“The project involved the participation of children from Tuart Forest Primary School, John Calvin Christian College and Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School,” Mr Chadwick said.

He said the project also resulted in the production of videos for social media and TV which was used to educate children and the community about how they can watch their waste.