Double success for Council at a prestigious awards ceremony

Published: 07 Aug 2020 3:07pm

Wagga Wagga City Council is celebrating after winning two categories at the annual NSW Local Government Week Awards, announced in an on-line ceremony today, Thursday 6 August.

The Lost Lanes 2019 event won the RH Dougherty Innovation in Special Events category in its population division, while Council’s Cultural Plan won the Leo Kelly OAM Arts and Culture Award, which recognises outstanding achievement in strategic planning for arts and culture.

Held during Local Government Week, the awards are designed to publicly recognise the efforts of councils in forging relationships of excellence with their communities.

Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga, Councillor Greg Conkey, said it was an honour to take out two of these prestigious awards.

“It is great to see Wagga Wagga City Council recognised for its innovative and dedicated approach to events along with strategic cultural planning for the City,” Cr Conkey said.

“It is an outstanding achievement for Wagga Wagga to have performed so well against other local government organisations from across New South Wales.”

Council’s Director Community, Janice Summerhayes, also welcomed the recognition.

“Lost Lanes has revitalised a forgotten part of the city, while the Wagga Wagga Cultural Plan 2020-30 creates a 10-year vision for the cultural growth of the City and, importantly, details the implementation of this vision through 50 recommendations outlined in the plan,” Ms Summerhayes said.

“These recommendations propose programs, projects and cultural infrastructure that the community has identified as priority areas to support going forward.”

Lost Lanes, which started in 2018, grew from an audience of 3500 to more than 5000 in its second year.

“The Lost Lane event has breathed new life into Cadell Place and has also left the legacy of six large scale murals, creating a sense of pride in this neighbourhood and giving our community a reason to celebrate, rather than hibernate, in winter,” Ms Summerhayes said.

Lost Lanes has also recently featured as the only NSW regional City case study for NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment ‘Streets as Shared Spaces’ program