To this point, Armidale’s commitment to sustainability has put the city into the running for this year’s Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Tidy Towns awards. 

As part of the next step in the awards process, national judge Dick Olesinski will arrive to determine the city’s efforts when compared with the six other Tidy Towns award winners from across the country. 

“The efforts of Armidale are outstanding and our finalists this year provide excellent showcases of how towns around the nation are implementing practical projects that help local communities achieve an efficient and sustainable future,” Mr Olesinski said.

Council and the community are diverting 60 per cent of the city’s waste from landfill, with the goal of reaching 65 per cent in the next 12 months. 

In an effort to be more environmentally friendly the council also recently launched the City to Soil program that provides a fortnightly collection of kitchen waste, garden waste, pet droppings and even compostable nappies. 

National executive officer for Keep Australia Beautiful Peter McLean, said the people living in Armidale were proud of the natural and visual amenity. 

“Armidale Dumaresq Council maintains its parks, sportsgrounds, public reserves and toilets to a high standard,” he said. 

The national judging follows on from the announcement, late last month that Armidale was the overall NSW state winner of the Tidy Towns competition. 

This year marks 45 years of the Tidy Towns awards in Australia, with Keep Australia Beautiful receiving 1180 initiatives nationally, from more than 300 entrants across councils, shires, community groups, schools and individuals. 

The other finalists in the national award are: Wycheproof,Victoria; Wugularr,Northern Territory; Latrobe,Tasmania; Longreach,Queensland; Victor Harbor, South Australia; and Hedland in Western Australia.

The Tidy Town categories focus on litter prevention, community action, cultural heritage, resource recovery and waste management, water efficiency, environmental Innovation and protection, energy innovation, government partnerships, active schools, and young leaders and community leadership. 

The national award winner will be announced in May 2013.