MURRAY River Council (MRC) scooped three awards at last week’s NSW Local Government Week awards ceremony.
MRC took home three R.H. Dougherty Awards – Innovation in Special Events (for Moama Lights), Reporting to Your Community (cemetery digitisation project) and highly commended for Excellence in Communication (Advocacy efforts: Turn the border green campaign).
Mayor Chris Bilkey said it’s a great achievement for the council to be so well regarded in the field.
“The awards are about recognising some of the most progressive councils in NSW, so we are absolutely thrilled to take home not one, but three awards,” he said.
“We have been making continual improvements over the past 18 months, to both our services and the initiatives we deliver, so the awards nod is just another acknowledgement that we are not only on the right track, but leading the way.
“It takes a team effort, a great culture, and a can-do attitude to achieve these things, so we are very proud of the whole council team on this achievement.”
The awards, which were staged at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney, celebrate councils who demonstrate excellence across a range of categories such as arts and culture, events, communications and planning.
The R.H. Dougherty Awards categories recognise a high level of understanding and communication by councils to their local communities.
The awards are managed by Local Government NSW and judged by leading experts in the communications field.
Reporting to Your Community cemetery digitisation project
THIS year the council launched its new digital platform for the management of cemetery data, with a view to increasing levels of service to the community and creating internal administration efficiencies.
The project created digital cemetery records for all six operational cemeteries, Barham, Mathoura Lawn, Mathoura Pioneer, Moama, Moulamein and Tooleybuc. This includes drone aerial surveying to create high-resolution images, along with ground surveying to capture GPS co-ordinates and information relating to each known grave.
With the ability to visit the Murray River Council cemetery map online, it’s no problem for visitors to find graves by accessing the database anywhere and at any time.
Previously, families and other visitors to the cemeteries were not able to see plots they may have been interested in over a phone call, they’re now able to access a highly accurate map that offers a stunning visual representation of the cemetery’s grounds and details of every plot within.
Excellence in Communication Turn the Border Green campaign
IN July 2021, during another round of local border closures, the council led a border advocacy campaign focused on changing the border to a “green zone” and working with governments to develop sustainable, longer-term solutions for border communities.
The council encouraged governments to work with local leaders to develop a strategy that encompassed more practical economic options when faced with restrictions resulting from COVID-related outbreaks.
A key part of the advocacy initiative was to generate media coverage to ensure the economic importance of the region became apparent.
To achieve this outcome, the council’s communication campaign targeted mainstream media in Melbourne and Sydney, with local businesses sharing stories of the impact of the enormous economic hit the region had taken.
The council also worked to connect state governments with local leaders to develop a strategy permitting Victorians to cross the border to save local businesses and jobs.
This was about offering solutions on either side of the border, so governments could have confidence in keeping the region green going forward.
