Frankston City wins 2015 Australian Sustainable Cities Award

Frankston High School Eco Team Share in Celebrations

Frankston City Council is thrilled to announce the exciting news that Frankston City won the 2015 Australian Sustainable Cities Award, announced on Friday 13 November in Brisbane. This is a huge achievement and testament to the outstanding ways Council and our residents work together to help keep our corner of Australia beautiful.

These Awards “encourage, motivate and celebrate the local sustainability achievements of urban communities across Australia.” Because Frankston City won the Victorian KAB State awards in June this year, they were Victoria’s only Council invited to take part in the National Awards. The wide variety of projects and initiatives nominated and the calibre and breadth of community involvement and partnerships contributed to winning the overall National Sustainable Cities Award.

Council's support of environmental programs and actions in local schools was highlighted through the relationship between Frankston High School and Council, particularly through the work of Brendan McKinnon and the Eco Team. These keen environmental leaders brought the inspiring "Baykeepers" film to the school in March 2015 in a joint event with Council. This lead to the formation of two new environmental volunteer "Beach Patrol" groups in Frankston and Seaford, community members who help keep our beautiful beaches clean from litter. What an outstanding result!

In addition, the Team has helped spread the messages about the issue of plastics pollution on our beaches and bay within their school as well as with local community groups such as the Friends Network and the Teachers Environmental Network. Next year they plan to extend this outreach into local primary schools. This is a great example of the saying "From little things, big things grow".

Council was delighted to invite some Eco Team members to have their photo taken with Mayor James Dooley to help celebrate Frankston City winning the National Sustainable Cities Award and thanks them for the great work they are doing to help look after our precious natural environment.

Debbie Coffey, Environmental Education Officer

Frankston City Council