SOME of the City of Kingston’s most deserved community volunteers and advocates have been recognised in the 2017 Kingston Australia Day Awards.
Four awards were announced during the Australia Day breakfast last Thursday (26 January) at the Kingston City Hall – Citizen of the Year, Outstanding Citizen Award, Community Group of the Year and Young Community Group of the Year.
Presenting the awards, Kingston mayor Cr David Eden said the winners were selected from a fantastic group of nominees, all of whom had helped make Kingston a stronger community.
“The winners, and indeed all of the nominees, have made outstanding contributions across a wide range of areas in Kingston,” Cr Eden said.
“We have some amazing volunteers in Kingston and these awards are a great way to thank them for their efforts and acknowledge the positive impact they make.”
Citizen of the Year
For many of the newcomers to the beautiful, leafy bayside suburbs of Mordialloc and neighbouring Beaumaris, the name Mary Rimington may not be familiar. But if it were not for the ongoing efforts of Ms Rimington and many of her fellow environment saviours, these areas would not be what they are today.
Ms Rimington has dedicated more than forty years to protecting the area’s environment and heritage and has been instrumental in many projects to protect the area’s special flora and fauna and keep inappropriate development at bay.
She has been an active member of several environment groups, including the Mordialloc Beaumaris Conservation League, Kingston Conservation & Environment Coalition, Australian Conservation Foundation, Environment Victoria and the Port Phillip Conservation Foundation.
This is not the first time Ms Rimington has been recognised for her tireless work. In1995 she received an OAM for her services to conservation and the environment and in 2001 was included in the Victorian Woman’s Trust publication Ordinary Woman Extraordinary Lives.
Some of the highlights of her time as an environmental campaigner within the city of Kingston include successfully lobbying for the closure of sewage works that degraded Dandenong and Mordialloc creeks, stopping a proposal to concrete line the Mordialloc Creek, appearing at VCAT to argue conservation matters, and preserving vegetation in the Green Wedge and foreshore areas.
As developers set their sights on pushing density limits, Ms Rimington is not letting down her guard and has promised to keep working hard to maintain Mordialloc’s appealing fishing village atmosphere.
But like most people who volunteer their time for others, she doesn’t like being singled out and acknowledges that the fight requires a team effort.
“It’s a bit embarrassing to be honoured like this, because we don’t do it for that reason,” she said.
“We are a small group of people but it is a team effort and we work together to protect the natural environment.”
Outstanding Citizen Award
Lifelong Cheltenham resident and sports enthusiast Colin Anderson is “pretty chuffed” to be honoured in this year’s Kingston Australia Day awards, and that statement pretty much sums up this quiet achiever.
But more than anything, Mr Anderson hopes that by giving “ordinary” people recognition for their community service others will be inspired to get involved.
“Without volunteers, kids would be left without things to do, and we need to help kids keep doing things that are positive and healthy,” he said.
“Keep them off the streets and give them something to be involved in.”
Mr Anderson has made an enormous contribution to several Cheltenham clubs in the sporting codes of football, cricket and baseball spanning more than 50 years.
As coach, committee member, president, club manager and general dog’s body volunteer, he has rolled up his sleeves at the Cheltenham Cricket Club, the Cheltenham Baseball Club, the Cheltenham Football Netball Club and the Cheltenham Football Club. His years of dedicated service have earned him life membership at four different clubs and seen him make a positive difference in the lives of thousands of junior sports players in the area.
Although he was a baseball and cricket player himself, he branched out into football when his own two boys showed an interest in sport and became involved with Vic Kick, which later became Auskick.
His willingness to give his time and efforts to sport soon saw him take on official roles at Cheltenham football and cricket clubs.
He is also the editor of Inside Football but still manages to maintain a close connection with the other codes while taking a back seat so that others can take the lead.
Mr Anderson acknowledges that volunteers’ contributions to sport are what helps keep local clubs alive, but If he could change anything it would be the red tape and bureaucratic controls that often deter the right people from getting involved.
“It’s getting harder and harder to be involved in local sport, so I really hope that these awards keep inspiring people to try,” he said.
Community Group of the Year
The Dingley Village Community Association has shown that the power of the people can make a difference.
The group was recognised in the Australia Day ceremony for the many years they have put into preserving protecting and improving Dingley Village.
Chairman David Madill said that together they had tackled a broad range of local issues including planning, lobbying for upgraded streetscapes, reducing the noise impacts of Moorabbin Airport on nearby residents and improving public parklands.
The Dingley Village Association plays as active role on the Moorabbin Airport Aviation Consultative Committee and makes regular submissions to all levels of government to ensure the character and environment of Dingley Village is enhanced.
Mr Madill said the group was prepared to oppose all inappropriate development to protect Dingley’s village atmosphere and was keeping a close eye on the recent proposal to rezone the Kingwood Golf Club land for residential development.
“I think the recognition that the people who live in a community should have a say in what goes on in the community, is really important,” he said.
Developers don’t generally live in the areas they develop on, so they don’t really care what they leave behind.”
Young Community Group of the Year
The Headspace Youth Advisory Committee was recognised for offering a “strong youth perspective” on mental health issues of young people in the south-eastern region.
The volunteer members, aged 18-25, help to raise awareness of the need for greater mental health support for young people and are working to remove any stigma for young people seeking assistance.
The committee has partnered with the Kingston Youth Services FReeZA Committee to promote Headspace services at local youth events.
Young Citizen of the Year
The Young Citizen of the Year Award will now be presented as part of Youth Week Activities in April.
Cr Eden said the move would ensure that young people making a positive contribution to the local community would be honoured as part of Youth Week celebrations.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 1 February 2017
