Gilgandra and Coonamble shires have been hailed winners in the state, taking home various first place awards in the 2022 Local Government Week Awards last week. 

Gilgandra’s work towards supporting local business and local youth has apparently paid off, recognised as the winner of two categories at the Sydney awards ceremony.

The awards were the Best Small Council with Most Outstanding Youth Week Program and Excellence in Communication for their #LocalLegends campaign which was designed to stimulate the local economy. 

Gilgandra Shire Council Activation and Communications Manager Kathryn Larkin said that the town had saved its own economy by being proud locals. 

“I think we’ve got that local pride within our community that really allows people to want to shop local, they want to stay here, and are often friends with those people. Having that online option has only made it easier,” Ms Larkin said. 

As part of the #LocalLegends campaign, the council told the stories of local business owners to attract both locals and visitors to the shops.

The community also pulled together for Youth Week, which Ms Larkin said had something for everyone, from Jurassic Park in the Dark to empowering young women with self defence techniques. 

“Whether it’s at the youth club or night time events at the weekend at the skatepark and working with science and Lego…we’re trying to target all different interests at all different locations because some are more comfortable at the skatepark and others prefer the library,” Ms Larkin said. 

While a lot of towns have struggled with engaging with local youth, services like Breakfast Club and other activities offered by the Gilgandra Youth Club. 

“They’re outside, they’re active and they’re with their friends but we’re able to be there and support or have a chat with them as well,” Ms Larkin said. 

Ms Larkin said the award was a great way to recognise people who have been big parts of the local projects. 

“So many people are involved in the community, we’ve got volunteers that support some of the youth programs and all of those local legends…I think it’s a credit to so many people,” Ms Larkin said. 

Coonamble Shire Council Acting General Manager Bruce Quarmby attributed the Cultural Change Innovation Award the town received to an overhaul of development application and post construction certificates. 

“These changes have enabled better response times to and communication with applicants…what Council had found in the past was that applications received over the front counter would be missing necessary information,” Mr Quarmby said. 

Both towns won their awards in the category for populations below 30,000, each competing against towns almost ten times their size.