Published Thursday, 30 October, 2008 at 09:47 AM
Minister for Public Works, Housing and Information and Communication Technology
The Honourable Robert Schwarten
GREEN THUMBED TOOWOOMBA TENANTS RECOGNISED
The efforts of creative Department of Housing tenants in Toowoomba were recognised today with the presentation to winners of that 2008 Water-Wise Garden Awards.
Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said the awards were a great success in highlighting community and social housing tenants’ gardening talents and water-saving efforts.
“The Garden Awards recognise tenants who show pride in their gardens while reflecting and promoting water-wise principles such as using compost and mulch, and selecting plants that require little water and fertiliser,” Mr Schwarten said.
“While not all parts of the State are suffering from drought, the theme of this year’s awards recognised that water is a precious resource for all Queenslanders.”
The department’s Garden Awards have been running successfully for the past 10 years.
“Over the years, the Garden Awards have provided tenants with an opportunity to showcase their gardens, while providing recognition of the important role tenants play in improving their local community,” he said.
“This is a great example of tenants being involved in community life, which supports the Queensland Government’s aim to increase by 50% the number of Queenslanders involved in their community by the year 2020, a target of the Toward Q2 Tomorrow’s Queensland initiative.
Mr Schwarten said this year’s winners were selected from the more than 63 quality gardens entered by tenants in the south west Queensland region.
“The sheer number and quality of this year’s entries presented a challenge to the judges in deciding the winners,” he said.
“As well as water efficiency, the judges looked for gardens that reflected pride in a home or neighbourhood.”
All entrants in the awards will receive a certificate, a photo of their garden and a plant or voucher for garden products.
Media contact: (07) 3237 1832
Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said the awards were a great success in highlighting community and social housing tenants’ gardening talents and water-saving efforts.
“The Garden Awards recognise tenants who show pride in their gardens while reflecting and promoting water-wise principles such as using compost and mulch, and selecting plants that require little water and fertiliser,” Mr Schwarten said.
“While not all parts of the State are suffering from drought, the theme of this year’s awards recognised that water is a precious resource for all Queenslanders.”
The department’s Garden Awards have been running successfully for the past 10 years.
“Over the years, the Garden Awards have provided tenants with an opportunity to showcase their gardens, while providing recognition of the important role tenants play in improving their local community,” he said.
“This is a great example of tenants being involved in community life, which supports the Queensland Government’s aim to increase by 50% the number of Queenslanders involved in their community by the year 2020, a target of the Toward Q2 Tomorrow’s Queensland initiative.
Mr Schwarten said this year’s winners were selected from the more than 63 quality gardens entered by tenants in the south west Queensland region.
“The sheer number and quality of this year’s entries presented a challenge to the judges in deciding the winners,” he said.
“As well as water efficiency, the judges looked for gardens that reflected pride in a home or neighbourhood.”
All entrants in the awards will receive a certificate, a photo of their garden and a plant or voucher for garden products.
Media contact: (07) 3237 1832