YOUR COUNCIL

Neeta Sinha with her family at the Citizenship Ceremony

Citizenship Ceremony

Throughout the year, Council hosts a number of Citizenship Ceremonies, welcoming new Australian citizens to our local area, on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs.

This year, Council has welcomed 771 people from 77 countries so far. We are proud to embrace our rich history and diverse heritage and are excited to see our new Aussies make themselves at home in the Georges River Council local government area (LGA). Welcome to our new community members!

Here’s what a few had to say about what this special day means to them and their families:

“We’ve been here for almost 9 years so it’s been a long time. It’s an honour to be an Australian citizen, Australia is an amazing country. I’m truly honoured and happy to be here. The people in Georges River Council are great, people are connected to each other and take care of one another when Covid happened.”

– Neeti Sinha, Penshurst “This country means a lot to me, since I arrived here. There’s freedom and human rights, it gives the things I didn’t think about it. Georges River is all about families, it’s quiet, nice and near the beach and there’s lots of things to do with the kids. It’s beautiful.

– Dansy Taouk, Ramsgate

“Being a part of this beautiful country is very meaningful to me. Australia offers lots of good things to my family, people are polite and I want to my family to adapt to this culture. There’s a lot of things Georges River Council offers, one of which is the playground for kids and suits my family. There’s also lots of events, like almost every month we like going to each of the events to meet other people and to have fun.”

– Sharon Muega, Beverly Hills

Dansy Taouk

Sharon Muega

B&B Highways with PlantingSeeds

Congratulations to PlantingSeeds who received a $10,000 grant for the B&B Highways project in Round 1 of Community Grants 2021-2022 this year! B&B Highways is an environmental and sustainable project offering Bed & Breakfast to our local biodiversity.

The project aims to build beds and breakfast for birds and bees at local schools and community centres to form regenerative corridors across the urban environment and create hands-on experiences to educate students and kids.

Through the B&B Highways project, the Georges River community can take a proactive step towards learning more about vital pollinators and good biodiversity and how this impacts our wider ecological wellbeing. Pollinators are important to our ongoing biodiversity and enable communities to protect the local environment long-term.

Three schools within the Georges River area including Carlton Public School, Connell’s Point Public School and Blakehurst High School are the newest additions to the B&B Highways. As part of the program, PlantingSeeds will hold education sessions in September and October to provide an immersive learning experience to help students better understand pollination, plants, insects, birds, biodiversity, citizen science, data collection, making observations and habitats.

For more information about Council’s Community Grants that make these projects possible, visit georgesriver.nsw.gov.au

Spring Cleaning: Small station recycling

Georges River Council provides recycling stations for the free collection and recycling of: • Household batteries - AA, AAA, C and 9V Batteries • CD’s and DVD’s – both the cases and the discs • Mobile phones and their chargers. These items contain various materials and toxins and if disposed of incorrectly, can harm wildlife and the environment. Some of these waste items, if sent to landfill, will never fully decompose. Therefore, it’s important to recycle these items correctly, to protect our environment.

The recycling stations are available at: Georges River Civic Centre, Hurstville Library and Clive James Library, Kogarah. For more information on the small recycling stations, visit georgesriver.nsw.gov.au

YOUR BUSINESS

St George Local Business Awards

Georges River Council has been announced as a major sponsor for the St George Local Business Awards this year.

The Local Business Awards recognises and rewards the community’s best businesses.

Local businesses will also celebrate with their peers at a special Gala Presentation evening in September and we will be sharing the event with you in the next edition.

Thank you to our supportive community for voting for their favourite businesses in the 30 different categories.

Good luck to all the finalists at the 2022 St George Local Business Awards!