Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) sponsored Sunday’s Family Sports Day at the Harts Range Races at the weekend. The CDRC Family Sports Day was well represented by Atitjere Community members with the Atitjere Ladies winning their heat in the Tug of War with the Plenty Highway Ladies winning the Tug of War final.  With the final being battled out by local community members it was very hard to pick a team to barrack for!

Main Photo: The Atitjere Ladies getting ready to win their heat of Tug of War.

CDRC was also involved in helping out with the waste management for the entire long weekend.  Regional Services Manager Matt Wharton and Atitjere Community Services Coordinator (CSC) Warren Kenney assisted in removing the rubbish from the many bins and camp sites dotted around the venue.  All up Matt and Warren removed four full truckloads of rubbish from the site.

One of the changes to this year’s event was that CDRC staff visited each group of campsites gathering rubbish. Many of the campers obliged by bringing their already bagged rubbish to the truck.  “The next day we had campers lined up waiting for us on our round,” said Warren with a smile.

It was great to see CDRC staff getting involved in this year’s event.  A special thank you also goes to Scott Pinchbeck, the Atitjere Community Safety Patrol (CSP) Coordinator, who assisted with getting our equipment out to the track.

“This year’s Harts Range Races was slightly scaled down due to COVID-19 plans but it appears that it was well received and everyone had a great time,” said Warren.

Matt Wharton and Warren Kenney with the CDRC garbage truck.

The CEO, Diane Hood, attended on the first day and said “It was great to see that Council could contribute to such a well organised and significant bush event. Watching the camp draft was fun and the skill shown by contestants much appreciated.”

Video: The Plenty Highway Ladies winning the Tug of War final.

The Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Community Development Program (CDP) started the 2021 financial year upbeat, despite a challenging operating environment posed by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. Staff attended an in-house training session at the start of July, centred on engaging everyone in the program’s journey through the difficult pandemic time in the financial year ahead. Good group discussions were held and team members found the session engaging and informative.

All staff had an opportunity to present on their individual work experiences and commitments to the program and the Director of Community Services, Pip Parsonson was the guest speaker.

As part of his presentation, Pip drew three intersecting circles on a white board. One circle represented the values, goals, policies and procedures of CDRC, another represented the guidelines, policies and processes required of all CDP providers by the Federal Government and the third circle represented the values, passions, interests, prejudices and biases of any one of us as an individual.

Pip stated that it is important that we understand what is in all three circles and there was a ‘sweet spot’ in the middle when we can get all three circles intersecting. He urged staff to reflect on their personal values, attitudes, passions and prejudices so that we can be mindful and proactive in ensuring our individual personalities enhance the work we do.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Diane Hood made a surprise visit and reiterated the importance of all staff continuing to align their behaviours to Council’s values and being able to clearly articulate these positive behaviours when nominating other staff for the CDRC Values awards.