Woy Woy Bay resident, Louis O’Neill, has been named winner of the Best 12th Man Award in the Community Environment Network’s (CEN) annual BAT Awards.
Deputy Chair of CEN, John Asquith, who presented the award, said O’Neill was “a dedicated wildlife rescuer and carer with Wildlife ARC who always takes in any native animals in need, spending at least two hours every day caring for the animals he has in care.
“He is the most active and available bird and reptile carer around the Peninsula, so is assisting with wildlife rescues most days,” Asquith said.
“On top of his wildlife care, Louis is very committed to bushcare and regeneration, spending much of his spare time independently removing invasive weeds from the community land around his neighbourhood in Woy Woy Bay.
“In a further effort to improve our local environment, Louis is very committed to cleaning our local shorelines, and is often to be found carrying sacks of rubbish out of some of the less accessible coastlines nearby.
“Of particular note, he has single-handedly removed close to 200 sacks of rubbish from the rocky platforms between Maitland Bay and Cave Gully in Bouddi National Park.
“He then proceeds to carry it all home for safe disposal.
“Unbelievably he has even collected more than 5,000 disposable face masks.”
Other winners of the 2021 CEN BAT Awards included a lifelong local environmental campaigner, a group committed to improving the water quality of Tuggerah Lakes and a persistent, clever and reliable community campaigner.
Asquith, said B.A.T stands for ‘Be A Team’ which sums up what it takes to work on environmental causes at a community level – the Most Outstanding Allrounder has their name plaque added to a cricket bat.
“Since these awards started in the early days of CEN we have managed to fill in the front of the bat with the names of winners and now we are working on filling the back,” he said.
“Long Jetty Waterwatch Group was announced as winners of the Most Outstanding Community Based Organisation.
“Finally, Joy Cooper of Green Point, was named the recipient of the BAT Award as Most Outstanding Allrounder – a person who has put in a valiant effort on behalf of the environment and sustainability.”
Asquith said all 2021 BAT Award winners were true champions of the causes they fought for and demonstrated the range of ages and personalities that are brought together by the common cause of protecting nature.
Source:
Media release, Nov 26
Community Environment Network