Held in Newcastle as part of IPWEA’s annual State Conference, the awards recognised engineering excellence across 10 categories contested by local government and public works projects from around NSW.

Kempsey Shire Council won the Design and Construction of a Local Government/Public Works Project (less than $500,000) for leading the design for the Crescent Head Foreshore Reserve public amenities building and was highly commended for its upgrade of Macleay Valley Way in the category for projects greater than $5 million.

Director of operations and planning, Robert Fish, said the amenities project had been a collaborative effort between council and local consultants, Paul Smith Building Design and Hadlow Design Services, with the build undertaken by contractor Osborne and Dowling.

“The new amenities at Crescent Head are a great example of modern design and fitting to the coastal environment location,” he said.

The judges praised the design of the low maintenance, highly functional and visually attractive public amenities building at Crescent Head Foreshore Reserve.

“The facility needed to complement but not dominate or detract from the adjacent architecturally-designed and award-winning surf club building,” the citation read.

“The design utilises attractive louvres allowing for passive surveillance, easy to clean materials and maximises natural ventilation and light. The outcome is an open, inclusive and safe design, sympathetic to this popular coastal environment.”

The new facilities are in the southern part of the reserve, near the caravan park, with safe and easy access from the carpark and the Killick Creek footbridge.

The design features multiple male and female toilet cubicles, a unisex accessible cubicle with baby change and family-sized shower facilities, located off a central breezeway with shared handbasin.

Mr Fish said the Macleay Valley Way revitalisation works were part of the Kempsey Corridor Master Plan’s redevelopment of the former highway corridor section.

“The aims of the plan were to establish an urban design for the corridor, changing the stretch from a highly trafficked highway to quieter local roads and to revitalise the retail economy of the Kempsey town centre and the villages of South Kempsey and Frederickton,” he said.

“A number of projects have been undertaken on Macleay Valley Way since Kempsey was bypassed in 2013 and these have transformed the corridor over this time. Much of this work has been planned and undertaken by council’s own workforce – a credit to all involved.”

The staged project included the $3.4 million refurbishment of Smith Street in the heart of Kempsey’s CBD, a $1.6 million upgrade of road surfaces, drainage and access to properties in Frederickton, a $1.4 million remodelling of Lord Street, East Kempsey, and $800,000 replacement of road pavement, kerb and guttering and footpaths along Lachlan Street, South Kempsey.