Town to lead the Tidy way

Hedland has won through to the WA Tidy Towns State final yet again, thanks to initiatives such as the handing out of litter-prevention nets for cars and opening of the skate park, Mayor Kelly Howlett says.

With the 2015 Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities State winner to be announced in September, Hedland also has a chance to win in three individual categories: young legends, energy innovation and natural environment conservation.

Ms Howlett said it was important to compete in Tidy Towns because it had long ago moved beyond its roots as a motivator to clean up litter.

"It is really like a recap and an annual report of what your community has been doing for the past year - what you do to celebrate and make your place a fantastic place to live in," she said.

"That is why I am passionate about it, to make sure every year we put in a really solid submission and we give it our best because we are proud of what we do here.

"People are proud to call Hedland home."

This year's achievement follows on from past successes for Hedland.

The small dusty mining town claimed the Tidy Towns State-wide prize in 2009 and 2012, leading to it also competing in the national competition.

With Tidy Towns judged across eight categories, Ms Howlett highlighted a number of new programs and projects in Hedland that featured in the competition submission paper.

These included the Pilbara Port Authority's hard hat recycling program, Care for Hedland's new recycling directory fridge-magnet and Greening Australia's guide to Pilbara native plants.

Aboriginal corporation Pilbara Meta Maya's initiative to go totally off the electricity grid and a Town of Port Hedland drive to install solar panels on 42 of its staff houses also featured in the submission.

Other new community initiatives also included the opening of South Hedland's skate park, a work-for-the-dole coastal revegetation program and youth crime prevention strategy involving Hedland's police and native animals.

Ms Howlett singled out a program to give away nets to prevent litter escaping from the back of utes as one of the most ground-breaking.

"The vehicle net trial is ahead of its time … (and) it is trials like ours that might help it to be rolled out at a State level," she said.