Ron Clifton receives post-humous award

Mr Ron Clifton has been posthumously awarded an Australia Day Community Award by Gosford Council at a special ceremony in Mt Penang Parklands.

The award was made for Mr Clifton's many years involvement in the preservation of the local environment and his work with numerous environmental committees;

One of Mr Clifton's nominators, last year's overall winner Ms Heather McKenzie said Mr Clifton was a quiet, unassuming person.

She said he had an enduring interest in the quality of life for all people and a concern for the character of the built and natural environment of the Gosford area.

Ms McKenzie said he was a man of many talents and dedicated to the many organisations for which he volunteered.

Mr Clifton had served 22 years as secretary of Gosford's Combined Progress Association and 20 years as president of the Ettalong Ratepayers and Citizens Association.

At the time of his passing, Mr Clifton was involved with a number of Gosford Council committees including the Catchment Management Committee, the Brisbane Water Plan of Management Committee, the Coastline Management, Lagoon Management and Coastal Planning Committee, the Wetlands Management Committee, the Traffic Committee and the Ettalong and Woy Woy CBD Committees.

Other community organisations that he was committed to and actively supported included the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, Water Watch, Amnesty International, Australian Native Titles and Refugees and Reconciliation, Arthritis Foundation of NSW, Catholic Mission, Central Coast Hospice Pallative Care Foundation and the Children's Medical Research Institute.

Mr Clifton was also involved in organisations such as the Economic Reform Australia, Friends of the ABC, the Heart Foundation, the House with No Steps, the Motorists Action Group, Meals on Wheels, the Mercy Foundation, the PCYC, the Royal Institute of Death and Blind Children, The Salvation Army, the Spastic Centre, the St Vincent de Paul Circle of Hope, the Sydney National Cancer Foundation and the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation.

Press release, January 19 Heather MacKenzie