1. Home

City’s highest honour awarded to Tony Deakin

Mr Antony ‘Tony’ Deakin OAM, former mayor and architect, has been granted the City’s highest honour of the Keys to the City by Armidale Regional Council, at a special ceremony held in the Armidale Mall on Wednesday 17 May 2023. 

Armidale Regional Council Mayor, Sam Coupland, dressed in his mayoral robes to mark the importance of the occasion, said he was “immensely honoured “to be able to present Mr Deakin with this very special award.

“The Keys to the City is a symbolic presentation to represent the highest offer a city can confer on an individual or organisation and it recognises outstanding achievement in the area of sport, community or humanitarian work by a resident of our local government area,” said the mayor. 

“The award by Council at this time pays tribute to Tony for his contributions to the community life of Armidale as well as to its architectural form and appearance.

“Tony has designed so many of our buildings and public spaces, including the Armidale Lookout, Hanna’s Arcade, NERAM, the Michael Hoskins Theatre at TAS, The Armidale Mall and The Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place.”    

“These amazing buildings are part of our city’s architectural identity and heritage, and loved by the people who live here.

“He has also had a wider influence on the features of the City, designing over 100 houses and renovating schools, churches, the hospital, the police station, and many other projects, including the Guyra Bowling Club in 1966,” said the mayor. 

The Member for New England honourable Barnaby Joyce, Member for Northern Tablelands honourable Adam Marshall and the Mayor of Armidale Regional Council Sam Coupland all spoke at the ceremony praising Tony’s incredible contribution of designing iconic buildings and doing much of his work pro bono for the community.

Local historian Mr Graham Wilson also spoke highly of Tony’s capacity to design buildings which were complimentary to the existing heritage architecture, such as the St Peter’s Cathedral Parish Centre. Mr Michael McPhillips, a colleague of Tony’s at the architectural firm Magoffin & Deakin, spoke about Tony’s ability to always remain calm and kind under pressure and returned to work after retiring to support them with further projects. 

After the speeches, Mr Deakin was then presented with his award, symbolised by a plaque with a golden key unveiled by Mayor Sam Coupland, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community. Mr Deakin then thanked the mayor and the council and said he was humbled by the great honour of Keys to the City. 

Tony Deakin was elected Mayor in 1987.   In 2000 he was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia General Division for Services to the community, particularly in the field of architecture. Mr Deakin has also been a Rotarian and volunteered his time and expertise to the community over decades. 

The ceremony was held in the Armidale Mall to highlight Mr Deakin’s involvement in designing the area closed off to traffic, which was a Council initiative at the time to increase pedestrian access. 

Photo:  Left to Right – Deputy Mayor Cr Todd Redwood, Adam Marshall MP, Mayor Sam Coupland, Barnaby Joyce MP, Mr Tony Deakin, Mrs Barbara Deakin, Mr James Deakin (Tony and Barbara’s son), Mr Graham Wilson (local historian) and Mr Michael McPhillips (former colleague of Tony’s). 





Latest stories

News

New England Volunteer Awards 2023
The New England Volunteer Awards for 2023 were presented on Thursday 18 May in the Armidale Council Chambers with a record 29 nominations received.
New permanent off-leash dog park for Guyra
Armidale Regional Council (ARC) is now in the early design stages of a leash-free dog area in South Guyra Park, approved by Council at the May meeting, with some works scheduled to commence before the end of June.
Twenty tonnes of recycling sold from Armidale's top crate system
Armidale’s world-class crate recycling system continues to lead the way to secure markets for our plastics, with approximately twenty (20) tonnes of mixed plastics being loaded on to trucks and exported from Council’s waste facilities on Friday 12 May.
Council is a proud champion of Privacy Awareness Week 2023
Privacy Awareness Week NSW takes place from 1 – 7 May 2023 and this year’s theme is Back to Basics: Privacy foundations in NSW. Armidale Regional Council is a proud Champion of Privacy Awareness Week NSW 2023 and is committed to protecting the privacy of NSW citizens.
Mayor congratulates Rotary on longest continuous second hand book sale in New England
Mayor of Armidale Regional Council, Sam Coupland congratulates Armidale Central Rotary on 25 years of the sale and giving generously of their time to the community.
Youth Week is a chance to ‘Connect, Participate and Celebrate’
Armidale Regional Council is hosting free activities in Armidale and Guyra for this year’s Youth Week from 20 to 29 April and welcome all young people in the community to be part of the celebrations.
ARC delivers single largest road project undertaken by a NSW Council
It is an unprecedented time to be part of Armidale Regional Council (ARC) as it delivers the single largest road project ever undertaken by a NSW council.
40 years of Breakfast with the Band on Autumn Festival day
This Saturday’s Autumn Festival marks the fortieth year of the Armidale City Band’s popular ‘Breakfast with the Band’ major fundraising event. Affectionately known by the band as the ‘Pancake Breakfast’, it has grown from humble beginnings in 1982 to an Armidale Autumn Festival institution.
March Meeting Wrap-Up
If you missed the latest Council meeting, we have given you a wrap-up of the main points discussed.
Keys to the City awarded to former mayor and architect Tony Deakin
Mr Antony ‘Tony’ Deakin OAM, former mayor and architect, has been granted the Keys to the City by Armidale Regional Council, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community.