The decommissioned Lions Park playground equipment will be relocated overseas as part of the Rotary Overseas Relocated Playgrounds (RORP) program.

Lions Park playground is set to enjoy a sec­ond life overseas, thanks to a partnership between Council and Rotary. The Rotary Overseas Relocated Playgrounds (RORP) program rescues decommissioned play­grounds and relocates them to overseas communities in need.

The Lions Park playground equipment will be shipped to one of RORP’s fifteen partner countries, where it will be installed to benefit local children and families without access to safe playgrounds.

Forbes Shire Mayor, Phyllis Miller OAM said the initiative is a win-win for the com­munity. “While the equipment is no longer suitable for reuse in Forbes, we’re proud to partner with Rotary to give it a second life.

Instead of sending it to landfill, this initiative allows children overseas to enjoy quality play experiences that they otherwise would not have,” the Mayor said.

The RORP project has donated over 400 playgrounds from Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales to overseas com­munities including Timor Leste, the Philip­pines, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, South Africa, Cambodia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.

The Parkes Rotary Club took on the task of deconstructing and storing the Lions Park equipment until there are enough do­nations to fill a forty-foot shipping container.

Parkes Rotary Club member, Peter Thompson said the Lions Park equip­ment will make a real difference. “This is our Club’s first time participating in a play­ground relocation project and it’s been in­credibly rewarding.”

“It takes approximately fourteen play­grounds to fill one shipping container, so we are encouraging our neighbouring councils to join the initiative to help make this pos­sible,” Mr Thompson added.

For more information visit www.forbes.nsw.gov.au/community/grants-and-support/major-projects/lake-activation

Battery fire in a garbage truck.

This week marks the launch of a major new phase of the successful ‘Never Bin A Battery’ campaign rolling out across New South Wales.

Fires caused by the incorrect disposal of household batteries and products with em­bedded batteries are a growing hazard. In NSW, Fire and Rescue have responded to more than 280 incidents caused by lithiumion batteries this year alone.

Meanwhile, the waste industry reports an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 battery-related fires a year nationwide, posing a significant risk to human health, the environment and to critical infrastructure that we rely on to process waste.

NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Executive Director of Programs and Innovation Alexandra Geddes said, “Every­one has a role to play in the safe use and disposal of batteries, which should never be disposed of in kerbside bins.”

The campaign reminds people to:

• Tape the ends of small loose batteries with clear, sticky tape

• Keep them safe in a ventilated, glass container

• Drop them off at nearby B-cycle collec­tion points, like supermarkets and hard­ware stores

• Dispose of large batteries (5-20 kg) for free at Community Recycling Centres

• Drop off items with embedded batteries for free to one of 34 CRCs participating in the embedded batteries recycling trial