At the award ceremony were (L-R) Francine Binns (Chief Executive Officer, IPWEA NSW & ACT), Ben Howard (Director Operations, Parkes Shire Council), Melanie Suitor (Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils) and Grant Baker (President, IPWEA NSW & ACT).

The successful Load Restraint Education Project of the Forbes, Parkes and LachlanShire Councils Load Restraint Education Project has won the Local Government Excellence in Road Safety Award at a gala dinner at Parliament House in Canberra last week.

This year there were more than 100 nominations across the eight categories of the awards presented by the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia to endorse and recognise excellence of Local Government and public works projects.

The Load Restraint Project was spearheaded by the three Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer Melanie Suitor, who accepted the award on behalf of the project team.

“The project saw an increase in load restraint knowledge, breaches decreased by almost 70% and there were no load restraint incidents recorded on our local roads during 2021.

“We worked collaboratively with NSW Police, NSW Farmers and Transport for NSW to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the project,” she said.

The project involved a pre and post online awareness quiz, how to videos and accompanying fact sheets, local case studies and the Load Restraint Village Tour. It focused on the safe transportation of hay bales, machinery and general freight.

NSW Farmers Regional Services Manager Catriona McAuliffe said: “We were able to show how vital good quality restraints and their appropriate use are for the safety of our produce and equipment, the drivers of the vehicles, and the road users that we share the roads with.”

For Parkes Highway Patrol Sergeant Martin Ling being on the road everyday meant they were able to see the improvements in compliance with load restraints on heavy vehicles and the reduction in incidents caused by insufficiently restrained loads. “Also, to know that we were able to educate a large number of people on safe and proper load restraints meant they had less chance of being fined or having to go to court.”

Forbes Shire Council’s innovation and efforts in sustainability have been recognised with two awards at the 2021 NSW Sustainable Communities Awards held in Albury recently.

The council won awards in the Litter Prevention and Recycled Organics categories, and received a Highly Commended in the Habitat and Conservation category, accepted by Forbes Shire Council’s Waste & Environmental Specialist Hiral Patel.

“We have been a long-time competitor and it is an absolute credit to the partnership between council and our community that we are still being recognised for our commitment and innovation,” said Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM.

The EPA Litter Prevention Award (population category C: 5,000-12,000) went to council’s Solar Smart Bins Around Lake Forbes. The bins operate on solar power and have smart sensors inside which activates the compactor mechanism to make more room for more waste. This increases the holding capacity of the bin five times. The bins were installed at Apex Park, Lions Park and the Forbes Aquatic Centre in June 2021.

The Recycled Organics Award (population category C) went to council’s Food Organics and Garden Organics Deep Dive Education Project. FSC was one of only three councils to trial the FOGO Project – to ensure the whole community is aware and able to participate in sustainable food waste reduction. Since its introduction food waste reduced by 15% with an added 4% increase in food waste recovery. Overall contamination in the FOGO bin is down to 1.4%.

Habitat and Wildlife Conservation Award, Highly Commended (population Category C) – Forbes Shire Council created 20 new nesting hollows in existing dead trees as homes for the increasing birdlife in the Gum Swamp area. The hollows project coincided with the refurbishment of the existing bird hide and the addition of several two-storey bird hides.

The Shed Talk held at Boys to the Bush in celebration of International Women’s Day.

The staff at Boys to the Bush hosted a ‘Shed Talk’ last week in celebration of International Women’s Day. These talks are held throughout the year to involve people from all areas and backgrounds in our community to learn and participate in conversations with staff and participants of the program.

Last week Thursday’s talk was to celebrate the role of women in our community. Staff members Kristy Butler, Hannah DeMamiel and Mel West spoke of their experiences working with both boys and girls in the organisation, and the positive outcomes it is having not only on the kids involved, but also on the staff and everyone involved. Programs such as MENtoring, School Groups and in particular Emergency Care and Girls to the Country Camps, were all well received by those who attended.

“Forbes has embraced Boys to the Bush with open arms since it’s commencement,” said Cassandra Tyack, Community Partnerships Coordinator. “Without the generous support of our town, Boys to the Bush would not be able to continue to achieve so many good results in nurturing the disengaged and vulnerable members of our community to build strong and confident young men and women.”

Forbes Wendy Gill is one of 24 recipients living in rural and regional NSW of the 2022 NSW State Government Rural Scholarship Program.

The one-year scholarship program begins with the finalists attending the Future Women Leadership Summit in Sydney earlier this week on 7 – 8 March, as part of the 2022 NSW Women’s Week celebrations. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said regional women are the lifeblood of so many bush communities.

“Each of the winners have already gone above and beyond in their local community, and this program will boost their leadership potential as they inspire the next generation of leaders,” Mr Toole said.

Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said the program is designed to connect driven and passionate women from all ages and backgrounds and help them in developing leadership skills as they progress to the next stage of their career.

“Last year’s NSW Rural Scholarship Program was a huge success. I’m sure we will see another exceptional result with this year’s intake.”

Not only do the winners get access to the coveted Future Women Platinum+ Program, valued at $5,500 each, but all 218 women who entered will also receive a complimentary one-year Gold membership, which gives them access to Future Proof, a year-long career development webinar series, and a 50 per cent discount to attend this week’s Future Women Leadership Summit.

For more info visit www.futurewomen.com/rural-womens-scholarship