In reaction to Linda Clark’s letter last week about the word ‘Eternity’ appearing at random places around Forbes lately, Leo Butler sent us this image taken in August last year about 200m north of the Camp Street bridge towards the Dreaming Centre. “I can remember in the 1950s and 1960s the word ‘Eternity’ chalked on a rock near Maimuru between Grenfell and Young, maybe the work of Arthur Stace,” Leo said.

New Number For Women’s Health: The Western NSW Local Health District Women’s Health Service has a new 1800 number. You can reach the service by calling 1800 008 422 between Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm to get in contact with your local women’s health nurse, and to book appointments directly. A referral is not required. 

Real-Time Weather Forecast For Farmers: Farmers and regional communities in the Central West can now access detailed, real-time weather observations received by the new Doppler radar at Yeoval. The radar’s information will revolutionise how weather-dependent decisions are made, and will enhance the productivity of rural communities. The new radar enables the Bureau of Meteorology to provide accurate, real-time data, determining rain and wind velocity, raindrop and hail size, and the height of bushfire plumes up to 200km from the radar site. The addition of Yeoval to the radars at Brewarrina and Hillston-Ivanhoe means an area covering approximately 30% of NSW now has access to real-time weather warnings and forecasts. Data from the Yeoval Doppler radar is available on the Bureau of Meteorology weather app or at www.bom.gov.au. 

New Wyangala Water Treatment Plant: Work to deliver up to 800,000 litres of clean drinking water every day has started at the new $5.1 million Wyangala Water Treatment Plant. The plant will be owned and operated by Cowra Shire Council when work is finished in early 2023. The project’s principal contractor, Enviropacific Services, aim to employ one-third of its workforce locally. 

Testing And Research City at Cudal: The NSW Government has unveiled its vision for regional NSW to become the Southern Hemisphere hub of cutting-edge autonomous vehicle technology, with a testing and research ‘city’ to be built at Cudal, near Orange. The government announced a $9.5 million upgrade to the Future Mobility Testing and Research Centre – once the local airstrip – which opened in 2019. The goal is to develop Australia’s first certification site for driverless vehicles. 

More Return And Earn Points: More return points are being added to the NSW Government’s popular Return and Earn scheme after a new contract was signed with network operator TOMRA Cleanaway. The container deposit scheme has seen more than 7.4 billion containers returned since it began in 2017, and more than $30 million raised for charities and community groups. This resulted in a 52% reduction in the volume of drink container litter and recycling more than 672,000 tonnes in materials. 

The NSW RFS very kindly donated 20 helmets to Learn-ing Ladder for the children to use in imaginative play. Michael Browne from the RFS handed the donation to Louise Allen from Learning Ladder.

Grease and Oil Change Workshop: This is the 7th consecutive year of the brain and body workshops for rural people started by Cherie Quade in 2015 as a way of creating conversation in our community about mental health, wellbeing and real life stories of how people in rural communities stay afloat when the rest of the world seems like a lot. The next free workshop is on Monday, 30th May at 6pm. Clinical Psychologist Vicki Maher is coming to The Back Room in Forbes for an educational, uplifting and practical conversation about mental health in these current times. Numbers are limited due to space, make sure to register at https://greaseandoilchangevickimaher.eventbrite.com.au

Loneliness: It is a growing epidemic impacting seniors across Australia with one in four older Australians identifying themselves as lonely. Community organisation Inclusee is encouraging Australians who are feeling isolated or lonely to visit inclusee.org,au to access the power of connection. Inclusee is calling for participants over the age of 65, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over the age of 50, who feel they are at risk of social isolation and loneliness. The programs are completely free for participants, though some eligibility conditions apply. You can register to participate online at www.inclusee.org.au or call on 1800 287 687.

Lightweight Bag Ban: The NSW Government’s ban on lightweight plastic bags will come into force from 1st June, and from November more problematic plastics, such as cutlery, plates and polystyrene food ware and cups will be banned. Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60% of all litter in NSW. Stopping the supply of problematic plastic will help prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill. The ban will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment in NSW over the next 20 years. So-called “compostable” and “bioplastic” alternatives are also being banned. For more information about the NSW plastics ban, visit http://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/plastics-ban

Birth Certificate Blitz: Hundreds of free birth certificates will be made available to vulnerable people in NSW, including people experiencing economic disadvantage, Aboriginal people and survivors of domestic and family violence. A new agreement will provide up to 700 free birth certificates for vulnerable people, particularly in regional and remote NSW. The free birth certificate blitz will run up to 30 June 2022.

Mason and Aiden Campbell enjoyed the Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser at Forbes North Public School.