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Forbes Phoenix

Bushfire Prediction Tech To Bolster Emergency Response Efforts

February 19, 2021 By editor

Australia will develop a nationally consistent bushfire modelling and prediction capability under an agreement announced between CSIRO, AFAC and the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services.

The partnership involves the development of Spark Operational, a cutting-edge bushfire simulation tool based on CSIRO’s ‘Spark’ fire prediction platform.

Fire and emergency services agencies across Australia will be able to use Spark Operational, opening bushfire prediction opportunities across borders and over different landscapes.

CSIRO’s Spark platform combines current fire behaviour knowledge with state-of-the-art simulation science to produce predictions, statistics and visualisations of bushfire spread, as well as simulating hours of fire spread across a landscape in a matter of seconds.

AFAC’s Fire Prediction Services Group will work with CSIRO to improve existing technology and build a national system that allows for consistent bushfire predictions to support emergency service and response teams across borders.

Phase one of the technology’s implementation commenced January 2021, with further developments over the next three years.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said the innovation built on decades of expertise. “Our solutions from science have protected Australians from the threat of bushfires for over 70 years, from roadside fire danger signs to advanced burn over protection materials,” Dr Marshall said.

“But 2020 changed the game forever. So, we have changed our game too, by unleashing new science and technology to protect our firefighters and Australian communities.

“We believe this advanced system will help firefighters outthink fire, to anticipate its actions, and to get ahead of it, so they can beat it.”

Nothing Mice About This Plague

February 19, 2021 By editor

It’s been compared to the mice plague of 2011 that cost farmers $200 million.

Now, nearly a decade on, everyone is gearing up for the next wave and with all the welcomed rain comes mice, who breed and feed every 10-21 days and can produce up to 500 offspring in a season.

Information via the Central West Local Land Services website and Senior Land Services Officer for Mixed Farming, Callen Thompson has some tips for farmers explaining that, “Producers also need to be mindful that although mice will normally only travel 3-5 metres to forage for food, when numbers are high, they will actively travel.”

“So, if you do decide to treat paddocks early, you will need to at least budget on regular perimeter bating to keep them out of your paddocks.”

“The reason mouse numbers are high this year is because of the positive season. There is plenty of grass and crop seed on the ground to eat and a lot of grass and stubble that they can use for habitat,” Thompson said via the website.

For more information, contact Central West Local Land Services.

Gold Rush For Grazing Down The Lachlan 2021

February 19, 2021 By editor

O Tama Carey from Sydney will return as Creative Director.

Grazing Down the Lachlan will draw upon the gold rush era for inspiration for this year’s menu, with renowned Sydney chef O Tama Carey returning as Creative Director. While the menu is kept secret until the day, the theme provides ‘Grazers’ with a little insight into what to expect.

“During the gold rushes of 1850s and 60s, thousands of Chinese-born people migrated to the region. With them, they brought their cuisine”, O Tama said.

“The dishes will incorporate ideas of Chinese dishes found in regional restaurants of Australia with touches of native ingredients and flavours. Our ingredients and produce will again be sourced locally.”

Following a hiatus in 2020, the multi-award winning foodie adventure returns to Forbes on Saturday 18 September 2021. The epic long lunch is set alongside the picturesque Lachlan River. ‘Grazers’ are free to wander along the designated corridor of the nine-mile reserve between six stations offering delicious food with a matched beverage.

Chair of the Grazing Down the Lachlan committee, Wendy Muffet said, “This year we’re excited to explore cultural diversity in the wake of the first gold rush in partner ship with our major sponsor Evolution Mining – an extraordinary synergy. Events like Grazing are so important for regional communities, showcasing and celebrating local culture and history, while boosting local economies.”

To ensure the Grazing committee can deliver a COVIDSafe event, ticket numbers have been capped at 500.

“The health and safety of our community and visitors is first priority,” Wendy added.

“While we have limited numbers to the main event, we will be hosting some supporting events on the Friday and Sunday to extend the Grazing weekend. We are so looking forward to sharing the details of those supporting events when we launch the full 2021 program in the coming weeks.”

Free Online Workshop For Learner Drivers

February 19, 2021 By editor

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils will be hosting another online workshop for parents and other supervisors of local learner drivers, full of practical advice and information about completing the 120 hours of supervised driving.

The free ‘Helping Learner Drivers Become Safer Drivers’ workshop is scheduled for Wednesday 24 February from 6pm.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the online delivery will hopefully make it more easily accessible for participants to attend.

“We have held three of these online workshops during the second half of 2020 and had a great response. Parents and supervisors of learner drivers have a crucial role to play in making our roads safer. That is why we have teamed up with Transport for NSW and the Councils across the Western Region to hold another one of these workshops via Zoom,” Ms Suitor said.

Participants can attend from the comfort of their own home. The estimated run time is 1 hour and 15 minutes. The workshop covers the licencing system, how to use the Learner Driver Logbook including the use of digital logbooks, licence conditions for learner and P-plate drivers, the benefits of on-road driving sessions, tips on supervising a learner driver and more.

“Parents and supervisors who have attended this workshop in the past have found that it boosted their confidence, helped them better plan driving sessions and allowed them to share their experiences with other parents and supervisors,” Ms Suitor said.

Bookings are essential and can be made online via Eventbrite, through Councils’ Facebook page or by calling Ms Suitor on (02) 6861 2364. For further information please call Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, on (02) 6861 2364.

Opportunity To Join Board Opens Up

February 19, 2021 By editor

Applications are welcomed from the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) from those interested in becoming a member of the board.

WNSWLHD Board Chair Scott Griffiths said a number of vacancies are opening up on the board due to the retirement of members, including himself.

“I strongly encourage anyone with an interest to put themselves forward,” he said.

“This is a skills-based board and members are required to actively contribute to the effective governance WNSWLHD, which provides a broad range of health services to the residents and visitors across our region.

“The board is responsible for overseeing an effective governance and risk management framework for the district, setting its strategic directions, ensuring high standards of professional and ethical conduct are maintained, involve providers and the community in decisions that affect them, monitoring the service delivery and financial performance of the district against its targets and holding the chief executive accountable for their performance,” he said.

“Our local board plays an important role within the Local Health District”.

To apply go to NSW Health website by Sunday, 28 February: www.health.nsw.gov.au/lhd/boards/Pages/eoi_lhdboards.aspx.

Arts Festival Comes To Bathurst

February 19, 2021 By editor

Kate Ceberano will be performing at Bathurst’s Inland Sea of Sound Festival in a couple of weeks.

The Inland Sea of Sound Festival will take the form of an intimate series of concerts in the centre of Bathurst. Indoor and outdoor concerts featuring guest headliners and our finest local musicians.

The festival kicks off on Tuesday, 23 February with a free but ticketed screening of Soda Jerk’s Terror Nullius in association with Bathurst Regional Art Gallery.

The live concerts commence on Wednesday, 24 February in the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) with Sub-Tribe, a dynamic six piece band from New Zealand. Sub-Tribe will be supported by The Safety of Life at Sea and The Mirandas.

On Thursday, 25 February, the festival moves outdoors, featuring Hussy Hicks lead by Powerhouse Soul vocalist Leesa Gentz and Julz Parker, who is Australia’s leading female guitarist. Hussy Hicks will be supported by local favourites Smith & Jones.

On Friday the events are back at BMEC, where guests will be seduced by the vocal prowess of Kate Ceberano accompanied by guitarist Ben Butler, who has returned from the USA where he performed with Sting and Bruce Springsteen. Local support is singer songwriter Andy Nelson with his amazing, new five piece band.

On Saturday we are outdoors with Headliner C.W. Stoneking, a musical, blues story teller, who is one of a kind. C.W. will be supported by the incomparable Mo’Ju, winner of best song and best album at the 2018 National Indigenous Music Awards.

On Sunday at 2pm in the BMEC theatre, we present kids favourites The Beanies in a free show for families: The Beanies Egg-straordinary Day.

Tickets can be found at https://www.inlandseaofsound.com.au/tickets/ticket-information. You can also pre-order a delicious picnic box for the outdoor and BMEC events.

Bedgerabong Cup One Of The Best Yet!

February 19, 2021 By editor

Debutant jockey William Stanley on Song One wins Bedgerabong Picnic Race Club Cup.

The Western Tree Care Bedgerabong Picnic Race Club (BPRC) Cup was held last weekend with nearly 1900 turning out for one of the first post-COVID events in 2021 in the Central West.

A great track, superb weather and a plethora of racing made the 102nd running of the race day one of the best yet.

“Over one hundred years of racing doesn’t just happen,” said Nathan Clarke, President of the BPRC.

“It’s a result of continuous hours of committee and community banding together to ensure that this fantastic race day continues for years to come.

“We owe such a great amount of respect to past committees and volunteers that have kept this amazing event going.”

This year’s event had six races and followed strict COVID regulations with the standout stories being Maddison Wright’s three wins and debutant jockey William Stanley grabbing his first two winners including Song One in the main race.

Other winners on the day included Dot the Eye, On A Promise, My Shiromi, Drummed Out and favourite Nepenthes in Race 6.

Debutant jockey William Stanley rode Bathurst trained ‘Dot the Eye’ to victory in an ideal start to his racing career in Race 1 and the delight of the 1,850 strong crowd. The 67kg Eyeful/ Minnalin product was too good for equal pre-race favourites the Bryan Dixon trained Arealist and Chelsbeach taking the win by 0.3 lengths.

Ironically, Stanley would team up with Dixon in Race 5 – the Bedgerabong Picnic Race Club Cup with the third favourite ‘Song One’. It was the eight year old bay gelding’s tenth win in 75 starts and Stanley’s second and biggest. Pre-race fancies Zoutenant and Lucienne never really featured finishing mid to late in the run home.

The soft track set up well for ‘Song One’ who claimed the gong by nearly a length from Regina Margherita with Sensacova over five lengths back in third.

No doubt though the day belonged to Stanley with one of the most impressive first up displays in rural sport.

Attendees on the day also included Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM, Shooter’s Party NSW MP Phillip Donato and Nationals Leader and Deputy PM Michael McCormack.

“Our committee is a wonderful bunch of volunteers who never cease to amaze me when it comes to this time of year,” Mr Clarke said.

“Can’t wait to see you all again in 2022!”

CWA And The Three Blue Ducks

February 12, 2021 By editor

Heather Mackinnon, Andy Allen, Mark Labrooy, Robyn Miller and Karen Wright with crew member and producer filming.

In early November 2020, Forbes CWA Evening Branch members received an unexpected invitation to be involved in the filming of a new cooking and lifestyle program.

The invitation asked for members to provide samples of family favourite lamb dishes and their well-used recipe books which contained go-to recipes. CWA branches were targeted because of their traditional reputations as being good cooks. Intrigued by this, and always looking for opportunities to be involved in community events, four Forbes members, Karen Wright, Heather Mackinnon, Robyn Miller and Sue Cunningham joined a small group of CWA members from Parkes and Forbes Day Branches at Trundle.

Andy Allen, youngest Masterchef winner and Junior Masterchef judge, Mark Labrooy, Masterchef guest judge and international chef, and Darren Robertson from Masterchef, Iron Chef and My Kitchen Rules hosted the ladies’. All three Chefs and owners of the Three Blue Ducks restaurants located in Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane, were looking for authentic, good old fashioned, ‘rustic’ country cooking to taste and possibly incorporate the recipes into their menus at these venues. “We want to maintain our commitment to supporting small farmers and producers,” said Darren. “It’s really about working with what’s available, minimising waste and sourcing produce that’s as organic as possible.”

There was a variety of different lamb dishes brought along by CWA members including a sweet lamb curry, a jumbuck stew, and a lamb hotpot, all cooked by Forbes members, which impressed the celebrity chefs.

Filming was very fluid with the cameras shooting most of the time while the group discussed a variety of topics, taste-tested the dishes and perused the old and much-loved cookbooks. The film crew and sound man roved around the ladies’ filming with the mic just above their heads. However, it didn’t take long for the ladies to relax and forget about the cameras and crew as it was interesting for them to look at the historic cookbooks while chatting about how country cooks cook.

Taste testing of the lamb dishes.

Apart from taste testing, the filming for this episode included an open and frank discussion surrounding the issues important to rural, regional and remote communities, what the CWA is all about and its role in the community, and how local branches have changed and adapted to support women, families and the community in an ever-changing world.

The three chefs spent time delving into some very old and much-loved recipe books brought along by members. The focus was on the waste reduction approach that farmers have historically taken when providing food for their families. “Reducing waste and sustainability is very important to us,” commented Mark.

“We are visiting places where we source our foods that we cook and serve,” stated Andy. “We wanted to find out about the local areas and the communities from where the food originates and from the Trundle area where we source much of the lamb we serve.” Different episodes will focus on where they source their seafood, beef, and other produce.

What was intended to be ninety minutes of filming turned into several hours. “It was all good fun and something different,” stated Robyn Miller, President of Forbes CWA Evening Branch.

The first episode of the program, Three Blue Ducks, will be aired on Channel 10 on Saturday night, 13 February at 7.00pm. The second episode will be aired on Network 10 on Saturday, 20th February at 7.00 pm.

This episode takes the three chefs to western NSW and a Trundle family property to explore the use of lamb in their cooking. Forbes and Parkes CWA branches were involved in the filming of this episode of the 6 part series.

If you missed the first episode you can view it, as well as all the upcoming episodes on 10 Play.

 

West Plains Road Widening

February 12, 2021 By editor

Forbes Shire Council is currently undertaking improvements and widening of West Plains Road to the south west of Forbes. The Forbes Shire Mayor wants the community to know Council is working hard on their core responsibilities and road maintenance is a responsibility that they take very seriously.

“Council has listened to the concerns of landholders regarding the efficiency and safety of transporting produce from this part of the shire and we are actively seeking support to undertake these improvement projects,” says Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM. “We understand very clearly that we are an agricultural shire and the contribution that agriculture makes to our local economy. This project will ensure that produce is able to be moved from the south western parts of the shire to key freight arteries, such as the Newell, reducing delays for primary producers and keeping people safe on these roads.”

This project will also improve safety outcomes for members of the public using these roads in conjunction with large heavy vehicles, including employees of Evolution Mining travelling to site.

“We really appreciate the NSW Government and Evolution Mining for helping us fund this improvement. In fact, we hope we can undertake more work like this in the future.

“Council is using our own professional staff who have much experience in this type of project, as well as local contractors and local suppliers, so there are many benefits within the community,” continued Phyllis. “This is a significant Council investment of $1.5 Million and it is great to know it is contributing to the local economy.”

The project is expected to take three months to complete, depending on weather conditions. Motorists are advised to drive carefully when in the area and follow caution signs.

Fantastical Fiction In Forbes

February 12, 2021 By editor

Author Lian Tanner visited Forbes Library to read Ella and the Ocean to a lucky group of children from Forbes Learning Ladder.

The first Wednesday of February marks World Read Aloud Day, and by a happy coincidence the Forbes Library was able to participate by sharing a special Storytime with a visiting children’s author named Lian Tanner. Lian gave a wonderfully entertaining reading of her recently published book titled, Ella and the Ocean, which she enlivened with cheery songs and finger puppets to an eager audience, amongst whom was a very well-behaved group of children from the Forbes Learning Ladder.

Ella and the Ocean, written by Lian Tanner, illustrated by Jonathan Bentley and Published by Allen & Unwin, is a simple and moving story about renewal and rejuvenation, about drought and life on the land, about travel and new horizons, and about family, and the relationship between Ella and her grandmother. Lian Tanner’s writing is beautiful and spare and poetic, but at the same time is warm, easy, and relatable for kids.

Ella and the Ocean was named Winner of the 2020 Patricia Wrightson Prize, NSW Premier’s Award For Children’s Literature.

Lian Tanner has been dynamited while scuba diving and arrested while busking. She once spent a week in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, hunting for a Japanese soldier left over from the Second World War. She likes secrets, old bones, and animals that are not what they seem. Nowadays she lives by the beach in southern Tasmania with a large fluffy tomcat called Harry-le-beau. She is the author of the internationally bestselling The Keepers series, The Rogues and The Hidden. This is her first picture book.

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