The Forbes Medical Centre has welcomed a new doctor, with Dr Tahmina Mohsin joining the practice two weeks ago. Her arrival comes after a previous doctor left the practice, but her association with the other doctor there, Dr Hassan, is what brought her to Forbes. She is working part-time at Forbes Inland Medical Centre, and said the opportunity was one should couldn’t pass on.

“I was really excited when the part-time opportunity came up in Forbes, as I was wanting to reduce my workload,” she said. “I worked with Dr Hassan at the hospitals I worked at in Sydney and Nowra previously, so when the opportunity came up, he asked me to come to Forbes.”

Dr Tahmina will be staying in Forbes in provided accommodation, but with her family still living in Sydney, she will be commuting from Sydney to Forbes. Dr Tahmina has come across to Forbes for work from Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, where she spent four years working full time as a general practioner.

Before that she worked at Nowra’s Shoalhaven Hospital and various hospitals in Sydney, including Bankstown, Campbelltown and Blacktown, as well as Shellharbour Hospital in Wollongong and John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. She is originally from Bangladesh, and she worked in New Zealand before moving to Australia in 2004.

She said the thing she enjoys the most about her work in Forbes is being able to serve a tight-knit, rural community. “I think, as a doctor, you work better in a rural town, as you get to see the same patients all the time and get to know them better,” she said. “It’s easier to serve individuals. You feel like you’re making more of a difference, and you get a much better connection with them than what you do in the city.”
By Joshua Matic

State Member for Orange Andrew Gee on Tuesday announced his resignation, following five years representing the communities of the Central West in the NSW Parliament. “It has been an honour to work with local community members, community groups, and also my fellow members of Parliament on a range of issues and projects that have been close to the hearts of those in our
communities,” Mr Gee said.

“More than anything though, it has been an absolute privilege to represent the communities of Orange, Molong, Cudal and the Cabonne Shire, Gulgong, Mudgee, Wellington, and more recently, Parkes, Forbes, Canowindra, Eugowra, Peak Hill, Trundle, Tullamore, Bogan Gate and their surrounding districts.

Mr Gee will now contest the federal seat of Calare in the upcoming Federal Election.

The hard working volunteer Food Revolution Day and Forbes Farmers Markets committee members did not let adverse weather conditions dampen their enthusiasm for the scheduled event held last weekend. The groups joined forces to provide the Forbes community with an opportunity to come together and cook good food and share skills, knowledge and resources.

Around 1800 people attended the morning which was filled with fresh food market stalls, food tasting, demonstrations and children’s activities. The Forbes community once again showed its diversity with the Bush Tucker and Multicultural Food tasting stall which provided samples of kangaroo, crocodile, emu, damper, sushi and Iranian cuisine.

The CWA night branch potted seedlings and Forbes Neighbourhood Watch were busy with Fruit Faces. Matt Pearce demonstrated how to make Mini Vegetable Gardens in large pots which were later won by twelve lucky attendees. Tammy Montgomery from Forbes North Public School gave an interesting presentation on kitchen skills and how to make Bircher Muesli which is one of the recognised Food Revolution recipes.

Forbes’ recent ‘Waste 2 Art’ competition will go on display at Forbes Town Hall this weekend, after competition winners were announced during the week. Judging took place on Tuesday for this year’s Waste 2 Art competition and the winners were announced at the official opening at 5.30pm on Thursday, May 26 at the Forbes Town Hall.

The exhibition will then be open from 12pm to 3pm on Friday, May 27 and 10am to 2pm on Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29. There are five different categories – primary school, high school, community, open, village pride and annual waste theme (used tyres) and local winners will go on to compete in the regional competition in Condobolin.

Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM said she was pleased to see how many entries had been submitted for this year’s competition.“The purpose of Waste 2 Art is to encourage the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle and it is fantastic to see the creativity in turning waste to art,” Mayor Miller said. “I encourage you all to go along and have a look at the artworks as they are definitely worth a look.”

With the display running for three days only, ending at 2pm on Sunday, locals are encouraged to get down to Town Hall and view the works of local, talented artists before it closes.

Northside Chapel Community Church leader Rex Taylor says his organisation will benefit hugely from a jumping castle it will be able to purchase, thanks to the $500 grant it won from Westpac Forbes. Mr Taylor and his wife Rachel organise and operate the chapel with a volunteer team. The chapel runs children’s after school programs
for all primary school aged children each Wednesday afternoon, and church services on Sundays.

In addition to this, it hosts a family fun day periodically on a Sunday. The chapel runs two after school programs each Wednesday- an earlier one for the younger children, and one later for the older ones.

Mr Taylor drives a bus which picks up and takes home children after their after school programs, and with the chapel only making money from donations, it is hard for it to make big purchases.

But one of these hopes was to buy a jumping castle for its children, and this will now be possible.

“This money will provide the opportunity to purchase something the kids will enjoy, and hopefully can use it to provide entertainment for whole families,” said Mr Taylor. The venue is leased from Forbes Shire Council, but lots of community groups use it, and Mr Taylor said this would make the jumping castle an even better community asset.

“We’re now looking around for the right jumping castle and once we’ve found one we will be ready to purchase it. The kids are greatly looking forward to getting one,” Mr Taylor said.

“It will be great for the kids as a form of entertainment, but we want to get more parents and families involved and the jumping castle will help that too.”

With Westpac celebrating 200 years next year, regional branches in NSW were giving away $500 to community groups in need.

By Joshua Matic

Following a trial period and consultation, Forbes Shire Council has began work to upgrade the pedestrian crossing on Rankin Street.

Works, which started on Wednesday, will involve extension of the kerb to give improved user safety at the crossing as well as the addition of two car parking spaces. Work is scheduled to take several weeks in which time Council says will endeavour to keep disruption to a minimum. Pedestrian traffic movements will remain the same for footpaths, however the pedestrian crossing will be closed for the duration of works.

Stage one will involve upgrade of the kerb section on the corner of Templar Street and Rankin Street. Traffic will remain with two operational lanes.

The second stage of the work will be on the northern side of Rankin Street and will address kerb extensions and storm water inlets. Whilst this stage is in progress, to ensure the safety of pedestrians and Council employees working on the job, traffic will be reduced to one lane with eastbound traffic on Rankin Street being detoured up Templar Street. Westbound traffic will remain as usual.

Council is also currently completing road pavement repairs in the CBD until Sunday, June 5. The majority of the works programmed will occur in Lachlan Street however some works will also be undertaken in Rankin Street, Riley Street, Browne Lane, Grenfell Street, Camp Street, Cross Street and Johnson Street.

The majority of the works will be performed during the night. The approximate start time will be 8pm and conclude by 5am. Where possible, works will be scheduled later in the night when working adjacent to businesses which trade into the evening.

New Forbes Medical Centre Registrar Dr Maria Rasool says she is enjoying the rural lifestyle of Forbes three months in to her 12-month stint at the practice. Dr Rasool, originally from Pakistan, relocated to Forbes in February, and has
signed a 12-month contract to work in Forbes.

It is her first job as a general practioner, and as well as working during the day at the Forbes Medical Centre, she will also work once a fortnight at the Forbes Hospital, seeing her own patients as well as working shifts in the Emergency Department. She told The Forbes Phoenix she enjoyed Forbes so much that she relocated her family to the town.

“It’s a different lifestyle for what we’re used to, but it’s been a great change for my family. My daughter plays netball and she is loving it, and we’re really looking forward to travelling around to the different carnivals that the netball teams play at,” she said. While it has been a great move for her family, on a personal note, Dr Rasool said it has also been a great change for her. “I’m enjoying having the weekends free and travelling around the Central West to see what there is to see and do,” she said. Dr Rasool moved to Forbes from Fairfield in Sydney, where she worked at Fairfield Hospital.

She has also worked at St George Hospital in Sydney and Griffith Hospital in the NSW Riverina.

She is currently studying for her final GP exam early next year while she works at the Forbes Medical Centre. Being her first role as a GP, she said she enjoys it more than hospital work. “You get to know your patients so much better, especially in a rural setting,” she said.

By Joshua Matic