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

A large contingent of 13 caravans set off for our three-week roving rally, led by our Tour Director John Apps and his wife Di, to all meet for our first night camp at Ariah Park. The next day saw all set off travelling to Griffith and Jerilderie and Conargo. Day three saw us drive through Deniliquin and crossing the Murray River into Victoria at Barham for a morning rest. Kerang was our next stop for lunch and then we drove to the town of Birchip which is famous for it’s vanilla slice at the bakery. We then reached the border of South Australia and after a fruit fly check camped that night at Parilla.

Heading off we went to Tailem Bend, Murray Bridge and through the towns of Hahndorf and Crafers to our five-night stay at the Belair National Caravan Park in the Adelaide Hills.

On leaving we were all directed out of Adelaide by our leaders and all safely made it to Dublin. Most drivers missed the bakery there and headed off to Ardrossan. This was the start of the Yorke Pennisula ,which is a wealthy grain producing area. We stayed at the caravan park at Yorketown and we found this a very friendly spot. Next stop was at the Clare Racecourse in the Clare Valley- famous for its wine and produce. At Seven Hills we visited the old Jesuits winery and church with its crypt. Leaving the Clare Valley on Anzac Day, the group held their own private service at the War Memorial at Gladstone, camping that night at Hawker in the Flinders Ranges. The next day we all arrived at Wilpena Pound. This is a beautiful area where walks and climbing into the pound are enjoyed, as well as driving through Brachina Gorge to Blinman and Parachilna. Lots of natural beauty was seen.

On leaving here it was the start of a homeward journey, travelling to Peterborough and Burra Morgan, and finishing at the Riverland in South Australia . The next stop was Hay, and then Forbes for a meal with some of our Club members and home after a long and very enjoyable journey.

Colleen Liebich,
Publicity Officer

Work will begin on the Rankin Street Crossing at the corner of Templar Street next Wednesday, May 23, in a move that Forbes Shire Council Acting General Manager Max Kershaw says is needed for it to meet Australian standards.

The project was initially supposed to go ahead earlier, but with business owners on Rankin Street expressing concerns, it has been revised and pushed back. The project was initially going to see the curbs on both sides of the crossing brought out to be within around 3.2 metres from the middle of the road, while the curb on the corner of Rankin and Templar Streets was also going to be brought out a similar distance. Business owners on Rankin were concerned that the project would make Rankin Street too narrow for traffic to safely pass through, and had a meeting with Council on Wednesday May 4 to address their concerns. But Mr Kershaw said improvements had to be made, as the crossing did not meet Australian standards.

“Council was pleased to meet with the business owners, and took on board comments made at the least meeting, which lead to our revised plan,” he said. “We still had to make improvements to the crossing, as it did not meet Australian standards.”

Martin Cahill, owner of Cahill’s Footwear on Rankin Street, said while businesses on the road thought it would still be too narrow, it was good Council listened to the concerns of local businesses.

“We fear it will be dangerous not for pedestrians on the crossing, but for cars turning from Templar Street onto Rankin Street, across the crossing, and not having enough room to do so with traffic coming in the opposite direction,” he said.

“However we’re happy that Council took our concerns into consideration. They hadn’t consulted us before announcing the project, so hopefully now this won’t happen in future.”