It’s hard to believe that we are in March already!

Our new Visitor Information Centre merchandise shop opened for business on the weekend, with heaps of souvenirs available for purchase, and a great range of books about Forbes, our history, stories for kids etc. We will build on this with local produce and more lovely merchandise when we head down to the new visitor centre at the Lachlan Vintage village but for now, head down to the Railway and check it out!

This year there’s not one but two events for the whole community to enjoy as we celebrate women for International Women’s Day! This Saturday night we have the fabulous international Women’s Day Cocktail party event in our glorious town hall.  Our ticket proceeds for the Cocktail party will all go to Running for Premature Babies – a great cause! In the morning of IWD itself we are partnering with the Business Chamber for their breakfast event in Lions Park – with speaker Rose De Jong.

And finally the Councillors and I are really grateful to all of our sporting organisations for contributing to the Master plans that are currently in development for our sporting precincts. These drafts will be first considered by Council and it won’t be long till we are able to take these back to the Sporting Groups for checking. These plans will give us a great roadmap for how we would like to improve these important facilities.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

Forbes Shire Council

Have you seen the new fountains in our beautiful lake? They look fantastic, don’t they! There are so many great features to them including they use a quarter of the power of the old ones, they can be lit up at night with colourful lights and they aerate the water better. That is great news for our fish too! Have a look when you get a chance as they are impressive!

This begins the program of implementing some of the Lake Forbes Activation Plan and we are ever thankful to the NSW Government for giving us $2 million dollars as part of the Public Spaces Legacy Fund.

Last week’s Council Meeting was a great start to the year with lots to discuss. I do want the community to let us know your thoughts regarding larger monuments allowed in our lawn cemetery. Submissions can be made to the General Manager by 5pm 13 March via email forbes@forbes.nsw.gov.au or PO Box 333, Forbes NSW 2871. Our cemetery is very dear to our community and I would like you all to have your say.

Speaking of Your Say we have extended the Housing Survey for another month as we really want you all to jump onto the Forbes Your Say site and let us know what you would like future Forbes to have in the way of housing choices.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

You may have heard about the minor fish kill Lake Forbes experienced late last week. We have notified the Department of Primary Industries and they have inspected the waterway. As suspected it is a repercussion of the recent flooding.

Impacts on water quality are expected with the first flush of water on floodplains or after long droughts when organic material such as sticks, leaves, bark and grass is broken down in floodwater or washed off the floodplain into the river resulting in very low dissolved (hypoxic) oxygen levels. This can have localised impacts on fish species. DPI Fisheries will continue to work with partner agencies and stakeholders to manage and monitor water quality and river conditions.

There have been a lot of questions regarding the closure of the Vandenberg Hotel and why isn’t Council doing something about it. I would like the community to know the Council cannot get involved in the sale of businesses. We can encourage the new owners to re-open but we cannot tell them how to run their business.

We have another great event coming up soon, International Women’s Day. Again we will feel inspired by our ‘legendary local ladies’ and feel nourished with amazing canapes and delicious cocktails. Tickets are now on sale through 123tix or see our website for more details. It will be an amazing night and all proceeds will be donated to Running For Premature Babies, a great cause.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

This week we have received reports of minor flooding in our Shire and it is the next challenge we are being dealt, but one I’m sure our community is confident we can handle. Please be careful on the roads especially when they are wet and do not go through flood waters, even if there isn’t a road closed sign.

I received an interesting email this week regarding $2,135,615 worth of lost or unclaimed super belonging to people living in our Shire. Go to: www.ato.gov.au/forms/searching-for-lost-super/

On the subject of data, next week is Census night on the 10th August. The Australian Bureau of Statistics is reminding people that they can complete their Census as soon as they receive their instructions. Households across the country have started receiving Census letters with instructions on how to complete their Cen-sus online, or how to order a paper form. If you are yet to receive your Census instructions, or would like to complete a separate Census form to the rest of your household, you can get a Census number or request a paper form on the Census website: www.abs.gov.au/census. Due to the Local Government Election postponement we will be having two Council Meetings in August. The first falls on the 5th August and the next will be on the 19th August, this will get us back on track with the scheduled third Thursday of the month we always have the meeting fall on.

Till next week. God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

This week we have been celebrating with the young and old of Forbes with Senior’s Week and Youth Week in separate events. The Seniors had a concert in Town Hall last Sunday and another at JRV on Tuesday.

This week we opened up tickets to celebrate Council’s 150 years + 1 in May. It will be great to share some memories with past Councillors and staff who have worked here over the years. We do welcome everyone to join us for a wonderful evening with great food and entertainment.

West Plains Road work has been progressing really well although the rain did put us back a few weeks, the project is set for completion in early June. This along with work on Lions Park car park, Templar St paving and the new Estate really has our team busy of late.

On Wednesday we have a Contractor In-formation Night to talk about ways in which suppliers can work with Council. The night will also feature information for working with our State counterparts from Transport for NSW and Inland Rail as well as Sunrise Energy Metals and Evolution Mining.

The event is free, and guests are asked to get a ticket at www.123tix.com.au/events/17083/forbes-contractor-information-night or ring Council on 6850 2300 to book. If you are in the construction and service industry this is an opportunity you cannot miss.

God Bless.

This week we have launched our survey to the community regarding the Housing Strategy for the Forbes Shire. I really encourage everyone to take part in this survey as it will help us plan for the future infrastructure and managing the character and amenity of our existing residential areas.

Forbes is expecting to grow significantly in the next ten years and we need to plan for the future to ensure we have the infrastructure and essential services to accommodate that. This is why we have this strategy and we want the community to let us know what they would like to see available to them in Forbes.

There will be several pop-up sessions available in town for those who don’t have access to online.

Now have you heard the wonderful news? We have a new tenant for the Target site! Kmart will be taking up the space which is wonderful news for the town. More details will be coming soon as they come to hand.

International Women’s Day Cocktail Night? This is coming up on 13 March at the Masonic Lodge. We are so excited about this too and we have a great line up of local legendary ladies speaking at this event. It is a ticketed event and they can be found on 123Tix. All proceeds will be going to Ronald McDonald House Charity in Orange. So many of our residents have had to use this great facility over the years and we would like to pay back some love.

Till next week. God Bless.
Your Mayor,
Phhyllis Miller