Welcome to the new financial year! We have an exciting year ahead with many great projects planned for Forbes this year. You would have heard Council was lucky to receive funding from Stronger Country Communities for the new Ninja Park and Spooner Oval lighting. The Ninja Park is an exciting addition to Forbes. We will place the park near the Skate Park, making the area the best youth precinct in the Central West! Spooners will receive new energy efficient lighting for the oval making the oval much more user friendly for training and night-time games.

We were also lucky to receive $1 million for the Drought Communities Program from the Federal Government. This work includes some wonderful projects around town including the upgrades to the Rotunda in Victoria Park. This Rotunda was built in 1881 and is utilised regularly by many community groups and events. It will be wonderful to see this get some TLC.

The toddlers pool at the Forbes Olympic Pool will also have maintenance work completed, hopefully in time for summer. The heated pool is in its final design stages for work to begin very soon.

Well it has been a very busy week again, but also a very productive one.

Last week we had our June Council Meeting and we endorsed the Youth Strategic Plan. It will now go on Public Exhibition for the public to comment. It is so important we define areas to keep our youth engaged and part of our community.

We want to provide them with the services and opportunities they need to thrive in our town, as we know being a kid in country NSW has its challenges but we would like the youth to know we plan to tackle the big issues and provide them a safe and happy place to grow. Jump on our website and have a look at the plan and let Council know your thoughts.

Our crews have also been busy of late with the work surrounding the new Camp Street Bridge. Doesn’t it look amazing! The project is in the final weeks and we will keep you updated on the proposed opening celebrations.

Some of the surrounding landscaping will not be completed until Spring, when the season is better suited for planting.

When this work is complete it will be all hands-on deck for the refurbishment of Templar Street.

We have ordered the new self-watering planter boxes, and you may have noticed the smaller plants have been removed from the garden beds and re-located in other garden beds around town.

Please be assured that I am working very hard to solve the Target dilemma. I need you all to continue to email Wesfarmers, articulating how important Target Country is to this town and your families. Here is their email address again: info@wesfarmers.com.au

Most importantly I ask that you continue to shop locally at all our stores. It is essential that we keep our businesses viable. We do not want to lose being able to walk from shop to shop while socialising. The Forbes community has always stuck together in a crisis and may I suggest this is one if we are not careful.

For those that don’t know, we have a wonderful service available in Forbes called Riding for the Disabled. This volunteer service allows people with a disability to experience equine assisted activities. If you know anyone who would like to volunteer, please get in touch through Council.

We have our June Council meeting this week and we will have a lot to talk about with the Youth Strategic Plan, Homemakers Centre report and many other things to discuss.

Enjoy your week. God Bless.

Your Mayor, Phyllis Miller

I am hearing the many voices in the community not happy about the recent announcement of Target closing next year. I want you all to let those voices be heard! Email info@wesfarmers.com.au, and let the Chairman of Wesfarmers know the Forbes community would like this store to remain in town, I have already sent my email and I encourage you to write to the Chairman directly. If you prefer to write a letter here is the mailing address: Wesfarmers Limited, Level 14, Brookfield Place Tower 2, 123 St Georges Terrace, Perth 6000 WA.

Next week Apex Park is getting a little makeover with a new shade structure being installed and the park will be closed for a few days. I am so proud of the wonderful parks and playgrounds we have in our Shire. We are conducting a survey on recreation and open spaces and want to be able to incorporate your vision in our plans. To participate in the survey head over to www.yoursay.forbes.nsw.gov.au or there is a link down the bottom of our homepage on the website.

Well, the cold snap has come as a bit of a shock after the beautiful weekend weather we had last week. Winter really made itself known on 1 June!

It has been great to see the opening of two new businesses in Forbes last week and things returning to normality, especially in time for the long weekend. If you are travelling this weekend, please drive carefully and be safe. Please take care and remain healthy by practicing social distancing.

There has been lots of activity in the farming industry recently with tractors, plough- ing and sowing. Let us hope this coming year is profitable for everyone.

With the lifting of dining restrictions last weekend, I went out for dinner with friends, we were like kids in a lolly shop! I think we took everything for granted prior to COVID-19 and I am now so grateful for everything in my life.

Council had a great Finance and Infra- structure meeting on Monday. We viewed the Templar Street plans and the car park for Lions Park. Asset Management Plans are being done, thank you to Jason and Wafi, ably led by Stefan. These are important plans for our infrastructure well into the future.

Firstly, Target’s announcement of closing the Forbes store. I have written a submission to info@wesfarmers.com.au asking the Chairman to reconsider his decision. I have included this email address and ask you to email Wesfarmers and tell them how important Target is to the people of Forbes. We have until mid-2021 to fight this fight and I promise to do everything possible to get a win for Forbes!

The new Caltex has opened at the Home-makers Centre and the KFC will follow next week. Between these sites there are around 70-80 jobs for our town which is a major win for Forbes in this climate.

The Local Strategic Planning Statement has now gone on public exhibition. We encourage everyone to look at the plan and let Council know your thoughts. This plan will keep Council in check for the next 20 years regarding further development.

We had a wonderful win last week with the NSW State Government approving over $730,000 funding for the Stronger Country Community program. Sam Farraway delivered the funding for three projects in Forbes; Spooner Oval upgrades, Jenny Murphy Park upgrades and a new Ninja Park for Forbes.

Thank you to Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, who called last week to announce funding of $1.22 million for a stimulus package to support our community. This will bring forward many future projects we have planned. Watch this space! Take care. God Bless.

What a great week of beautiful weather and obviously everyone has taken advantage of walking around our beautiful lake. It is surprising how exciting it is, that we can now eat out again.

The Ski Dam has had an amazing face-lift and is shaping up to be one of the great picnic areas in town. I can’t speak highly enough about the skill and expertise of Forbes Shire Council staff. They take so much pride in their work and it shows through to the finished product.

The Heated Pool Committee is working hard to deliver the refurbishment of our pool. They are an amazing group of people doing a great job. Ably lead by Diane Decker as the Chair, it never ceases to amaze me how enthusiastic and generous people are with their time and love for Forbes.

Yes, we are open for business, we always were but now you can come inside to pay your bills! We are encouraging everyone to practice social distancing and only three are allowed into the foyer area at any one time. Meetings with staff are still not allowed but if you call our office, they will put you through to them.

This Friday the restrictions will loosen a little further with more people allowed at outdoor gatherings and up to 10 patrons allowed to dine inside restaurants. Our playgrounds and parks will be reopened, again restricted to 10 people at a time. Weddings can have 10 guests and funerals up to 20 mourners indoors or 30 if the funeral is outdoors. Please remember that we are all in this together and we do still need to remain vigilant!

If you are out and about this weekend you must go and have a look at the latest landscaping work completed at the Ski Dam. Looks amazing!

I would like to remind everyone our lovely walking track around the Lake is for use of walkers, joggers and bike riders combined. All must be respectful of others on the track and if you are on a bike please ring your bell or call out to alert those in front you are coming along.

Council administration building will be opening to the public again very soon. Access will be limited to three people in the foyer area, due to social distancing guidelines and the front counter will have Perspex screens in place. The front glass doors will be closed and access can be made through the automatic doors in Harold St.

There has been a lot of talk about water bills this week and I can report Council has heard your concerns and we are looking into individual cases to ensure mistakes were not made when reading your meters. This bill included a longer than usual period between read times, by several weeks, which will see on average a 30% increase to last year’s bill. The cost of water has also slightly increased on your bill as at 1 July 2019, water went from $1.23 to $1.40 per Kl. We are still the cheapest in the region by far! Our neighbouring Shires are charging up to $4.05 per Kl! If you do have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to call Council to discuss. Make sure to check your meter reading before calling though.

We have had some beautiful rain recently and it is very much appreciated. However it is important to understand that a down- pour of rain does not break a drought and our farmers will be fighting the effects of this drought for at least three years, if not longer.