We are so excited to see Templar Street host the first event since the refurbishment of this wonderful space. Taste on Templar tickets have sold out and the Business Chamber is expecting over 300 people to attend the event. I would like to congratulate the team for pulling this event together through such a tumultuous time.

Council is aware of the local snake handler planning to retire. Whilst snake catching isn’t part of Council’s core community function we can announce that two staff are being trained to help with snake catching duties around town. Council will provide snake catching services on an ‘as available basis’ between the hours of 8am – 5pm Monday to Friday during the seasons of high snake activity. Council has approached the retiring Forbes’ local reptile handler to provide mentoring and support to our Council Rangers throughout the cur-rent snake season.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

Well what a week in politics! First the resignation of the Premier Gladys Berejiklian and then the deputy, John Barilaro. I welcome Dominic Perrottet to the Premier role and wish him all the very best. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Gladys and John for their time in government, I feel they have served the State very well and I wish them both well in their future endeavors.

Now have you heard the incredible news, Goldridge Estate has gone on the market and the first Stage is nearly completely sold! Our Ballot Night last Thursday was a huge success and all 13 lots sold on the night. The following day another eight were under offer, leaving only 2 blocks left in Phase 4! This is a tremendous result with 21 blocks sold in 36 hours of launch, a record and proves the need for more housing. We are fast-tracking Stage 2 now to get this on the market as soon as possible. Stay tuned, we will let you know more very soon.

In other great news our COVID vaccination rates are well over the 90% for first dose and the ADF and Western Area Health are back again at Town Hall this coming weekend to administer second doses of AstraZeneca as well as any first doses of either Pfizer and AstraZeneca. No need to book an appointment, you can just walk in.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

We are very excited to have our amazing Olympic Pool open for the season this weekend. The newly renovated toddlers pool will also be open to be tried out by the littlies. There are a few new rules associated with the opening during COVID times to keep staff and fellow patrons safe. These include checking in with a QR code and capacity limits are in place. If you are unwell please do not come to the pool. Get tested and when you receive a negative result you may go then.

Thank you to all the wonderful attendees at the Be Road Ready for Harvest Virtual Field Day last week. It was a huge success and looks like we are in for another bumper harvest season.

Speaking of roads, we are asking everyone to be careful this long weekend on our roads. Please be careful this weekend, we want you all back safe and sound. Police will be out and they are promoting their “stop it or cop it” campaign.

I would like to encourage everyone to get behind our NAIDOC celebrations this year in November. We are calling out for nominations for the awards component and this year we will be awarding two awards; Indigenous Young Achiever Male and Female (Under 18 years of age). We have some amazing young people in our community and we would like to recognise them.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

What a wet welcome to Spring we are having. There is a lot of water around and it is important we do prepare for flood, particularly if you are in low lying areas of town, should a flood come. This may involve tiding around your yard, talk to neighbours about what the flood was like last time and gather those important numbers like the SES 132 500, just in case you need them. The flood can behave differently every time and it is important we are prepared whichever way it decides to come. Rocky from Forbes SES has been busy preparing sandbags should you need them, just give them a call on 132 500.

I want to thank Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, for the amazing job he is doing for us in rural and regional NSW during this pandemic. He is ensuring we are not forgotten in Sydney and the community feels safe and very grateful for all that you are doing.

Work continues down at Lions Park constructing the new stage area and the Lachlan Vintage Village conversion to our new Visitor Information Centre is looking great. The wet weather has slowed up some of the road works and development up at the new Goldridge Estate but with this fine weather on the radar, we can get back into it. We will keep you updated through Facebook as we know you can’t get out and about to see.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

I am proud to say we are now having our sewage tested for COVID-19! Our first test was a negative last Friday with more testing to do. It did take a bit of commotion to get our NSW Health Department CHO to understand.

I want to thank the community for coming out this week to get tested for COVID-19, and for all abiding by the Stay-at-Home order set by the NSW Government. This is a short sharp lockdown and it will be over before we know it. We must do it now to ensure the virus doesn’t spread throughout the community. Whilst we have amazing medical facilities we do not have the resources to handle a large amount of cases.

You cannot have visitors to your home from outside your household, including family and friends. One visitor at one time to fulfill carers’ responsibilities is allowed.

I do encourage everyone to get vaccinated if they can. This advice comes from our health professionals, we need widespread vaccination to help ease the pressure on our hospital system.

The Forbes Visitor Information Centre remains closed as does the Council administration office to the public. I can assure you Council staff are busy working inside. We will reassess the situation later in the week to see if all can re-open again next week.

The Central West Livestock Exchange remains open for registered buyers, agents and council staff only.

Take care. God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller