It is Local Government Week! Let’s celebrate and recognise all the critical work we do across our communities. From managing roads and infrastructure, to running community events, maintaining facilities, parks, gardens and so much more. 

We promote local business and attract investment. Our council is staffed and run by local people, for local people. 

Councils in NSW look after more than $178 million of community assets – parks, pools, libraries, lighting, cemeteries, museums and more, and manages 164,000km of local and regional roads – around 90% of the state’s road network. Including 1,755km of local roads in the Forbes Shire and 24km of footpaths. 

NSW Councils manage an estimated 35 million tonnes of waste per year and spends $2 billion on recycling and waste management, stormwater management, preserving and protecting our native flora and fauna. Local Government in NSW employs over 48,000 people in local communities. 

I’d like to give a big nod of acknowledgement and appreciation for my fellow elected councillors, as these figures doesn’t include all the hours we spend at meetings, briefings and official business. 

As part of Local Government Week the NSW LG Excellence Awards will be announced and Forbes Shire Council has been nominated and shortlisted for several awards: Leo Kelly Delivery of an Arts and Culture Project; two entries in the RH Dougherty Awards for the Senior’s Festival and the Master Planning for Sporting Precincts; Youth Week Program is a finalist in the Best Small Council with Most Outstanding Youth Week Program. 

It was with great pleasure our Local Member Phil Donato and I welcomed our newest citizens at a ceremony in Forbes last week. We welcomed Wafi Rahim, his wife Rubaiya Haque and their daughter Ayra. 

Wafi is our Geographical Information Systems Officer here at Forbes Shire Council and he and his family are valuable members of our Forbes community. 

Have you got your tickets for the Agribusiness Today Forum at the Forbes Golf Club on 4th August? Guests will hear from 13 expert agricultural speakers. It is also an opportunity to catch up with the Central West agribusiness community. You can get your tickets on Eventbrite. 

The General Manager, Councillors and I are away at the National Saleyards Conference which I imagine this year will be vital for keeping up with Australia’s action again Foot and Mouth Disease. 

Another reminder, Sunday is National Tree Day and in Forbes we will be planting trees out near the Homemaker Centre. All welcome. We hope to see you there. 

Goldridge landowners are in fact exactly that this week. After what has been a long wait, the Land Registry Services has registered the individual Stage One lots and our very first purchasers are making the move to settle. 

Council has received several development applications already and work is expected to commence on the first house this month. A newsletter will be going out in the next week for all purchasers and those hoping to purchase land in one of our future block releases. 

Following the news of Forbes’ expected population growth of 32% (substantially higher than the State’s expected growth) there has never been a better time to buy a block of land in Forbes to build your dream home. The development of Goldridge Estate has been designed to provide lifestyle size blocks for new homeowners while freeing up the supply and availability of housing in other areas around town. 

Talking Forbes growth, when Council completed its 2018-2030 Agricultural Strategy it identified ways to sustain and develop opportunities for rural production. Next week we will be hosting the Agribusiness Today Forum organised by Regional Development Australia – Central West. 

This key agricultural event has been giving producers access to high calibre and leading speakers for more than 25 years. 

The theme for this year is Mixed Farming Enterprises – adapting to a changing climate and takes place in Forbes on 4th and 5th August. 

Now that the rain has briefly cleared all major projects are drying out and great progress is being made on all. 

Last week Councillors, business owners and community members met with a contingent from the NSW Government Senior Leaders Tour for an informal dinner. Senior government staff from Department of Communities and Justice, Health, Regional, Education, Police, Regional, Transport and other departments attended the dinner which was to gain a deeper understanding of issues impacting regional communities and to inform future policy and program development. 

To highlight diversity the tour stopped in Dubbo, Nyngan, Cobar, Condobolin and Forbes. The guests all stayed overnight in our beautiful town before returning home. 

NAIDOC Week celebrations were held across Australia this week. The Forbes community traditionally celebrates NAIDOC week in September and there are several events already planned. 

NAIDOC Week is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge our traditional owners and celebrate our Wiradjuri Heritage. 

Forbes Shire Councillors attended the Australian Local Government Women’s Association Conference in Fairfield this week and will no doubt come back inspired after a busy program including speakers such as Jana Pitman and Ellen Fanning. 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish our Mayor a speedy recovery after she has taken a rare break for a medical procedure. Get well soon. 

Chris Roylance
Deputy Mayor 

What a wonderful winter weekend of events we have ahead of us. I’m excited. We are hosting our first ever ChillFest tonight. This free family night booked out very quickly. 

Tomorrow is our major Frost and Fire event. The ski dam is looking amazing, ready for you to enjoy major local and headline entertainment, including Thirsty Merc and the Sydney Fire Dancers and fabulous fire inspired food and drinks. 

There are a lot of people coming to town, so make sure you give them all a big friendly Forbes welcome. 

If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, it is a great opportunity to use your NSW Discover vouchers before they run out on 30th June. 

With more rain predicted next week, I remind everyone to please drive to the conditions. We have a lot of damaged roads in our shire and it is important people take extra care until they can get fixed. We are working hard to respond to immediate road needs with many, many kilometres of roads damaged during the floods and with ongoing major rain events. Never have we been so busy trying to short term patch roads, which often still have water over them, as well as maintaining our overall road improvement works that continue around the shire all year round. We appreciate your patience and urge you all to be careful. 

I’d like to remind all community groups to book in for one of the Community Funding Workshops on 24th and 27th June if you need help creating a winning application for Council’s Community Funding Program. Submissions close on 31st July. 

Mayor Phyllis Miller 

I’m so excited to report good news has come after the Country Mayor’s Rural Health Forum in Sydney which I attended last month. The NSW Government has finally announced a much needed multi-billion dollar investment to hire 10,000 doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and non-clinical staff over the next four years. 

It was very refreshing to hear both the Minister for Regional Health and Shadow Minister for Health and Mental Health confirm what we have always known – that it is of the utmost importance that debate around Regional and Rural Health should be approached on a bipartisan basis and must be brought before parliament as early as possible. 

I, along with my colleagues in the Country Mayors Association of NSW, will be doing everything we can to ensure that all 44 recommendations of the inquiry are adopted by parliament. This is our opportunity to redress the deficiencies in regional and rural health delivery. I will not let our community down. 

I’d like to welcome everyone to Forbes next week for the Forbes Eisteddfod in our beautiful refurbished Town Hall. Don’t leave it too long to purchase your tickets for Frost & Fire next weekend – use your Discover NSW Vouchers before they expire at the end of the month! 

Forbes Shire Council wishes you a safe and enjoyable long weekend and encourages you to all be mindful of double demerits and also keep your pets safe as we have been notified of plans for private firework displays on both Friday and Saturday night. 

It has been a busy week fulfilling executive roles for National Parks and the Country Mayor’s Association, and making sure our voice was heard at the Central NSW Joint Council’s Organisation. 

It is vitally important for Forbes Shire Council to be a part of these larger regional and state executive bodies to keep us connected and up to date. 

Our roads, particularly our unsealed roads, are really impacted at the moment with all this rain and water over roads. Our unsealed roads have suffered substantial and ongoing damage due to heavy rain. 

Council staff are working with community to identify, report and repair these roads as much as we can. Please bear with us as it is a huge job. 

Roads are a major and expensive asset within Council and it is a job almost 365 days of the year maintaining them. 

Drivers are reminded to not drive around roads closed signs, it is for your own safety, it is in fact an offence and can cause further damage to roads and put back our works program even more. 

Council’s CBD Masterplan implementation continues with a preliminary fitting conducted on Saturday for the pergolas in Templar Street, so watch for the signs – no roads will be closed. The posts will be sent for powder coating before the final installation. 

The CBD Masterplan aims to improve, beautify and revitalize the Forbes CBD and integrates connectivity, tourism, art and culture. 

Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller 

Forbes Shire Council is again calling for nominations of community representatives to apply for positions on Section 355 committees of Council. 

We are specifically looking for transport operators, local and regional, for the saleyards committee and food and accommodation operators for the tourism and events committee. 

Community membership of these committees is very important for Forbes Shire Council so feedback and suggestions are heard loud and clear. 

These committees consist of community volunteers, industry representatives and Councillors and provide advice to Council as well as assist in enhancing outcomes for the community. 

You can find out more on our Forbes Shire Council website or by calling into our administration office for a nomination form. 

Our tradies have spoken and we have listened, our Build Your Home Expo has been rescheduled and will be held on Wednesday, 17th August. Council is hosting this expo to connect builders, construction and associated trades with the community. If you are a tradie make sure you book your space and if you are planning to build or renovate, we invite you to come along. Council staff will also be on hand to discuss planning and compliance requirements. 

Are you new to Forbes? Come along tonight for another Welcome to Forbes event. Bring your whole family and meet other newbies, community groups and Councillors in a relaxed atmosphere at the Forbes Historical Museum in Spring Street from 5:30pm for 6pm. We look forward to welcoming you to our amazing town! 

Federation Boulevarde, the grand entrance to Goldridge Estate, has been sealed. This seal was the application of two coats with a final seal to be applied at the end of the project. It is the final civil works required before blocks can be registered with the Land Registry Services. 

This week marks 185 years since Ben Hall was born on 11th May 1837, which was very timely for the last of the Heritage Festival events on Saturday. 

Following the festival, almost 60 people came along to listen to Garema’s Karyn Tisdell, our very own opera singer. Karyn wowed the crowds singing a few favourites of Dame Nellie Melba who also sang at the Forbes Town Hall in 1909. 

Guests at the event were the first to try our Heritage Digital Trail QR codes with stories about the heritage buildings and sites in our community. We are proudly using technology to keep the heritage sites alive. Keep an eye out for the QR codes around heritage sites in town. 

Have you heard you can now use your NSW Services vouchers to buy your Frost and Fire tickets? Two tickets are normally $30, but we are offering two tickets for $25 to match the value of the vouchers. 

The vouchers need to be used by the end of June, so we thought it was a perfect way to celebrate. This year’s talent include Thirsty Merc with other celebrated and local artists performing. A major attraction will be the Sydney Fire Dancers. 

Until next week, God Bless. 

Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller