I am so looking forward to this week’s ALGWA NSW conference being held here in Forbes, and to showing off our beautiful town and people to an amazing line-up of guests –Tracey Spicer, Matina Jewell, and Shane Fitzsimmons just to mention a few. The conference finishes on Saturday and focuses on disaster resilience and recovery. 

Last week’s Council meeting saw the presentation of a number of community funding program grants for provision of services and staging of events. Congratulations to Forbes Rodeo Inc, Riding for the Disabled, Meals on Wheels, Small Winemakers, Forbes and District Tennis Club, Forbes Sports and Recreation Club, Forbes Family History Group, Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre, Junior AFL, Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, Forbes Arts Society, CWA, Bedgerabong PA and H, Forbes Business Chamber, Town Band, and Havannah House. Applications are open for the next round of community funding, you make an application from our webpage, or contact Council’s Community Officer for assistance. 

Keep your eyes on our Facebook page, website and local media next week for details of Heritage Week celebrations, including the annual Heritage Awards Evening which this year will recognise the work of our amazing volunteers in preserving our town’s story. Other events include the Convict Footprints Knees Up stage show, cemetery ghost tour and collectables fair. 

Our history was honoured in another way this week at our Anzac Day commemorations. Those who have served, or who are still serving, will not be forgotten. 

Enjoy your weekend, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM 

Next Tuesday is one of the most important days on the Australian calendar, the commemoration of Anzac Day. I say this as Anzac Day epitomises the true Australian spirit, the sacrifices of those gone before us in securing our ability to live as we do now, in this hard-fought country, with hard-fought freedoms. 

Anzac Day traditions will be honoured in Forbes. Meet at 5am at Club Forbes for the dawn march and service at the Victoria Park Cenotaph. The mid-morning march will assemble at Cross Street at 10am, and the commemoration will follow at 11am at the Cenotaph. Lest We Forget. 

I want to bring to your attention free one-on-one sessions with Council’s planning department for those navigating the rebuilding process after last year’s unprecedented and extensive flooding. It can be hard to know what to do but these sessions will provide tailored and specific advice on navigating the planning approval process or the NSW Planning Portal. 

The Forbes session was held earlier this week but appointments can be made on request. For those in the Wirrinya/Garema and Bedgerebong areas, sessions are being held next week and can be booked through 123tix.com.au or alternatively, via an appointment made through Council on 6850 2300. 

Finally we hope to see plenty of local and regional guests at the Australian Local Government Womens’ Association Conference in Forbes starting Thursday. 

Enjoy the remainder of the week and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller OAM 

The weather held, storms refrained and weather over the Easter weekend was beautiful. How wonderful was it to see visitors and locals using our lovely parks again, particularly the ever-loved Apex Park. A shout-out to our Council staff for working on getting the park’s equipment, grounds, toilets and barbecues, fully functional in time for all our Easter visitors and festivities. I am also happy to see how popular our new footbridge is and am hearing great feedback on the fishing platform and the number of carp being pulled out of Lake Forbes! 

I encourage all of our community organisations and sporting groups to apply for our latest round of Community Funding. This is a wonderful opportunity to apply for up to $5,000 to help in planning and putting on events for our community. Applications must be submitted online via Council’s Smartygrants portal on our website, or contact our Community Relations Officer on 6850 2300 for information or assistance. 

Keep an eye on our social media and website – there are plenty of activities in Forbes for children of all ages these school holidays – roller skate disco, resin workshop, skateboard workshops, painting the skatepark to name a few. 

I want to reinforce how important it is as a community to stand together against all the break-ins that have been reportedly happening across Forbes of late. It is so important that if this happens to you, or you see any suspicious behaviour, to report it to the police on 6853 9999 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. 

Enjoy the remainder of the week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM 

Can you believe it is Easter already, in just a blink of an eye. Our beautiful community has, as always, organised an Easter weekend that is jampacked of goodies. We have the Big Bowls Carnival being held Friday through to Sunday, the popular Easter Festival at Nelson Park on Saturday morning (and who could forget one of the biggest egg hunts I have ever heard of)! On Saturday the Falcon 4WD Owners Group will be on show at Lions Park, and whilst there, call in to the Rotary Ipomoea markets. 

If that’s not enough, take advantage of the cooling weather – go camping, go fishing – better yet, why not check out the newest installation on the Lachlan Sculpture Trail. ‘Between the Silence and the Heartbeat’ by Clancy Warner. Magnificent, and with a truly poignant message behind its imposing presence. 

Speaking of our wonderful town, keep an eye out on television media for the beautiful Come Out, We’re Open regional campaign, in which Forbes definitely features! 

Please do be mindful on the roads these Easter and school holidays. We want you to arrive alive, and NSW Police will be out in force to make this a reality. 

I was excited last week to launch this year’s Frost and Fire at the Forbes Ski Dam. This event keeps growing in popularity, and sells out quickly so I urge you to make sure you get your tickets early at 123tix.com.au. 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. May this Easter bring you lots of joy, happiness and blessings in your life. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM
Forbes Mayor 

After couple of huge weeks in Forbes, and with Easter on our doorsteps, it actually looks like this weekend may just be a well-earned breather for all. Congratulations to all the clubs and volunteers and locals for putting our best foot forward on the social stage over the past weeks, it has been spectacular – especially the amount of money that has been raised by our beautiful town for some truly worthy projects!! 

Perhaps the timing could not be any more perfect for a quieter weekend considering we are all going to gain an extra hour’s sleep on Sunday! Daylight saving will come to an end on Sunday, 2nd April so don’t forget to put your clocks back an hour before heading to bed on Saturday night. 

We are so pleased to see our new footbridge over Lake Forbes, near the Dreaming Centre, is open and being used. It seems that every time I drive past there is someone fishing off the new platforms – a challenge for lots of extra fishing to dent the numbers of carp that are invading our beautiful riverine system at the moment. 

The end of this week saw the official launch of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan survey (DIAP), an exciting review to ensure that we make Forbes as ‘liveable’ as possible for people of all abilities. 

Keep your eyes glued to the Amazing social media channels on Friday as one of Forbes’ most popular annual winter events is officially launched. Tickets to Frost and Fire go on sale 30th March through 123tix. com.au 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM
Forbes Mayor 

Did you know that your Council hosts, or is involved in, putting on over 250 events a year? You cannot count the economic, social, emotional benefits of the visitors that are drawn to our region by these and other privately staged events. 

Take this weekend for example – the town will be well and truly alive with people for the Forbes Auto Sports event, the annual Rugby Club’s President’s lunch, even a deb ball. It is the 10th and last year for the Stubby Collitts rugby league match between the Magpies and Bathurst’s St Pats. 

It is also NSW State Election, the time where you get to have a say in who makes the decisions on running our state. Don’t forget to vote, there are polling centres around town if you are unsure head to the website, elections.nsw.gov.au 

If you are organising an event and would like Council’s assistance in promoting it on our what’s on mailout please do not hesitate to get in touch with our wonderful events team on 6850 2300 or email events@forbes.nsw.gov.au 

Another way in which Council is working to make this region even greater for those who live in it is the launch next week of a survey to update Forbes’ Disability Inclusion Action Plan. The survey has been designed to gain input into making Forbes’ a more ‘liveable’ place for those who have a disability, care for someone with a disability or provide services to this sector of our population. We will provide information on how you can access this on our website, Facebook page and through the media. 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM 

Well for a country town, we sure know how to pack our weekends! This weekend the Forbes Dragon Boaters are staging their annual invitational regatta, taking advantage of our famous, beautiful Lake Forbes. Come down and feel the beat of the drums as boaters take to the water on Sunday to fight for the reign of the lake. 

Saturday will see the Masters of the Mandagery football carnival and fundraiser extraordinaire. Proceeds will help the devastated village of Eugowra get back on its feet after last year’s ‘tsunami-like’ event. Not only will it feature entertaining league with teams from all over the state and ACT entered, but also some headline performers such as the Bon Jovi tribute band. 

This week I spoke at the IPWEA (engineering) state conference about the infrastructure challenges facing local government. I hardly need to mention the blatantly obvious in that the state our roads have been left in after the flooding events of last year and managing large scale repair in a timely manner, is perhaps NSW’s largest challenge right now. But there remain other wonderful opportunities, such as how we do build better communities using data and technology available to us now. 

We understand for many the experiences of last year’s flooding are traumatic and ongoing, but we are seeking your input in guiding best planning for future events. Town residents will receive a survey in the mail, or it can be completed via our website. Comments will be received until April 30. 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM
Forbes Mayor 

International Women’s Day has been and gone, but not without recognising the wonderful women we have in our midst. Our guest speaker, for me reiterated the strength of our women and the pivotal role we have in the home, in the business sector and in the community. I wholeheartedly agree with Dr Neryl East that we as women need to believe in ourselves, in our skills, and not be afraid to trust in this. 

Next month we will be host to the annual Australian Local Government Women’s Association NSW branch conference which will draw amazing women from across the state. The two-day conference has a timely focus – from leadership and crisis management, it will highlight how important facing up to a crisis is and messaging during these times, one that Forbes and district residents are only too aware of. 

With the land returning to the traditional seasonal dry summer brown, it is almost hard to believe what our region looked like even three months ago and it remains heartening to know we are still in the hearts and minds of those further afield. The Visitor Information Centre recently fielded a phone call from a gentleman in Sydney, whose sole purpose for phoning was to ‘check in’ on the wonderful people of Forbes and area. He wanted us to know we were in his thoughts, and as soon as the days of high temperatures were gone, he was coming to Forbes to spend his money and help this wonderful and tough town back on its feet. 

Humanity – it makes everything we do and experience so worthwhile. 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM
Forbes Mayor 

I have been away at the Rural and Regional Summit this week, an amazing opportunity to shine the light on issues that are really affecting our areas, and to work together to find solutions and means of managing ways forward. 

The summit heard from those well-versed in topical issues such as the housing cri-sis, rural and mental health, damaged road infrastructure, and other such vitally important aspects of local government. 

It was also a great opportunity to discuss and pinpoint what our communities really need, and to learn from our success stories – some of which I was able to share with in a keynote speech delivered to this forum. 

I was truly moved this week by news that descendants of World War Two diggers from Warroo were amongst those to receive help from Disaster Relief’s Operation Simmonds following the flood disaster. 

Brothers, Corporal Edley and Private James Simmonds were killed minutes apart in Papua New Guinea, and are the namesakes of the DRA’s Operation Simmonds. Their descendants still farm at Warroo – Tom Simmonds and wife, Leanne, and they were grateful to receive assistance in the flood recovery operation. 

Forbes Shire Council has received numerous enquiries regarding work on the former ambulance building, site of the new home of Forbes Arts Society. We have been assured, and wish to pass on this confidence to you that despite a slight delay that work on the building is on track for completion as planned. 

Have a great week, and God bless.
Phyllis Miller OAM
Forbes Mayor 

I hope everyone has recovered from the magnificent Bedgerebong Picnic Races. What a day and what a wonderful way to embrace a community that has suffered so much. The surrounds as always looked magnificent,it is so hard to believe that it was all under water not that long ago. 

The push for your vote has well and truly started with the state election now just over a month away (25th March). While it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of campaigning and the promises being made, now is such an important time to make sure your vote for whichever party best suits your ideals counts. After years of COVID, restrictions and lockdowns, months of flooding, interest rate rises, increasing electricity costs, a growing crisis in rural health and so on, make sure you do your homework – and most importantly, make sure you are registered to vote. 

It is heartening to see the growing health crisis taking centre stage at the moment. We have long known the effects of doctor shortages, allied health vacancies and the tyranny of distance for specialists. It will obviously take more than just offering to cover HELP debts for doctors to work rurally (with conditions of course), but this proposal could very well be the first of the steps in the right direction. 

Of course, myself and my fellow councillors continue to advocate on your behalf at all levels of government, industry and so on, on issues that affect our patch of paradise. If there is something concerning you, something that needs addressing or fighting for, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Enjoy your week, and God bless. 

Phyllis Miller, OAM