Can I start by congratulating the Grazing Down the Lachlan committee for pulling together an amazing event last weekend.

The weather started terribly on Saturday with that massive dust storm but as the day progressed it turned out to be a wonderful day. It was a stark reminder that we are still in drought and guests from outof- town would learn that storms such as that are becoming a common occurrence.

The Grazing Breakfast was also amazing and it was great to see so many people in Templar St enjoying the entertainment and lovely food. It takes a lot of combined effort to bring an event such as Grazing together and I commend them for persevering despite the hurdles thrown their way.

This week I met with Paul Toole, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads regarding the Newell Highway overtaking lanes tender. I highlighted the fact we were not happy with the recent tender process for the work being carried out in our Shire and felt no consideration was made for local tenderers. Local government are the largest road managers and must be kept in the loop when work like this is being carried out. We will continue to lobby government for local services to be used in upgrading to our main arterial roads. Keep our local skilled tradespeople in business and keep our Council staff employed.

I invite you all to have a look at the Lake Forbes Activation Plan on our website and let us know your thoughts for this major asset in town. This is a twenty year plan for our beautiful lake and we want to be sure we consider everyone’s wants and needs.

Till next week, God Bless.

Your Mayor Phyllis Miller

Another successful NAIDOC week of celebrations this year. It is great to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The theme for this year’s celebration is Voice, Treaty, Truth.

I would like to congratulate all of the winners of the awards, they are most worthy recipients; Natasha Harris for Indigenous Person of the Year, Courtney Hodge for Indigenous Youth of the Year, Ellie Flick for Indigenous Sports Person of the Year and Raymond Thorpe for Indigenous Creative Person of the Year. I would also like to thank Tahlia for her wonderful emceeing of the event.

I attended another Awards ceremony this week for the Cumbijowa Rural Fire Brigade. This year 34 Firefighters received their long service awards. A combined total of 919 years of service!

I applauded them for their dedication, commitment and service to our community.

As the fire season is almost upon us I encourage everyone to do their part in ensuring yards are tidied up, and for those on properties, know your local Brigade phone numbers.

Come join us at the Grazing breakfast in our CBD this Sunday.

And don’t forget next Friday is our Forbes Legends Pro-Am tournament, if you haven’t signed up, please do.

Your Deputy Mayor
Jenny Webb

We have had some crazy weather this last week and still no rain. We were given wonderful news from Northparkes on funding for our planned refurbishments of the picnic areas at the Forbes Ski Dam. They have given us $50,000 for more seating and BBQ areas, upgrades to amenities and landscaping. This will be a great boost for the work already carried out early this year at the park. I am receiving some great feedback from the community about the new play equipment and beach area. Now the weather is warming up this area will most definitely be used more often.

Have you seen the new trees in Templar St? They look amazing and will provide much needed shade in the streetscape during the summer months, which will look beautiful during autumn. We hope this will draw people off the bypass and into the town centre and provide our retailers with the travelling trade they require.

I hope you can all join me in the celebrations for NAIDOC next week. This year there are events on every day with the main event being on the Wednesday. The march will begin at 10am in Cross Street and go through town to end in Victoria Park where the awards will be given, traditional performances, games and the Yoorana Gunya Koori Cook-off will take place.

Make sure you tune in to the Council meeting next week on Facebook Live.

Till next week, God Bless.
Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller

This week I travelled to Albury for the Local Government NSW Water Conference.

There is no better time to talk about water than when we are in drought. It is local government’s responsibility to keep the state and federal government focussed on improvements to drought proof our state. Melinda Pavey, Minister for Water, addressed the conference and I think we are onto a winner with her. She is passionate about delivering for rural and regional NSW. She sees the importance of local and state government working together to secure water for communities through this drought and planning and preparing for the next.

Caltex and KFC work will get underway in the next week. The builders, Becon Constructions have committed to using local trades where possible to get the work done.

This is great news for our local tradies with 30 weeks of construction planned to complete the work. Keeping jobs in our area is  so important.

The 2019 NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show tasting was on at the Forbes Town Hall last Friday night and it was a huge hit! Over 620 wines were entered into the competition this year and 41 Gold, 80 Silver and 175 Bronze medals were awarded.

I look forward to the presentation night on the 14th September. A big congratulations to the hard working committee who bring this great event to town.

I hope you all have a wonderful time at the Forbes Show this weekend.

Till next week, God Bless.
Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller

As the drought continues, not only does the community come together to help each other through this tough time, but businesses do as well. This week I attended the Forbes Drought Business Forum at Council Chambers. It was great to listen to the ways businesses are trying new things to keep customers coming through their doors. Speakers from Central West Business HQ presented ways to adapt to several local business owners and ways in which they can collaborate to create unique customer experiences. Everyone walked away knowing there is support from other businesses in our community, if they need it.

Council received news this week that a Sydney firm has been granted the road work contract for the thirty overtaking lanes upgrade along the Newell Highway. This is so disappointing to hear Forbes Shire Council, along with a few other Councils accredited to do the work, were overlooked completely. I have let the Minister know we would like to keep these jobs in our Shire, especially during this awful drought. I will keep you updated on this important matter.

Councillor Chris Roylance and myself visited Evolution Mine this week. This company is doing some amazing things all while maintaining their corporate citizenship in our community. They continue to support us with employment opportunities for members of our community and provide contributions to various projects we have undertaken.

Again I would like to encourage everyone to shop local rather than online. We don’t need to make the rich richer, we need to support our local business owners and keep them open. That is all for me this week and I look forward to the build-up to the Forbes Show next week.

God Bless.
Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller

What a busy week it has been. You would have noticed the work happening down at the lake in Sir Francis Forbes Park. This is a hardstand and worksite for Roads and Maritime Services for the duration of the construction of the Camp Street Bridge.

Don’t be alarmed, it will be reinstated back to its former condition on the completion of the works.

The lights in the trees in Templar Street have been taken down for repair work and the trees will be trimmed. They will be re-installed in the next couple of months in time for Taste on Templar in November.

The Visitor Information Centre at the Railway has been closed this week for minor repairs. It will be business as usual on Saturday. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

I visited Carrawobitty Homestead this week to listen to Lakie and his Larrikins. They were great! I was very impressed with the restoration of the homestead. Congratulations to Monica and Ken for taking on this restoration work, the place looks amazing.

We have a new Local Government Minister, Shelley Hancock. Shelley was the speaker for the house for 8 years before being appointed, and we are so lucky to have her voice in parliament. And what a voice she has! Councils across the state were set to pay for $13.9 million emergency services levy hike, which equates to a cost of $70,000 for the Forbes Shire. This week the State Government has agreed to fund this extra cost this year. It’s a win for local government and our community.

I would like to thank Linda Scott, Local Government NSW President, and my colleagues on the board, David Elliot, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, John Barilaro, acting Premier of NSW who have all done a great job in passing this through.

Bedgerabong Show is on this weekend, and I encourage you all to go along and support this fabulous community event.

Unfortunately I cannot attend as I have double booked myself but Councillor Jenny Webb will represent Council.

Until next week. God Bless.
Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller

Wow, what an amazing week it has been!

It was wonderful to receive the Best Local Youth Week Award at the Local Government Awards in Sydney. Sarah Williams and the Community and Tourism team do a great job engaging our youth in the Forbes Shire and putting on events like Youth Week. Congratulations to you all! The team are recruiting for the Forbes Youth Action Team, check our website or call Sarah.

Another great youth program is the Boys to the Bush program. We should all get behind this. These camps give young boys the opportunity to be surrounded by positive influences while learning good values and skills. I can’t rave about this enough.

Having known Adam Demamiel for many years, I know this will continue to great things.

We have our Council Meeting next Thursday, 15th August. Don’t forget to tune in to Facebook Live to watch. It has been committee meeting week this week and boy it’s been busy! Economic Development, Council Briefing Session, Australia Day plans and Governance.

On behalf of you the community I want to thank the Councillors for their dedication and commitment. There is a lot to get through in these meetings and they are so important ensuring we make the right decisions for our community.

I would like to congratulate Northparkes Mines celebrating 25 years this week. They have been a fantastic corporate citizen to Forbes. We are excited about the next 25 years.

Until next week, God Bless.

Your Mayor, Phyllis Miller

This week I, along with Parkes Shire Mayor, Ken Keith, met with Scott McLachlan, CEO of Western NSW Local Health District, to discuss the services of our hospitals both here in Forbes and Parkes. We discussed the critical need to ensure enough doctors and especially obstetricians are servicing our region. It was a great relief to hear we are all on the same page and we will all be striving to re-instate all services to both hospitals as soon as possible.

How fantastic was the ALMA Animal Welfare Award win? It was great to visit the vibrant town of Roma. During the stay we had a field trip to see how a local farm works hand-in-hand with a Coal Seam gas mine.

This 4th generation farm breeds Poll Hereford cattle and Santos, the miners, supply their excess water to the farm for irrigation.

The water is treated by Santos to reduce the saline levels in the water to make it fit for purpose. I was very sceptical, but when I saw how it was done and how healthy the cattle were I was amazed! We also visited the Roma saleyards and we think our yards are big, but they take the cake! The yards sell seven to eight thousand cattle each week making them the biggest in Australia.

Forbes has a lot of major works coming up with the Lions Park stormwater starting this week. Please be mindful of the signage, it is there to ensure everybody is safe. The Camp Street Bridge work will begin on August 26, and whilst it may be a bit inconvenient the finished result will be amazing. Minister Paul Toole must be applauded for being on the front foot in doing this bridge work, as the bridge does not have the capacity to handle the increase in the size of heavy vehicles currently using this route.

Unfortunately I will miss the Races this year but I encourage you all to get your glad rags on and go, you won’t be disappointed!

God Bless.
Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller