This week we met virtually with Federal Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard to discuss the current Covid-19 situation and how our community can assist in bringing this virus under control sooner rather than later. I want to thank the community for their compliance with the mask wearing as per the Public Health Order. It is annoying I know, but the sooner we get this virus under control, the sooner we can all go back the life as normal.

How great was the news from Sam Farraway last week regarding the successful grant funding for Hughie Wilson Oval? This funding will go towards a new amenities facility at the oval, which will be great for local groups.

Politics is politics and this week we lost two local members off the front bench in Federal Parliament. I want to thank Michael McCormack for a fantastic job he has done in the Deputy Prime Minister position. Also I would like to thank Mark Coulton Minister for Regional Health, Communication and Local Government.

It was very sad to postpone our Volunteers Thank You Morning Tea this week due to the new Covid restrictions. Rest assured we will be holding it at a future date, as it is very important we say thank you to all our wonderful volunteers.

School holiday activities have and will proceed as planned. We have Covid-safe numbers allocated for these events and participants are asked to wear face masks

Till next week. God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

I would like to start by saying a big thank you to our Forbes community for coming out to get Covid tested this past week and half.

This community has really stepped up during this pandemic and until everyone is vaccinated we have to learn to live with this terrible disease and take every precaution we can to ensure it does not affect us.

Thank you also to the many of you who braved the cold to get vaccinated at the pop-up clinic. We will let you know when they return. If you haven’t already, go to the Services NSW App and register with the Vaccine Eligibility Checker. This will put you on a waiting list and you will be notified when it is your turn to be vaccinated.

This week another magnificent sculpture was launched along the Sculpture Down the Lachlan Trail. ‘Heart of Country’ does fall in the Lachlan Shire and the first to be launched in the Shire. It is wonderful to work with our neighbouring Councils, the Forbes Art Society, the NSW Government and Evolution Mines to bring this project to fruition.

Remember if you are unable to come to Frost and Fire this weekend and you have tickets, please contact our Tourism team tourism@forbes.nsw.gov.au with your booking code. We have a waitlist of people looking to attend and we can reissue them to others.

Till next week. God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

 

 

I can report I have had my AstraZeneca jab this week and I feel great! I’m not fond of needles and the staff at the Forbes Medical Centre were most accommodating. After the jab you do have to remain there for 15 minutes to ensure there is no allergic reaction.

This week Transport for NSW has launched a fantastic new App called the Transport Connect Bus Program, which helps customers plan their journey and receive real time trip updates to rural and regional NSW. This program gives students and parents the ability to plan their journey to and from school, and track the location of the bus and estimated arrival times. This is such a great initiative from Transport and a relief for parents knowing where their kids are.

There is a petition going around at the moment regarding improving safety at level crossings and I urge everyone to sign it. This petition is asking for lighting be mandatory at all level crossings. 20,000 sig-natures are needed by the end of June to be taken to the State Parliament. The QR code to access the petition will be made available on our Facebook and Council website.

Frost and Fire has had a great response and is sold out! Just a reminder to everyone who has tickets, if they are unable to come, like me, to contact Council and they will allocate them to someone else. We have a waitlist a mile long.

Till next week. God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

We received some wonderful news this week, the Federal Government have granted us $4 million for further development at the Central West Industrial Park. The money will go towards the drainage and road works required to open up more industrial land.

I really want to thank Michael Mc Cormack and Minister Nola Marino for looking after Forbes in this funding round.

You would have heard the excitement on social media regarding work has now started out at the old Lachlan Vintage Village site to convert this into our new Tourism Information Centre. The site is in an ideal location adjacent the Newell Highway and on the way to some of Forbes Shire’s stunning sculptures.

The adjacent road leading to the facility will be widened and upgraded to include safer access and drainage, a car park and turning bay for large vehicles and caravans. Works will be completed by December 2021 and opening as a visitor information centre shortly afterwards.

The paving work is nearly coming to an end in Templar Street and I want to thank all of our wonderful businesses for their patience in getting this work done. It really will look amazing when it is all complete. Thank you too Dooley Outdoors for their excellent work and communicating with our businesses in Templar Street. Once the paving is complete we will be moving in to place street furniture and landscaping.

Till next week. God Bless.

Have you heard? We have wombats in our area! Little Digger was found by our Rangers fit and well in a safe location. He/she has gone viral on the socials and turns out wombats have been spotted all around the Central West. Council will ensure we have areas available for wildlife such as this to make a home and remain safe.

Templar Street paving is nearly complete and I would like to thank everyone for their patience during this work. I know it has been a long process but I can assure you once complete you will love it! Thank you to Dooley Outdoors for the amazing paving work and for keeping everyone entertained with your performances.

So much work is going on at the moment, and the Lions Park Junction Street carpark is now complete as well. Our team will be coming back in the coming weeks to finish off on the landscaping but the carpark is free to use now. The Community Recycling Centre at the Daroobalgie Landfill is coming along nicely as well and the shed will be installed in the coming weeks, which will be great.

Our Council Meeting last week went well and I can report our Operational Fees and Charges are on exhibition as well as the Recreational and Open Space Strategy.

We welcome your feedback before these are endorsed next meeting.

Until next week, God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

The General Manager, Steve Loane, Councillor Jenny Webb and I have attended the Murray Darling Associations National Conference and AGM this week. It has been very interesting to see the Council’s and the communities working together to forge ahead after years of drought and water issues. It is at conferences such as this, we can all share our findings and solutions to water management issues and protect our most important resource, water.

Another important matter we are recognising this week is road safety. The Town Hall is coloured yellow all this week in support for this great message and in reception we have free bumper stickers for your vehicles. On Friday there will be a Load Restraint Information Session at Wirrinya Community Hall for all heavy vehicle operators to learn the correct way to tie downloads.

It has been a very sad week as we lost one of our staff, Mark Collits. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Till next week. God Bless.

Your Mayor
Phyllis Miller

What a fantastic week it has been. Our Heritage Week celebrations concluded with us celebrating 150 + 1 years of Forbes Shire Council on Saturday night. We were joined by Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack and the Hon. Sam Farraway. Previous Forbes Shire Mayor, Alistair Lockhart was one of our guest speakers and our Deputy Mayor, Chris Roylance was the MC for the night and did a magnificent job. Councillors Grant Clifton, Graeme Miller, Steve Karaitiana, Michele Herbert and Jenny Webb also joined in the celebration.

I met with the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Richard Bush and Dr Brendon Logan this week. We had a long discussion on the new Crown Lands Act and we were able to highlight the many problems that come with Plans of Management. Watch this space, we hopefully will see common sense prevail in this space.

Next Week is National Road Safety Week. Every year, approximately 1200 people are killed and another 44,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads. This road safety awareness week highlights the impact of road trauma and ways to reduce it. Town Hall will be lit up yellow in support.

You will have noticed Camp Street Bridge has finally had new asphalt laid and doesn’t it look great! The lines will come in the next week. Junction Street car park asphalt has also been laid and it looks amazing. This too will have the lines marked in the coming week.

Till next week.

God Bless.
Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

I would like to thank everyone who came along to our Contractor and Services Night. Our Shire has so much work planned for the next 12-18 months and Council wants as many locals as possible to get part of the workload.

Recently, I attended the Load Restraint Program Launch with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Mayors from Parkes and Lachlan Shires. This is such an important project and will aid in removing doubts about how to load heavy vehicles and hopefully reduce the number of dangerously loaded trucks operating on our regional roads.

I did use my time with the Deputy Prime Minister to question why some of the grants we have received recently stipulate using contractors and not using our local people to carry out the work. I will let you know his response next week.

Also met with TAFE, Adam Bennett, Michelle Cable and Adrian Flipo and I am gobsmacked to see what they have on offer through TAFE. We will work with them to ensure we have the very best training options we can available here in Forbes. Watch this space, I will give you more on that very soon.

Just a reminder about Heritage Week. The fun began on Saturday with the Heritage Festival in Victoria Park and Harold Street. There were some truly amazing stalls and entertainment on the day.

Last but definitely not least, I would also like to congratulate the recipients of the 2021 Youth Week Awards.

Your Mayor
Phyillis Miller