It has been a wet week here in Forbes and we do appreciate your patience with the road and carpark issues we are experiencing from the wet weather. Our crews are out and about trying to rectify these issues. After such a long period of little to no rain, we must be thankful for this rain, hopefully it continues so our farmers can get through the season with some great rewards.

Templar Street work will begin next week with the new sewer channels being installed. One lane at a time will be closed whilst this work is carried out. Your patience is appreciated, but it will look great when the work is done, which will be before Christmas.

Work on the Junction Street Carpark at Lions Park will be beginning very soon, pend- ing weather conditions. This will see twenty, all reverse parking, 45 degree spaces installed.

Just reminding everyone the COVID-19 drive through clinic in Hill Street is operating Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8am until 1pm. You must have a doctor’s referral though before heading to the service. I want to remind everyone we are not out of the woods with COVID-19 and we must all continue the good work by socially distancing, washing our hands and coughing into our elbows. We can’t afford to be complacent when you see how easily this virus can spread, we need to remain vigilant.

It has been another busy week in our Shire and the growing uncertainty around the situation in Victoria swells. I want you all to know I am working hard to ensure our community is safe and I ask you all to continue the good work of remaining socially distanced when out and about. If unwell, stay home and get tested. This week a COVID-19 testing centre has opened in Forbes. We have partnered with Western NSW PHN to provide a COVID-19 testing clinic three days a week in Hill Street at the back of JREC. This testing clinic operates on a referral system so you will need to contact your GP to arrange a referral before heading down to the testing clinic. This service will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 8am and 1pm. Even the mildest of symptoms can be associated with the disease so please get tested.

NSW Health are recommending wearing a mask when out in public. I have been wearing one and it is uncomfortable but I do believe it is necessary so I will keep wearing it. There has been talk in

the media about masks being compulsory at the Central West Livestock Exchange. We have not made it compulsory to wear masks, but safety at this site is key. This means responsibility is being taken at all levels and one of our buyers, Fletchers are insisting their staff wear a mask on sale day. We continue to ask people to remain away from the yards if they are not required to be there and if unwell, not to come to the yards at all. This facility is essential, and we need to ensure it can remain open and business can take place as usual.

Last but not least, we have been celebrating Local Government Week this week. It gives us the opportunity to highlight all the wonderful things Council does in the community. It is often thought Council only deals with roads, rates, and rubbish, but we do so much more than that! The last 12 months have been one of the toughest years to date with droughts, fires and now the pandemic. They all affect our community and it is Council’s job to ensure we get through it as best as we can, both personally and economically. We don’t want to blow our own trumpet but we do want to share the ways in which we help our community, share the services we provide and how we would like our community to grow and prosper.

God Bless
Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

What a busy and exciting week we have had in Forbes! Camp Street Bridge was formally opened on Sunday and I cannot express enough how proud I am of our team from Council.

The work that has gone into the landscaping on either side looks incredible and the crews have been working so hard on the approaches to the bridge to get it ready for the opening last weekend. I was thrilled to be the first to drive over when the bridge opened to traffic on Monday and I was joined by the General Manager, Steve Loane, Aileen Allen, and Councillor Chris Roylance.

We have had some lovely rain this week and reports have Wyangala Dam sitting between 22 and 23%, the Dam still is a long way off from full and a long way from enabling us to get comfortable. Whilst we may not be classed as in drought anymore, we do need to continue to behave as if we are. Water is so important, and we need to treat it with respect.

This week Forbes Shire Council celebrated 150 years of local government at our Council meeting on Thursday. It is at times like this you reflect on all that has been achieved over time, and I am so proud of our community and Council for all that we have done over the years. We live in the best place in Australia!

The year began in severe drought, with much of our community affected after 2 years of little to no rain. Then came the horrendous bushfires which burned across the State. Many of our local firies attended these fires to support fellow Rural Fire Servicemen and the communities. In late February, Coronavirus rapidly began to spread throughout the whole world and Forbes, along with the rest of Australia went into lockdown. We currently have no cases to report in Forbes and I thank the community for this.

We have completed two major projects so far this year, the stage two of the Homemakers Centre and Central West Livestock Exchange.

This week begins the next stage of the Sculptures Down the Lachlan project, with 20 large-scale sculptures being embedded into our local region. It is so exciting to see this project come together and we can’t wait to see all the new visitors coming to town see them once the word gets out. The sculptures included in the trail will be like nothing we have ever seen before in the Central West. Tourism is so important for our region, it enables us to weather the storms that come from being in an agricultural area.

Our outdoor teams have been busy working on getting the Camp Street Bridge site ready for opening and it’s looking really great.

We have the COVID-19 Mobile Testing Centre coming back to Forbes next week Monday, 20 July in Harold St. I urge you all to come and get tested. We have done so well to date, let’s keep this virus at bay!

The Bulky Waste pick up will be on the week of 3-7 August. Clean out your garages and sheds and be ready for putting out on the kerbside for collection.

Welcome to the new financial year! We have an exciting year ahead with many great projects planned for Forbes this year. You would have heard Council was lucky to receive funding from Stronger Country Communities for the new Ninja Park and Spooner Oval lighting. The Ninja Park is an exciting addition to Forbes. We will place the park near the Skate Park, making the area the best youth precinct in the Central West! Spooners will receive new energy efficient lighting for the oval making the oval much more user friendly for training and night-time games.

We were also lucky to receive $1 million for the Drought Communities Program from the Federal Government. This work includes some wonderful projects around town including the upgrades to the Rotunda in Victoria Park. This Rotunda was built in 1881 and is utilised regularly by many community groups and events. It will be wonderful to see this get some TLC.

The toddlers pool at the Forbes Olympic Pool will also have maintenance work completed, hopefully in time for summer. The heated pool is in its final design stages for work to begin very soon.

Well it has been a very busy week again, but also a very productive one.

Last week we had our June Council Meeting and we endorsed the Youth Strategic Plan. It will now go on Public Exhibition for the public to comment. It is so important we define areas to keep our youth engaged and part of our community.

We want to provide them with the services and opportunities they need to thrive in our town, as we know being a kid in country NSW has its challenges but we would like the youth to know we plan to tackle the big issues and provide them a safe and happy place to grow. Jump on our website and have a look at the plan and let Council know your thoughts.

Our crews have also been busy of late with the work surrounding the new Camp Street Bridge. Doesn’t it look amazing! The project is in the final weeks and we will keep you updated on the proposed opening celebrations.

Some of the surrounding landscaping will not be completed until Spring, when the season is better suited for planting.

When this work is complete it will be all hands-on deck for the refurbishment of Templar Street.

We have ordered the new self-watering planter boxes, and you may have noticed the smaller plants have been removed from the garden beds and re-located in other garden beds around town.

Please be assured that I am working very hard to solve the Target dilemma. I need you all to continue to email Wesfarmers, articulating how important Target Country is to this town and your families. Here is their email address again: info@wesfarmers.com.au

Most importantly I ask that you continue to shop locally at all our stores. It is essential that we keep our businesses viable. We do not want to lose being able to walk from shop to shop while socialising. The Forbes community has always stuck together in a crisis and may I suggest this is one if we are not careful.

For those that don’t know, we have a wonderful service available in Forbes called Riding for the Disabled. This volunteer service allows people with a disability to experience equine assisted activities. If you know anyone who would like to volunteer, please get in touch through Council.

We have our June Council meeting this week and we will have a lot to talk about with the Youth Strategic Plan, Homemakers Centre report and many other things to discuss.

Enjoy your week. God Bless.

Your Mayor, Phyllis Miller