What a fantastic National Day of celebration Forbes experienced this year! A big thank you to our amazing staff who did an excellent job with the organisation of the day. It was lovely to welcome our ambassador, Bob Fitzgerald to our town for the celebrations. He is a very humble, kind man and mixed so well with everyone he met along the way. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in Forbes.

I must congratulate our Australia Day Award recipients; Kim and Wendy Muffet for their wonderful contribution to our community over many years. Our Senior Citizens of the year; Allan and Pamela Toole for their incredibly long contribution to our community and our Youth Citizen, Lilyann Mason-Spice who was on her way to Sydney to start training with the NSW Waratahs women’s team, but made a special effort to be in Forbes on Australia Day to accept the honour.

The Parade, though small, was a big hit! Everyone is talking about it and already planning next year’s float, which is great.

After a nice break with family and friends it’s back to the grind for another year. Firstly, I must pay tribute to the amazing work the RFS and Fire & Rescue crews have done in this most tragic fire season.

On behalf of the Forbes Community we send our thoughts and prayers to all concerned. We at Council are offering our assistance wherever possible. There have been many fire fighters from the Forbes area who have gone into battle at the fire front and I truly thank them.

The Elvis Festival was a great success and we thank the Parkes Council and Mayor, Ken Keith for their hard work over the years that has grown to be a significant part of the Forbes Calendar as well. It provides a huge economic boost to our Shire so we are thankful to Parkes Council and community.

Australia Day Festivities are promising to delight all. With the Street Parade returning we hope you all get in and participate.

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I hope you all enjoy this special time with family and friends. Maybe Santa will bring us some rain! Make sure you all stay hydrated dur- ing the hot times ahead and limit your activity outdoors, especially during those smoky days we have been experiencing lately.

Council offices will be closed for the Christmas period with doors closing at 12pm on Tuesday, 24th December and opening again on 2nd January 2020.

I will be taking a break from writing this column until the 24th January, when I will let you know all the exciting events we have organised for Australia Day 2020.

Take care and stay safe on the roads.

God Bless
Your Mayor Phyllis Miller

I’m back on deck and can I start by thanking Councillor Jenny Webb for helping while I was away on holidays. It was a great break and such a shock to get back and be greeted by this awful smoke and hot weather.

Please join me at the fantastic Christmas Carnival tonight and spend your money in our lovely town. The retailers need your help with the drought taking its toll on businesses.

We welcomed new citizens this week including Father Simon who is drawing the largest crowd ever to one of our ceremonies. For anyone thinking of becoming an Australian Citizen, get in touch with us, it is a lovely ceremony and an honour to bestow the recipients.

I urge everyone to support our Australia Day Parade. Please fill in your forms which will enable us to plan this day well ahead. We are seeking parade participants and volunteer parade marshals with huge prizes to be won! It will be a fantastic day for all ages. We also need nominations for the Citizens of the Year Awards, more information is available on our website.

I had a very interesting time last week at- tending the Centroc Board Meeting in Canberra. I met with our Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Michael McCormack, Hon Mark Coulton, Hon Josh Frydenburg and Hon David Littleproud. The meeting included discussions on increasing federal assistance grants for rural regions, regional water security and drought assistance and recovery packages.

This week the RMS have started investigation work on site for the proposed new Warroo Bridge. This bridge was built in 1909 and has served our community for 110 years. Following investigations it has been removed from this list and a concrete bridge will be installed instead.

It was lovely to take part in International Day of People with Disability on Tuesday and to see so many people join in the fun for the day. The Forbes High School Graduation Dinner last Friday was also lovely and inspiring, and I wish all graduates the best in their future endeavours.

I love the Ipomea Christmas Tree Festival at Town Hall and this year my staff have been working on our very own version of an X-Ray Christmas Tree, so please check it out this weekend, along with all the other amazing, quirky trees. Our final Council Meeting for the year is next Thursday, make sure you tune in.

It was a busy week for me. On Tuesday I attended the Local Government Transport Forum Western Region in Dubbo. There were presentations regarding fixing local roads and country bridges and road safety awareness and initiatives. Last year, an astounding 44 people died on our Western NSW roads, 20% were not wearing seatbelts. Statistics shouldn’t be this high and I think we can do something about this situation.

I also attended the Central NSW Joint Organisation (JO) in Canberra this week, as our Mayor, Phyllis Miller is on a well-earned holiday. Our region JO consists of 10 local council members and they are transforming the way the NSW Government and local councils collaborate, plan, set priori- ties and deliver important projects on a regional scale. United we are a strong voice that advocate at state and federal levels. Our region’s main priorities include Roads and Transport Infrastructure, Water Infrastructure, Health, Telecommunications, Regional Economic Development and the continuing drought and rural support.

What a great week Forbes has had! Grazing Down the Lachlan won gold at the NSW Tourism Awards. Congratulations to Wendy and Kim Muffet and the whole Grazing team. You have done an amazing job.

Last Friday Sam Farraway announced $5.7 million for the Somewhere Down the Lachlan Sculpture Trail. Congratulations to Keith Mullette and the team from the Forbes Art Society. Yet another enthusiastic group of people who have a wonderful vision for Forbes. I can’t wait to see the new sculptures, cultural centre and the re- development of the Bird Hide area at Gum Swamp.

Lastly Forbes Preschool has won a national award for their engagement with the principles of reconciliation. Amy Shine and her team do a wonderful job in educating our little ones.

This week I have been in the Adelaide Hills for the Australian Local Government Association Board Meeting and the National Local Roads and Transport Congress. The congress has provided some very interesting presentations including Heavy Vehicle National Regulatory Review and The State of Australia’s Infrastructure by Infrastructure Australia CEO, Romilly Madew AO. The theme for this congress was “Breaking Through for Modern Transport”. It is great to hear about how technology and innovation will help us maintain our local roads well into the future.

I have just returned from a week of rest and relaxation which I desperately needed. You don’t realise how tired you are until you stop. I’m back now, all refreshed and looking forward to chipping away at State and Federal Governments for extra drought relief required for communities such as Forbes.

I was honoured and privileged to be reelected to the Local Government NSW Board at our recent conference. Local Government is constantly fighting for our communities across NSW and making sure we are not forgotten when it comes to investment.

Council is commencing upgrade work at the cemetery on the 4th November. The works that are being undertaken include lawn areas, a rose garden and paved edgings as well as general maintenance work. This work is much needed and we hopefully will have all the work complete by Christmas. The cemetery is a special place to our community and we need to look after it.

Just a reminder to all residents to shop locally, especially in the lead up to Christmas. Our shops are also doing it tough with the drought. There is really nothing you cannot buy in Forbes. This drought will end eventually and we need to make sure all our retail businesses survive. Keep your prayers up, rain is forecast for the end of the week.