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

I am hearing the many voices in the community not happy about the recent announcement of Target closing next year. I want you all to let those voices be heard! Email info@wesfarmers.com.au, and let the Chairman of Wesfarmers know the Forbes community would like this store to remain in town, I have already sent my email and I encourage you to write to the Chairman directly. If you prefer to write a letter here is the mailing address: Wesfarmers Limited, Level 14, Brookfield Place Tower 2, 123 St Georges Terrace, Perth 6000 WA.

Next week Apex Park is getting a little makeover with a new shade structure being installed and the park will be closed for a few days. I am so proud of the wonderful parks and playgrounds we have in our Shire. We are conducting a survey on recreation and open spaces and want to be able to incorporate your vision in our plans. To participate in the survey head over to www.yoursay.forbes.nsw.gov.au or there is a link down the bottom of our homepage on the website.

Well, the cold snap has come as a bit of a shock after the beautiful weekend weather we had last week. Winter really made itself known on 1 June!

It has been great to see the opening of two new businesses in Forbes last week and things returning to normality, especially in time for the long weekend. If you are travelling this weekend, please drive carefully and be safe. Please take care and remain healthy by practicing social distancing.

There has been lots of activity in the farming industry recently with tractors, plough- ing and sowing. Let us hope this coming year is profitable for everyone.

With the lifting of dining restrictions last weekend, I went out for dinner with friends, we were like kids in a lolly shop! I think we took everything for granted prior to COVID-19 and I am now so grateful for everything in my life.

Council had a great Finance and Infra- structure meeting on Monday. We viewed the Templar Street plans and the car park for Lions Park. Asset Management Plans are being done, thank you to Jason and Wafi, ably led by Stefan. These are important plans for our infrastructure well into the future.

Firstly, Target’s announcement of closing the Forbes store. I have written a submission to info@wesfarmers.com.au asking the Chairman to reconsider his decision. I have included this email address and ask you to email Wesfarmers and tell them how important Target is to the people of Forbes. We have until mid-2021 to fight this fight and I promise to do everything possible to get a win for Forbes!

The new Caltex has opened at the Home-makers Centre and the KFC will follow next week. Between these sites there are around 70-80 jobs for our town which is a major win for Forbes in this climate.

The Local Strategic Planning Statement has now gone on public exhibition. We encourage everyone to look at the plan and let Council know your thoughts. This plan will keep Council in check for the next 20 years regarding further development.

We had a wonderful win last week with the NSW State Government approving over $730,000 funding for the Stronger Country Community program. Sam Farraway delivered the funding for three projects in Forbes; Spooner Oval upgrades, Jenny Murphy Park upgrades and a new Ninja Park for Forbes.

Thank you to Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, who called last week to announce funding of $1.22 million for a stimulus package to support our community. This will bring forward many future projects we have planned. Watch this space! Take care. God Bless.