It’s hard to believe that we are in March already!

Our new Visitor Information Centre merchandise shop opened for business on the weekend, with heaps of souvenirs available for purchase, and a great range of books about Forbes, our history, stories for kids etc. We will build on this with local produce and more lovely merchandise when we head down to the new visitor centre at the Lachlan Vintage village but for now, head down to the Railway and check it out!

This year there’s not one but two events for the whole community to enjoy as we celebrate women for International Women’s Day! This Saturday night we have the fabulous international Women’s Day Cocktail party event in our glorious town hall.  Our ticket proceeds for the Cocktail party will all go to Running for Premature Babies – a great cause! In the morning of IWD itself we are partnering with the Business Chamber for their breakfast event in Lions Park – with speaker Rose De Jong.

And finally the Councillors and I are really grateful to all of our sporting organisations for contributing to the Master plans that are currently in development for our sporting precincts. These drafts will be first considered by Council and it won’t be long till we are able to take these back to the Sporting Groups for checking. These plans will give us a great roadmap for how we would like to improve these important facilities.

Take care and God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

Forbes Shire Council

Have you seen the new fountains in our beautiful lake? They look fantastic, don’t they! There are so many great features to them including they use a quarter of the power of the old ones, they can be lit up at night with colourful lights and they aerate the water better. That is great news for our fish too! Have a look when you get a chance as they are impressive!

This begins the program of implementing some of the Lake Forbes Activation Plan and we are ever thankful to the NSW Government for giving us $2 million dollars as part of the Public Spaces Legacy Fund.

Last week’s Council Meeting was a great start to the year with lots to discuss. I do want the community to let us know your thoughts regarding larger monuments allowed in our lawn cemetery. Submissions can be made to the General Manager by 5pm 13 March via email forbes@forbes.nsw.gov.au or PO Box 333, Forbes NSW 2871. Our cemetery is very dear to our community and I would like you all to have your say.

Speaking of Your Say we have extended the Housing Survey for another month as we really want you all to jump onto the Forbes Your Say site and let us know what you would like future Forbes to have in the way of housing choices.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

You may have heard about the minor fish kill Lake Forbes experienced late last week. We have notified the Department of Primary Industries and they have inspected the waterway. As suspected it is a repercussion of the recent flooding.

Impacts on water quality are expected with the first flush of water on floodplains or after long droughts when organic material such as sticks, leaves, bark and grass is broken down in floodwater or washed off the floodplain into the river resulting in very low dissolved (hypoxic) oxygen levels. This can have localised impacts on fish species. DPI Fisheries will continue to work with partner agencies and stakeholders to manage and monitor water quality and river conditions.

There have been a lot of questions regarding the closure of the Vandenberg Hotel and why isn’t Council doing something about it. I would like the community to know the Council cannot get involved in the sale of businesses. We can encourage the new owners to re-open but we cannot tell them how to run their business.

We have another great event coming up soon, International Women’s Day. Again we will feel inspired by our ‘legendary local ladies’ and feel nourished with amazing canapes and delicious cocktails. Tickets are now on sale through 123tix or see our website for more details. It will be an amazing night and all proceeds will be donated to Running For Premature Babies, a great cause.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller