This dry weather is continuing and is very worrying for our whole community. Hopefully by the time you read this we may have had some rain.

Our Joint Organisation Meeting, formally known as Centroc, met in Orange last week. Minister Littleproud (Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) addressed the Mayor and General Manager in relation to the drought and the work that is being done to not only assist with this drought but to prepare for the next one.

Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack made a visit last Sunday to announce the $867,241 for town entryways to Forbes, Rankin and Templar Street upgrades and the Target corner which all fall under the CBD Masterplan. He has worked really hard for Forbes and we are very thankful that he is our local member.

A big thank you, on your behalf, to the farmer tradespeople for the great picket fence around Grinstead and South Circle Ovals. The workers are now about to commence work at the extension of the saleyards. We are very appreciative of the wonderful work they are doing.

Yoorana Gunya are having an event on the 28th, 29th and 30th April, called the Walkabout Barber. The event includes a trauma and recovery workshop for youth, and the following day they can get their haircut. You must attend the workshop to be eligible for a haircut. It is a great initiative and thanks to Donna and her team.

On that note, I’ll have more updates next week.

God Bless.

Your Mayor, Phyllis Miller

This week started off with a bang with our local federal member and Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack arriving in town to launch our 2018-2030 Agricultural Strategy at the Central West Livestock Exchange. We received funding from the Australian Government to undertake this important study. It has a lot of interesting data and we are hoping to find opportunities for value-adding to our products produced here and grow our agricultural industries.

One of the interesting pieces of data to be found in the report is the total outputs generated by the Forbes economy. In 2017 this was an estimated $1.188 billion representing 4.94 percent of the total output in the Central West RDA region. This is something to be very proud of and a statistic we would like to improve on.

Deputy Premier Hon John Barilaro was also in town this week to announce the three new Doppler radars that will be installed in the region to help farmers make better decisions about upcoming weather events. It will be a very useful tool, especially for those in cropping. The information obtained will also help predict severe weather conditions that may affect our area like fires and flooding.

The draft concept plan for Lions Park will be on exhibition until the 19th March. Council has received funds to make beneficial changes to the park. Most importantly we would love your input, so please take a look and drop us a line with your thoughts.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,

Phyllis Miller

The BOSCARS awards celebration was a fantastic event. I congratulate the Business Chamber on the decorations and the theme they chose. All the businesses are winners in our eyes as you keep our town going through good times and the tough times.

The individual winners will feature in other articles I’m sure but I must congratulate the overall winner, Flannery’s Pharmacy.

I would like to end the rumours circulating at the moment that Bunnings is closing.

Contact has been made with the company and they have confirmed they aren’t.

We thank the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack for giving the Newell Highway study a $2 million boost. Hopefully the study will show we desperately need to do something about the stretch between Forbes and West Wyalong, which saw diversions in place for over six weeks in the last flood.

We are pleased to hear the great response we are getting regarding upgrading the community halls in our Shire. The first hall to have a community consultation was Wirrinya.

I would like to offer a warm welcome to the new doctors in town. We have the greatest respect for the doctors in Forbes, both past and present. This coming Heritage Week, we will see the final of the nine Doctor’s Panels unveiled at the celebrations.

These panels cover the history of doctor’s who practiced in Forbes from the Harold Street Medical Centre and Cross Street surgeries.

God Bless

Your Mayor,

Phyllis Miller

We are all back into the swing of things this week with many committee meetings taking place. The Councillors are very refreshed and keen to go.

It is so exciting to see the picket fence going up around Grinstead Oval. The farmers are doing a mighty job and have worked tirelessly through this disgusting hot weather.

Lucky we all love Forbes or there would be a mass exit to the coast! Seriously, I would like to thank the workers we have through our Drought Farm Trade Initiative. You are making a big difference in helping Council deliver our Capital Works Program.

This week we met with local real estate agents to get a feel for the state of play in our area. As many of you would be aware, Council has two areas for residential development, Edward Street and the old Vintage Village site. Master plans for both sites are underway and we will continue to liaise with the agents for the best results.

Stay cool everyone, I will have more for you next week.

God Bless.

Your Mayor, Phyllis Miller

I want to congratulate the team on a wonderful Australia Day in the park. Kimberley Harris’ rendition of Advance Australia Fair penetrated my soul, she has an incredible voice. Keith Potger from the Seekers was a wonderful Ambassador and I thoroughly enjoyed his singing and conversing with him at dinner to learn about his wonderful 56 year career in music. It was great to have our Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Member, Michael McCormack attend our ceremony with his wife. Seeing him interacting with people and assisting with the Rotary BBQ was fabulous.

It was with great sadness that I heard about the passing of Greg Stammers over the weekend. ‘We grew up in Forbes and we’re proud of it’ has been a wonderful Facebook page for former and current community members to engage and reconnect.

I extend my sympathy to his family especially Tim and Allan.

My wish for our community is to see more people get involved. Be involved with your kids. Go to the restaurants, visit the pool, support our local shops and businesses, and attend the cinema. Phone a friend or your family and ask them to come too. Build those connections and relationships around you that make a community great. It is so easy to sit back and criticise that we have nothing in our town. But we are on the cusp of great things in Forbes – what are you going to do?

“Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something” – Max Lucado.

Your Councillor,

Michele Herbert

Boy oh boy, hasn’t it been hot! I was whinging about the heat the other day and started to wonder why we live in the west, which sometimes feels like the desert.

Then it dawned on me, I live here because of all of you and the wonderful lifestyle we have. The way we care for each other when something goes wrong is amazing.

So all in all, the heat will pass and we will be great again.

Australia Day Celebrations are coming up and the Council and staff have a great day planned. The Rotary Breakfast at 7am, the Digger Family Swimming Carnival at 11am and the Family Party in the park at Lions Park at 6pm. There is no need to pack a picnic as we have some great food vans coming to the Party in the Park with heaps to choose from. Our Ambassador this year for Australia Day is Keith Potger. Keith is one of the founding members of the band, The Seekers and a very talented musician, playing guitars, banjo, mandolin, ukulele and keyboards.

This year will see two elections take place, State Government on the 23rd March and the Federal one possibly in May. Now is the time to start writing your “wish list” to the candidates, especially our sitting members Phil Donato for State and Michael McCormick our Federal member.

Council gets back into full swing on the 4th February. Enjoy your weekend and week ahead.

God Bless.

Your Mayor,

Phyllis Miller

Wow, how quick has this year gone! Firstly I would like to congratulate the Forbes Business Chamber, led by Margaret Duggan, on a wonderful Christmas Carnival street celebration held last Friday night. People are still talking about it. I think we have the recipe right and we may need to stick with it.

Council considered the Templar Street re-development last Thursday at our final Council meeting for the year and we are now having some dimensional plans completed on the area to see what it will look and function like in more detail. Option 2 was the preferred concept by the people in attendance. I want to assure everyone we are advancing the project, but with caution, it is important to get this right. You wouldn’t build a house from a concept plan so hence the next stage is to get a proper plan.

Many of the Council staff and Councillors will be taking a break over January in order to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for 2019.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and holy Christmas and blessed New Year. Enjoy time with your family and friends and above all, travel safely.

God Bless.
Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

It has been a busy couple of weeks in our Shire. Recently we met with the consultants regarding Templar Street for their recommendations on the CBD masterplan.

The community has decided of the three options supplied for Templar Street, option two was considered the preferred option.

This maintains a two-way street, raising the pavement and have nose in parking. In my column next week I’ll let you know of Council’s decision.

The Homemaker Centre Stage 2 is well underway with water and sewer being installed at present. In February/March major building work will commence here.

Council has been granted an extension for the Flood Study to incorporate the 2016 data, which is important as the last flood reacted very differently to previous ones. It is important we have the correct data included in the study to ensure the best solutions are applied.

Representation has been sought from Anthony Roberts, Minister for Planning, to try and get a gateway for Bathurst Street to change the zoning of this area to allow rural residential development in the eastern part of lower Bathurst Street.

Forbes Shire Council is pleased to partner with Clean TeQ and our neighbouring council’s in signing the Voluntary Planning Agreement for the Sunrise Mining Project on Thursday. This will provide an opportunity for Forbes Shire Council to implement unique community enhancement projects over the lifespan of the mine.

God Bless,

Your Mayor

Phyllis Miller

It’s my pleasure to be writing up the column this week. I attended a governance and auditing workshop run by Local Governments NSW with the Mayor and the General Manager this week. The message is clear; transparency and accountability is the cornerstone of fostering a strong trusting relationship between the council and the community.

We are lucky that in a town like Forbes we have a strong community connection and that we are always working together to improve things. Forbes is one of the first councils in NSW to adopt live streaming of its meetings, also to have an Audit Risk Committee as well as a Governance and Leadership Committee to ensure due processes are in place. It doesn’t however stop there, it takes continuous monitoring and improving the system to ensure all the checks and balances are in place to minimise unnecessary risks.

This year is coming to an end and there is a mad rush to wrap up projects and businesses before Council breaks for Christmas and New Year, not to mention squeezing in a bit of time for celebration and Christmas shopping.

I look forward to working with you again next year.

Your Councillor,

Susan Chau