Last Sunday, I attended the Forbes Auto Sports Club’s first meeting of the year at the Daroolbalgie track. There were good numbers and it was very competitive.

The kids had a wow of a time! Well done to the committee and the community for getting the track and facilities ready for Sunday. It was a great day out.

Doesn’t the town just look ‘amazing’! If you haven’t noticed, the 32 ‘amazing’ banners are all around the town centre. So far this new destination brand has received positive feedback and is a really important step in our marketing following the installation of the ‘amazing’ sign out on the South Condobolin Road.

Councillors passed the draft budget at the council meeting last week and it is now on display at the council for comment. Please take the opportunity to review and submit any feedback as this is your chance to be involved.

This week the General Manager and I attended the CENTROC board meeting at Parliament House in Sydney. It was a very big agenda and I will discuss some of the issues shortly.

It was wonderful to see the good times roll by with the fantastic crews from the Variety Bash as they stayed over in Forbes on Tuesday night. A very colourful bunch of cars and characters made their way through Forbes as part of the 30 odd car convoy of the Western Australian Bash.

Mayor Graeme Miller

My heartiest congratulations go to young Tom Drane, who will be competing in the AMA Flat Track Grand Nationals 2018 in Springfield, Illinois next week. It is just fantastic that he has been invited and he has been training so hard as it is a completely different style of racing to here in Australia. Forbes sends you our very best wishes.

On Tuesday night, I attended the Forbes Heritage 2018 major celebration. The night was a celebration of dedicated and committed volunteers who contribute to our history and heritage. The Forbes Shire Council Art Acquisition prize and colouring-in awards were presented.

Also on Tuesday, I attended the Narrandera Newell Highway Taskforce meeting where we are seeking funding for the hydrology report required for the next stage of the flood proofing project between Forbes and West Wyalong. I’m hoping news will be to hand today or early next week.

On Wednesday, I had the great honour of attending the sod turning of the Forbes Men’s Shed. The committee and members have done an absolutely wonderful job to develop a place which is really important for the well being of our male community.

A reminder to all, that the Forbes Relay for Life is on this weekend. I will be going, unfortunately not to walk, but to show my unconditional support for this very worthwhile organisation. Even if you aren’t in a team please support one of the walkers or the teams.

Mayor Graeme Miller.

Things are really busy around Council at the moment with lots of interest in Forbes.

We are under very good leadership at present and Forbes is definitely heading in a better direction with lots of projects in the pipeline.

Since becoming Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, Aerodrome Committee and Forbes Riverside Community Gardens Committee, I am really enjoying being a Councillor and working closely with these committees to make recommendations to Council that will benefit the future of Forbes.

Heritage Week is coming up next week and has some new additions to the program including an antique roadshow. The museum and family history groups will also be holding open days along with a variety of other great events that can be found on Council’s website and Facebook page. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Steve Karaitiana

Last weekend was brimming with talent as the winners of the Forbes Shire Council Youth Week awards were announced. It was an honour to present the Youth Citizenship awards to Elise Dukes and Kaidyn Haynes as well as the many other worthy award winners. The colour run was a fantastic way to finish off the many exciting Youth Week activities.

Also, my sincere and hearty congratulations to Kerry Dunstan. I know he doesn’t like being singled out but his efforts to raise $57,000 for his 70th birthday walk are just phenomenal. Well done!

Forbes really is a wonderfully supportive community. The Seniors Week concert, organised by Neil and Jane Gilmour and MC Leo Curran, was fantastic. It was a wonderful event by all reports with money raised donated to the Palliative Care Unit and Can Assist.

On Anzac Day it was good to see people acknowledging those who gave up so much for us 100 years and more ago. It is our duty to remember them all. Thank you for being a part of Forbes’ Anzac Day.

There has been a lot of positive feedback about recording the April council meeting.

Our staff are continuing to work on improving the audio which we hope will be a lot better for the next meeting. It is a learning curve for us all. There have been over 670 views already, so it is great to see people are keen to use it.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Maureen and I had the great pleasure of attending the Legacy Lunch on the weekend.

It was also their annual meeting and representatives from throughout the Central West and the President from Sydney were also in attendance.

The General Manager, Councillor Karaitiana and I inspected the Clearteq Mine at Fifield on Monday.

It is great news for the community that the heated pool is back up and running, well done to the committee and thank you to the Council staff who assisted in getting it operational so quickly.

Hearty congratulations to the organisers of the rodeo. It was a spectacular event and hopefully the numbers weren’t negatively affected by the weather.

Saturday will see the grand finale of the Youth Week celebrations. There has been plenty of support for the fishing and Star Wars workshop and hopefully there will be good numbers for the colour run and Youth Week awards to be presented tomorrow.

The colour run starts at noon at Halpin Flat, Bedgerabong Road. It will be a fun filled family event.

A reminder to all next Wednesday is Anzac Day with Harold Street from Victoria Lane to Court Street closed from 5am to 5pm. The dawn service will be at 5.15am and the mid morning service and march will be at 10am.

The flags will be lowered at 5pm.

Thursday’s Council meeting will be recorded and available to be viewed for those unable to attend. It is a huge step forward in accessibility and I’m very pleased to think Forbes is among the first Shires to do this.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Last Friday night, I had the great pleasure of attending the Landcare celebration dinner. It was wonderful to welcome our Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack to Forbes to help us celebrate what Landcare does. Congratulations to local agronomist Guy Webb, who gave a very interesting talk on getting the carbon out of the air and into our soil. Well done to the organisers, it was a very good night and the Town Hall looked fantastic.

On Monday night, there was a good crowd in attendance for the CBD master plan briefing. I want to thank everyone for attending and showing their interest in our future. It was lovely to see some young people attending and being enthusiastic about our streetscapes. Remember the plan will be on display at Council and on the website until Friday, 20th April.

It has been a busy time celebrating Seniors Week and from tomorrow we will be celebrating our Youth. The Youth Week celebrations start off with the Star Wars workshop starting at 11.45am tomorrow at the YACC. The school holidays are full of fun with a fishing workshop on Tuesday, 17th April, a trivia night on Thursday and the Colour Run and Youth Week Awards to be presented on Saturday, 21st April.

It will be a busy weekend with the rodeo in town. I am also looking forward to attending the Legacy Lunch.

I hope everyone has a lovely and safe start to the school holidays.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Congratulations to the organisers and supporters of the Forbes Camel Races on the Easter weekend. It was a great day and a wonderful event to showcase the spirit and tenacity of our community.

Remember to celebrate the seniors in your life by attending the many exciting events of the 60th NSW Seniors Festival.

In Forbes we have the Seniors Concert on Sunday, 8th April starting at 2pm at the Town Hall.

The following week will be the Mater Aged Care Big Bingo from 10.30am on Wednesday, 11th April and on Friday, 12th April is the JRV barbecue for friends and families.

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the Youth Week Celebrations. The main highlights being the Star Wars day, Fishing Workshop on Tuesday, trivia night on Thursday, the Youth Awards and Colour Run on Saturday, 21st April. It is a fantastic line up of events and activities organised by the youth of our community through the Forbes Youth Action Team.

Heritage Week celebrations will be held in May with an exciting antiques roadshow event planned. Other events include heritage workshops, competitions for the children, the announcement of the awards and Forbes Medal and a folk musician and entertainer.

Also coming up in May is the Forbes Relay for Life. It is lovely to have this event back to raise money in a fun way with the overnight relay. On Sunday, 13th May, is the Mother’s Day Classic to help raise funds for Breast Cancer.

Councillor Michele Herbert

A hearty congratulations to Grace Allen for her podium finish in the Sydney Easter Show state-wide Showgirl competition. Well done Grace, Forbes is very proud of
you!

Well done to our local young men who took part in the RAS young auctioneer’s competition. Our General Manager, Steve Loane was there and said all the boys performed very well.

On Sunday night, I attended a dinner at the Town Hall with the very enthusiastic group participating in the 2018 Beyond Bitumen Charity Car Rally. They were a fantastic group with many former Forbes residents. More than $60,000 was raised with more than $350,000 raised in total for beyondblue.

Congratulations go to Nadine Mattiske who was presented a Hidden Treasure Award by Member for Orange, Phil Donato on Monday morning. After visiting the Wirrinya Family Picnic Day in 2017, Phil was very complementary of the work done by Nadine and the Wirrinya community.

I’m really looking forward to the Camel Races tomorrow. It is a great day out and just another major successful event for our town.

Thank you to the staff and contractors who are working for an extra month to keep the Forbes pool open. So many of the heated pool users has thanked the Council for giving them access to the pool and the staff for doing everything they can to keep the pool temperature pleasant.

If you are travelling over Easter please take care, stay safe and have a lovely break with your families.

How unbelievably wonderful was Kerry Dunstan’s walk from Condobolin last week? I have already personally congratulated him and the eight other people who walked the whole distance with him. Kerry Dunstan is an incredibly humble man but I think he is one of Forbes’ absolute treasures. My last information to hand was that he has not hit the $70,000 target but I am sure there is still time for contributions.

I had the pleasure of attending the Forbes Fins presentation evening last week. It is just great to see so many vibrant young people enjoying swimming and keeping fit.

As I mentioned last week, I was relieved of babysitting duties and was able to attend my first Rugby Lunch. Well it did not disappoint. Thank you to the people who put so much effort into planning and hosting such a professional event. The guest speaker was outstanding and things only got better from there. No wonder it is such a hugely successful event and that people consistently travel from near and far to attend.

A final message of congratulations and best of luck to Grace Allen from Forbes who will be representing Zone 6 as a finalist, competing for the title of The Land Sydney Royal Showgirl at this year’s Sydney Royal Show.

Our GM will also be cheering on our young auctioneers Jake Lebrocque, Brendon White, Sam Smith and Cooper Byrnes in the Young Auctioneers Competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Mayor Graeme Miller