Thank you to the Forbes Shire Council staff, in particular Grants Officer Andrew Rawsthorne, for compiling highly successful grant applications of over $430,000 for major and significant projects in our community announced this week.

The funds are part of the State Government’s Stronger Country Communities grants and round two is now open. Council will be looking at more projects with different groups. If your group has a project or is interested, contact a Councillor or Andrew. Applications close on 4th May.

Councillors also met to review the flood plain study, with a draft expected in the next few weeks and a document for community consultation to be released following that.

Today is a huge day for Kerry Dunstan as he undertakes his Seventy for 70 Thousand WALK from Condobolin to Forbes to raise funds for two local cancer charities, Can Assist and the Breast Cancer Support Group. I will be ready and raring to welcome his party to town when they arrive.

I urge anyone who wishes to be involved in the Community Reference Panel to express their interest now. It is a great opportunity for people to be involved in and represent the community and advise Council on the service levels and delivery.

Maureen and I are looking forward to attending the rugby lunch on Saturday. This will actually be our first time in attendance as we are usually on babysitting duties, so I am very excited to be able to attend this year.

Kind regards

Mayor Graeme Miller

Forbes Shire Council is very frustrated by the announced closure of the ANZ bank. It is a very disappointing action by the bank and will be discussed by the full Council at the next meeting.

On a much brighter note, Forbes again shone over the busy weekend. Some highlights were the outstanding Barefoot Skiing Tournament and the ever growing farmers’ markets. Hearty congratulations to all involved.

Congratulations also go to our local member, Michael McCormack in his new role as the leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister.

I hope you have secured your ticket to the very exciting International Women’s Day breakfast to be held on the lake foreshore on Thursday, 8th March. Tickets are selling fast for the event which encourages us all to take a moment to stop and celebrate women and enjoy the very entertaining guest speaker, comedian, author and performer, Jean Kittson.

Nominations are now open for the Forbes Shire Council Youth Awards to be presented as part of celebrations during April. I am always humbled by the talent, drive and fervour of our young people and look forward to joining them in some of the many exciting activities the youth committee is organising for our town to enjoy. Nomination forms are available at Council or from the website.

I’d also like to personally congratulate young Tom Drane for being awarded Forbes’ Sportsperson of the Year. Well done Tom, it is a well earned honour for you.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Forbes Shire Council has been officially declared the naming rights sponsor for the Forbes Camel Races. The races are a major event and a most enjoyable day for our town. It is our privilege to be the major sponsor. I hope you all come along on Good Friday, 30th March and make it a spectacular day.

Talking about successful and enjoyable events, I hope you all take the chance to enjoy the skills on show at the Barefoot Waterskiing tournament in Forbes this weekend. An ever expanding event, it is great to see classes and entertainment for all to enjoy.

Councillor Webb and I attended the Centroc meeting in Condobolin this week. While the main topics of discussion were the Bell’s Line and Joint Organisations, it was a pleasure to be hosted at the new pavilion at the showground. It is a fantastic new venue for the Condobolin community.

The live streaming of Council’s recent Vanfest public meeting has been well received with more than 3,000 views since it was aired live. It was pleasing to note just as many people watched the live feed as well as attending the meeting. Council will certainly be looking to live stream other events to enable everyone to participate.

Thank you to those who successfully organised it and to those who tuned in. It is an exciting move into the future for all.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Forbes Shire Council

Tomorrow is a big day for Bedgerabong with the running of the annual races. The races are one of the biggest occasions on the local social calendar and draws visitors from near and far. My congratulations to the organisers who have worked so hard to put on a top quality race meeting.

Later this month, the Federal Minister for Transport will inspect the Newell Highway between West Wyalong and Parkes. As we all know this road was severely affected by flooding during 2016, which caused substantial financial loss. A number of us will represent the Shire and we will be making the case for flood proofing the Newell.

We’re grateful the Minister has taken an interest in our submissions.

The General Manager and I attended CENTROC last week. Most of the Councils who are currently a part of CENTROC will be a part of the joint organisations. A decision needs to be made by 28th February.

Council was considering us being a part of CENTROC at this week’s Council meeting.

The other issue discussed at the CEN TROC meeting was the Bells Line of Road and our link to Sydney. We will be trying to put more pressure on the government to get an adequate and appropriate link to the Sydney basin.

Finally, we met with the Golfers Association this week. The association really does deserve congratulations for the professionalism they have displayed in maintaining our golf course to such a high standard.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Thank you to everyone for coming along to the Vanfest 2017 public meeting held on Tuesday night. There were plenty of people champing to have their say and positive comments about our live stream. I believe the engagement went well and look forward to reading the comprehensive audit report. I am very excited to announce that Forbes Shire Council will be hosting International Women’s Day with a breakfast on Thursday, 8th March. The theme for 2018 is ‘Leave no woman behind’. We have a very exciting guest speaker to be announced soon.

On a personal level and with my background in health, I am trying to introduce an app on the Forbes Shire website to show the location of all AED’s ( automated external defibrillators) within our Shire. I think this would be a potentially lifesaving resource.

It is a busy week of meetings next week including the Council meeting on Thursday, 15th February. Meetings commence at 1.00pm and all are welcome to attend.

A reminder that the March Council meeting will be held at Bedgerabong. Here’s hoping the weather will be a little kinder to us for the much loved Bedgerabong Races next weekend. Please come out in fashion for this very social and fun day.

I have the great pleasure of attending the Zone 6 Showgirl Finals in Blayney that same day and supporting our Forbes and Bedgerabong Miss Showgirls, Grace Allen and Heather Earney, and wish them both well.

 

Congratulations Forbes! What a fantastic long weekend of celebrations. Everything at the Australia Day breakfast, swim and celebrations were well organised, well attended and very worthwhile events.

I am sure you will all agree our ambassador James Pittar was an absolute delight to host. He is an elite athlete and an outstanding human being.

I think the new site worked very well for the Australia Day events and people have been very complimentary of the festivities.

I personally thought the fireworks were spectacular, the best I’ve seen at one of our events.

Then on Monday, Forbes had the world’s attention when we hosted the Queen’s Baton Relay. I think we performed very well on the international stage with two very unique baton journeys, in a dragon boat and on a skateboard. I was very, very proud. We hosted such a fantastic event and stood out from the crowd. My sincere thanks to the Forbes Shire Council staff for organising the event and to the many people who attended and supported it.

Next week will be busy, with the Vanfest public meeting on Tuesday night. We would like everyone to come along for drinks and refreshments at 5.30pm with the meeting to start at 6.00pm and aiming to finish at 7.30pm.

On Wednesday, the Director of Engineering and Technical services, John Zannes and I will be attending the Newell Highway Taskforce in Gilgandra.

Then on Thursday, 8th February I will be in Orange for the CENTROC meeting.

Mayor Graeme Miller

I hope to see you all at the Australia Day celebrations. We have a full agenda of activities all day. There is the free Rotary breakfast from 7am to 9am at Apex Park and the Digger’s Family Swim is from 11am to 2pm with a free barbecue lunch and pool entry. Then at 5.30pm there will be food, live entertainment and plenty of fun activities at the Australia Day Party in the Park at Lions Park.

We encourage all families to pack a picnic, bring a rug or some chairs and settle in to enjoy the festivities concluding with the fireworks at 9pm from Bates Bridge.

It is a busy time in Forbes, with us welcoming the Queen’s Baton Relay on Monday. We are very excited to be transporting the baton in a dragon boat on Lake Forbes as a first and very unique way of celebrating its arrival in Forbes. We hope you can all join us and line the streets to welcome and cheer along the baton bearers, some of our outstanding citizens, and the convoy that has accompanied the baton on it’s longest ever relay in history.

From the Forbes Sport and Recreation Club, the baton will travel Lachlan Street down to Stephan Field (the skatepark) for the community celebration which will include live entertainment, ice-creams to cool off and a skating demonstration. Following this, the baton and convoy will make its way out to the Parkes Road.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Forbes Shire Council

 

Have you nominated someone for the Forbes Shire Council Citizen or Young Citizen of the Year award? Today is your last chance with nominations closing at 5pm. Please take the time to nominate someone who truly deserves to be acknowledged for making a difference in our community.

Last weekend Deputy Mayor Jenny Webb and I had the great pleasure of attending the Amazing Forbes Elvis Breakfast. It was an outstanding success and the 300 people who attended agreed. It is absolutely something to build on for future years. A big thanks to Council staff for their efforts to organise the event and the local businesses that supported it.

Well done to the Forbes Youth Action Team who organised public screenings of two family movies to help beat holiday boredom. There was a good amount of interest from the community. Watch out every holiday for similar events.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Australia Day activities on Friday. I am excited to welcome James Pittar, an Australian visually impaired endurance swimmer, as our ambassador to Forbes. Our Australia Day activities begin at 7am with a free Rotary breakfast at Apex Park, then onto the Diggers Family Swim from 11am to 2pm before the fun begins at the Party In Park from 5.30pm until 9pm. There will be entertainment, rides, live music, paddle boats and dragon boats, CWA damper cooking and fireworks to enjoy. Hope to see you there.

Graeme Miller

Forbes Mayor

 

Council Comments With Cr Grant Clifton

Wishing you all a very safe and Merry Christmas and looking forward to another busy New Year for Council. Forbes Shire Council has achieved a lot this year through its works and community programs.

Congratulations to all the businesses which have supported and participated in the 2017 Christmas promotion, it has been a tremendous initiative. Don’t forget tomorrow’s major draw at noon. Good luck to all the shoppers in the Find It In Forbes Christmas promotion. I think this is the best Christmas promotion and light display we have ever had, it has ensured Forbes has not gone unnoticed.

Nominations are now open for our Senior and Junior Citizen of the Year Awards which will be presented at the Australia Day celebrations. These awards celebrate the outstanding members of our community who really make this a great place to live. I encourage everyone to nominate outstanding residents for the work they do to enhance the Forbes community. Nomination forms are available at Council or online, under events on the Forbes Shire Council website.

Have you received your copy of the Forbes Community News? It is Forbes Shire Council’s quarterly newsletter and is being circulated through Australia Post, copies can also be collected at the Council administration office or it can be viewed online.

Stay safe over the holiday period and I hope you all get to enjoy a well-earned rest. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.