Last week Council received great news in our efforts to grow the local economy. Approval has been received for the construction of a major $5.4 million service centre to be located at the Homemakers Centre.

The development will see the construction of a service station, convenience store, restaurant and car parking. Last week Council also announced that consultants had been appointed to produce a detailed blueprint for the future of the CBD. There has already been renewed demand for shops in the CBD and once complete the masterplan will stimulate significant interest from people looking to set up business in our town.

Forbes Shire Council recently announced changes to the operations of its rural tips. These changes were necessary as we need to protect ratepayers from the potential consequences of unrestricted and uncontrolled access to our village landfills. These changes will come into effect from 6th November. Visit the Council webpage or contact our office for further information. Council is also currently examining options to extend the life of the Daroobalgie landfill.

I’d like to congratulate the organisers of last weekend’s Forbes Motor Show. There was a big crowd in attendance to enjoy the show and the perfect weather.

Finally Roads and Maritime Services have announced a concept plan for the replacement of the Camp Street Bridge. The project team will be out and about in Forbes over the coming months and we encourage all residents to have their say. You can find out more at www.rms.work/forbesbridge

What a weekend we have just had in Forbes. We had two major events with the inaugural Grazing Down the Lachlan and the River Arts Festival lakeside celebrations.

Grazing Down the Lachlan was a wonderful experience and it really showed to our visitors what we can do out here in Forbes. The event was very well organised and I congratulate the committee for doing such a wonderful job.

After the Grazing Down the Lachlan, Maureen and I attended the official opening of the River Arts Festival. The lantern parade was quite spectacular and it was great to see so many children performing at the festival. Congratulations to Margot Jolly and her team. I would also like to mention the great work of the Council staff who helped pack up everything.

At last Thursday’s Council meeting Councillor Jenny Webb was elected Deputy Mayor and I am looking forward to working with her for the next 12 months.

I would also like to mention the presentation Guy Webb made at our Council meeting in regards to his not-for-profit research organisation Soil C Quest. If you get a chance watch the video petition his son has created to invite Elon Musk to back the Soil C Quest 2031 Project.

There are a number of events in the Forbes Shire over the long weekend including the opening of the Somewhere Down The Lachlan Sculpture Trail tonight, the Rural Arts Symposium tomorrow night and the Forbes Motor Show on Sunday.

Mayor
Graeme Miller

The Boscars were held last Friday night at the Forbes Services Memorial Club and in my opinion it was one of the best Boscars I have attended. Councillors and Council staff were in attendance and it was a fabulous night to recognise our business community. Congratulations to all of the winners, especially to Forbes Family Dentists for winning the Business of the Year. Council sponsored the Business Leader of the Year award and I congratulate Larry Storm from HE Silos on his win.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Central West Rugby Union Blowes Clothing Cup Grand Final in Orange on Saturday but the Forbes Platypi were victorious against the Orange Emus 28-20. From what I have heard the mighty Platypi played very well and I congratulate the players and the committee on a very successful year.

On Saturday night we were back at the Forbes Services Memorial Club for the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show for the presentation dinner. Most of the awardwinning wineries were in attendance to col lect their trophies and it was a great night with delicious food and wine. Once again congratulations to the organising committee for continuing to recognise the small winemakers industry.

Tomorrow is the inaugural Grazing Down the Lachlan event and it will be a great day out. There are a lot of visitors coming to Forbes and I wish the organising committee all the best for a fantastic day.

Mayor

Graeme Miller

What great weather we had for the Forbes Show on the weekend. Council’s stand at the show was awarded the Best Commercial Display – Outside for the third year. I thank all Councillors who came along over the two days as well as the staff who were involved.

Acting General Manager Max Kershaw and I attended the Elvis Festival media launch in Parkes on Monday. The festival program looks bigger and better than ever. We are very lucky to have Max acting as our General Manager until a new General Manager is recruited. Max is very experienced and we welcome him back to Forbes for this period.

Council has very carefully considered the future of its rural landfills and from Monday, 6 November changed operating hours and closures will come into effect. These changes include Bedgerabong and Garema landfills open limited hours and staffed while open, Ootha will be controlled via an agreed access system with residents and Wirrinya and Warroo landfills will be mothballed. Let ters will be mailed out to all residents who will be effected by these changes.

This weekend is another busy one with the Boscars Forbes Business Awards on tonight and tomorrow night the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show presentation dinner. Maureen and I are looking forward to attending these great events.

I would like to wish the Forbes Platypi first grade team all the best in the grand final tomorrow in Orange. It’s been a great year for the Platypi and I hope they bring home the trophy.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Max Kershaw has returned as Acting General Manager after the departure of Danny Green. It’s fantastic to have Max on board as he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and has a long history with Forbes through his family. Max will be in the position until a permanent replacement can be found. I’d also like to wish Danny all the best in his new endeavours. I appreciated his support as a new Councillor.

The NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show took place last week. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the public tasting as my brother’s 50th was on the same night but I hear it was a very successful event. I am looking forward to the presentation dinner because last year was absolutely brilliant and I’d encourage everyone to support the event on Saturday, 16th September. Tickets are available from BWR Accountants.

I am also looking forward to the Forbes Show which gets underway today. I’ve been supporting and attending the Forbes Show for many years and it always brings back fond memories of family, food and fun.

The show displays the best produce, stock, craft, photography and art our community can produce. Cool conditions are predicted but I’d encourage everyone to come down or at least a few hours.

Cr Michele Herbert

Max Kershaw has returned as Forbes Shire Council’s Acting General Manager after the departure of former General Manager Danny Green. He will serve in the position until a permanent replacement can be found.

Max has more than 42 years’ experience in local government of which he worked 21 years as a general manager. He mostly worked at rural councils of similar size and scale including Gunnedah, Warren, Narrabri and Harden. Max said his priorities during his short tenure would be stability and the maintenance of high quality services to the Forbes community.

Forbes Shire Council will embark on an extensive recruitment process over the coming weeks and months.

I attended NAIDOC celebrations last Thursday when about 900 school children celebrated indigenous culture.

I also had the privilege of presenting the Forbes Senior and Forbes Junior Indigenous Person of the Year Awards respectively to Cath Bowden for her work to promote Wiradjuri culture and Matty Duke for his academic and sporting achievements.

This week also saw another great Forbes event when the NSW Small Winemakers Show got underway. The show fills a niche for small winemakers to showcase their product against their larger counterparts. Tonight the public tasting takes place at the Youth and Community Centre from 6:30pm. I’d encourage as many residents as possible to support the event and sample top wines from across NSW and the ACT.

Last weekend the Forbes Shire’s sporting talent was on display. I attended the Platypi vs Dubbo Roos game and it was great to see our boys overcome Dubbo. In not so good news the Forbes Magpies were unsuccessful in their clash with Parkes. Con gratulations to the Platypi and commiserations to the Magpies.

I also attended the junior soccer and junior netball grand finals. The manners of the children were truly a credit to the clubs and their families. The other thing that occurred to me while attending these events was how lucky we are to have such top quality sporting facilities in Forbes. They are a credit to our community and to our parks and gardens staff.

Graeme Miller

Mayor

Forbes Shire Council

The General Manager and I attended the Centroc quarterly meeting in Canberra last week. It was a worthwhile and productive meeting in which we discussed issues of importance for the Forbes Shire and wider community.

Minister for Aged Care and Indigenous Health, Ken Wyatt, was one of the speakers. I asked about the issue of increasing respite care and he agreed it is something the Federal Government needs to examine. I also asked about the recognition and remuneration of the wonderful people working in aged care, and Mr Wyatt told us to expect news on this matter very soon.

The Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport talked about the upgrade of the Pacific Highway, which is expected to be complete by 2020. Other highways will then be considered. We will lobby strenuously to ensure that flood-proofing the Newell Highway is high on the government’s priority list.

The Minister for Regional Development discussed the significant amount of money in the funding pipeline. Rest assured Forbes Shire Council will be working hard to have some shovel-ready projects prepared to take advantage of this funding.

Vanfest’s Matt Clifton tells me that around 6000 day tickets have now been sold. This is great news for Forbes as the thousands

of visitors will provide an enormous boost to our local economy.

Finally, the Orange Male Voice Choir will perform at Town Hall from 2pm on Sunday. It’s one performance not to be missed.

Graeme Miller

Mayor, Forbes Shire Council