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

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