At last Thursday’s May Council meeting, the Our Community Strategic Plan 2017- 2027 of the Forbes Shire was adopted. The supporting plans including the 2017/18 Op- erational Budget was planned to be on public exhibition, however some of our Council- lors wanted some more information before it went on display.

A briefing session was held on Monday to answer any remaining questions and a special meeting will be held this afternoon at 5pm to endorse the documents for public exhibition. Once endorsed, the plans will be available to view on our website www. forbes.nsw.gov.au or at Council’s Admin- istration and Engineering Offices and the Forbes Library.

Last weekend Councillors and executive staff attended a strategic planning workshop. This session was excellent and it gave us a chance to all work together on future plans for the Shire.

If you aren’t already aware, community members can report issues around town through a smartphone application called Snap Send Solve. This allows you to report and capture issues such as broken playground equipment or road conditions. You need to download Snap Send Solve to your mobile phone to utilise this service.

The NSW Open regional qualifying event was held at the Forbes Golf Course on Sun- day with a fantastic result for Forbes local John Betland gaining a place in the 2017 NSW Open to be played at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club in November. The Forbes Golf Association were complimented for the standard of the golf course. A former captain of Royal Sydney Golf Club said Forbes golf course was one of the best country courses in NSW, if not the best.

On Sunday, Forbes Junior Rugby hosted a Walla carnival with a great number of chil- dren participating from around our region. Watching our grandson play in the carnival was a great joy.

The Mother’s Day Classic walk around Lake Forbes on Sunday had low numbers unfortunately due to inclement weather.

At yesterday’s Council meeting we adopt- ed the Our Forbes Shire Community Stra- tegic Plan 2017-2027. Supporting plans include the 2017/18 Operational Plan, the 2017/18 Fees and Charges Schedule and the 2017/18 Budget. These are now on public exhibition and can be viewed online at www.forbes.nsw.gov.au, at Council’s ad- ministration and engineering offices and the Forbes Library until 14th June. We encourage you to view these plans and make comments.

What a glorious weekend it was with many activities to do and see. I spent Saturday at the Bedgerabong Races, watching Security Code set a track record and sang happy 80th to one of Bedgerabong’s old timers, Dan Herbert. On Sunday morning I joined the Walk to D’Feet MND around Lake Forbes.

Councillor Susan Chau and I are attending the Australian Local Government Women’s Association NSW annual conference until tomorrow attending a number of workshops.

Please join us in celebrating Forbes Heritage 2017 next week. There are a number of events to attend including a Musical Mystery Mausoleum Meander with Rob Willis at the Forbes Cemetery on Sunday, the Discovering our Doctors interpretive panels at the Forbes Medical Centre on Monday, a trivia night at the Forbes Services Memorial Club on Tuesday and the Heritage Presentation Evening at the Town Hall on Wednesday. To find out about more or to register your attendance, call Council on 6850 2300.

On Tuesday we commemorated Anzac Day, which is our day to pay respects to those who made it possible for us to live the way we do today. Considering the in- clement weather on the day, I congratulate those who came out in the rain to attend the services and participate in the march.

At last week’s Council meeting we approved a loan of $100,000 to the Forbes Men’s Shed. This loan will be repaid over a period of 20 years and will help build the new shed on Union Street.

Also at the Council meeting it was de- cided that expressions of interest would soon be called for community members to participate in our Section 355 Committees under the five Community Strategic Plan themes of Society and Places, Economic Development, Infrastructure, Environment and Leadership and Governance. We will let you know when expressions of interest are being called.

Council’s draft Disability Inclusion Action Plan is now on public exhibition until 5pm on Friday, 26th May. Councillors are very pleased with the plan and I encourage you all to read it and make any comments. It is available to view on our website www. forbes.nsw.gov.auor or at Council’s administration offices.

What a great Easter weekend. The Good Friday Camel Races were well attended and highly successful. The event is a great credit to Kerry Dunstan and Lee Marsh as well as all of the community groups involved in the day. On Easter Saturday the crowds gathered at Apex Park for a very success- ful Easter Festival run by Havannah House. There were three-legged races, egg and spoon races and of course a giant Easter egg hunt. I know it was a very popular event because my grandchildren attended and they had a fantastic time.

Last Wednesday we held two public meetings for community members to find out more about the draft Our Forbes Shire Community Strategic Plan 2017-2027. There were a number of people in attend- ance and I thank those residents who took the time to come along. The public exhibition period for the plan finished yesterday and it returns to the May Council meeting for final approval.

Yesterday was our April meeting and one of the items on the agenda was our Disabil- ity Inclusion Action Plan. This plan is now on public exhibition and can be viewed by visiting www.forbes.nsw.gov.au or our administration office.

Forbes hosted the NSW Lions Youth of the Year state final on Saturday night at the Forbes Services Memorial Club. A Mayoral reception was held at the Town Hall before the event and it was my pleasure to wel- come all the state finalists of the five districts of Lions and their families to Forbes. The contestants presented very well and the winner was Ava Del Tufo, who was sponsored by the Pambula Merimbula Lions Club.

Youth Week was such a fantastic event last week and it was great to see so many young people involved in the activities. Students from Forbes High School and Red Bend Catholic College had a great time during their Colour Runs. At YouthFest on Friday night there was spectacular talent on display.

Over the weekend, Council staff promoted the draft Our Forbes Shire Community Strategic Plan and attended the Rotary Ipomoea Markets and the Bedgerabong Country Fair. Yesterday we had two public meetings in the Forbes Town Hall. We are still encouraging residents to make sure they have their say. The plan is on public exhibition until 5pm next Thursday and can be viewed at www.forbes.nsw.gov.au or our Council administration offices.