Well we certainly got the frost part right for our sixth annual Frost and Fire on Satur­day. It was a very frosty morning on the day of our sixth annual amazing event of live music, good food, friends and fire buckets – Frost and Fire 2025.

Despite the cold, we all rugged up and huddled around more than 20 fire pits and the amazing effigy bonfires lit later in the night. It was great to see so many of you there and to support local and bigger musi­cal acts in a regional setting. Thanks to the more than 2600 people who bought tickets, many of whom travelled from out of town.

We had tickets sales and attendees from as far away as Melbourne and Tasmania.

A fire bucket, friends and live music – is there any better way to spend a frosty win­ter’s night? It has been an honour to attend the Na­tional General Assembly in Canberra this week and host the 2025 Regional Cooper­ation and Development Forum on Tuesday.

The forum addressed challenges and po­tential solutions for regional, rural and re­mote areas. We had the pleasure of guests such as demographers to discuss trends shaping regions, mental health and road safety.

The theme this year was National Pri­orities Need Local Solutions and we were able to spotlight the way Councils are leading the way, delivering unique and place-based solutions to address housing pressures, build safer roads, increase re­silience to natural disasters and build com­munity wellbeing.

It was hard not to notice the very visible presence of a lot of police in Forbes last week. There were several operations con­ducted, including one on the Newell High­way and several tobacco shop compliance checks. Police reported a range of search­es, drug tests, ADVO compliance checks and charges laid for possessing knife and housebreaking implements.

Thank you for the focus on the Forbes area and the greater region.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM

Frost and Fire 2025

It’s finally here, Forbes’ key destination annual event Frost and Fire is on this weekend. Come and celebrate with us in its sixth ye ar in the heart of Central West NSW! Warm up by fire buckets, enjoy hearty treats from food trucks and sip bou­tique brews while listening to top Austral­ian music acts, the Wolfe Brothers, Ripley Alexander, Foxxy Cleopatra, Baker Boys, EasyGoin.

Experience live entertainment, including Wiradjuri cultural performances and the spectacular Frost and Fire effigy bonfires.

Children will love the roving entertainment, fire performers, and face painting. En­joy the free shuttle buses to and from the event. Rug up, celebrate the Winter Sol­stice with starry skies, lively performances, and a strong sense of community.

Tickets are available from 123tix and you can find out all about the event on our Amazing website.

Volunteers Morning Tea

Let’s thank our amazing local volunteers! Join us for a morning tea to celebrate our volunteers and their contributions to Forbes on Monday 30 June. To be held at the Apex Caravan Park from 10.30am, please RSVP by Wednesday 25 June to Council on 6850 2300 or community@forbes.nsw.gov.au Join us for a free Speed Networking event for local businesswomen, profes­sionals, parents, caretakers, and com­munity members. Make new connections through brief, guided conversations. Bring a friend and enjoy a welcome drink and light refreshments. To be held Thursday 10 July at Club Forbes from 6pm – 8pm.

Tickets are limited. Registration is essential through Humantix.

Looking forward to seeing you at these wonderful events and celebrating our amazing community together.

It was another strong sale this week at the Central West Livestock Forbes with over 50,000 sheep yarded – 42,100 lambs and 8,600 mutton. Dorper lambs topped the market at $410 on Tuesday, just shy of the national record of $424 in Wagga last week, which was just days after the record of $400 was broken at Forbes. We are hav­ing some very strong sales, very strong markets – all at one of the best stock sell­ing centres in Australia.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM

I hope everyone enjoyed the King’s Birth­day long weekend. Thank you to the won­derful Lions Club volunteers who operated the Driver Reviver van across the entire weekend. Such a valuable service, keep­ing travellers alert and refreshed.

Central West NSW Heavy Vehicle Break­fast Forum returned Thursday 12 June at Forbes Inn. This year’s Forum focused on higher productivity vehicles, safety, compli­ance and industry case studies, with a high productivity vehicle on display. It’s a great opportunity for local farmers, contract har­vesters, couriers, truck drivers and trans­port company operators to network and speak with industry ex­perts. Cost is free.

Contact Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor on (02) 6861 2364 to register.

This week I attended the annual Coun­try Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) Regional Road and Transport Meeting in Orange where I had the opportunity to hear from industry leaders about the state of our road and transport network, as well as major infrastructure projects impact­ing the State’s regional areas. We heard from a range of presenters including The Hon. Jenny Aitchison MP, NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, and representatives from Transport for NSW, IPWEA, Reconstruction Authority, NRMA and Essential Energy. The meeting was an opportunity for regional advocacy and collaboration between member Councils.

We are officially on the countdown to Frost and Fire 2025! The ultimate winter warmer event is on Saturday 21 June at Forbes Ski Dam.

We are beyond excited to have Mitchell Coombs on board as this year’s Frost and Fire official ambassador. Mitchell is an Aus­tralian comedian who originally hails from Bogan Gate. Well-known for sharing his hilarious takes on everyday life on social media, Mitchell will bring his signature style and energy to this year’s event.

Now in its sixth year, Frost and Fire de­livers family-friendly fun. Hearty food, fire buckets, boutique brews, fire performers and pyrotechnics, cultural performances and live music including headline act, The Wolfe Brothers. Tickets are on sale now via 123tix, or head to the Amazing Forbes website for more information.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM

After many phone calls last week to the NSW Police Commissioners and Police Ministers Office, I was very pleased to meet our Western Region Commander An­drew Holland who has given me some solid assurances about the police presence in the Forbes community.

We have developed some ideas about improving the police presence and ensur­ing our residents are well protected and feel secure.

We look forward to continuing to work with Commander Holland who will imple­ment changes to the rostering system at the Forbes Police Station.

A very important message out of the meeting on Monday was that if residents are in immediate risk to themselves or their property you MUST call 000.

So many residents have told me that they ring and ring the local police station number and get no answer. It is important these calls are logged with 000 so we can get a true account of when police are need­ed here in our community.

Council will continue to work with the lo­cal police and we have shared our LIVE Forbes promotional material to be distribu­tion to new police graduating in the hope of attracting more recruits to our area.

Commander Holland’s new district cov­ers 72% of NSW and he has been making his way around each of the communities, so it was a great opportunity to get to know him on Monday.

Congratulations to Forbes business Top­soil Organics, for its incredible success at the 2025 Western NSW Business Awards winning the Excellence in Sustainability, Excellence in Large Business and Overall Business of the Year.

This sustainable business is growing every day and we congratulate the whole team for their dedication, innovation and hard work.

I was pleased our first ever Public Art Advisory Committee met on Tuesday night.

Thanks to the amazing work of the Forbes Art Society, Forbes has an incredible col­lection of public art and this working party will now work with council to provide advice and recommendations to Council regarding the management and installation of public art within the Forbes LGA.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM

I am deeply moved by the outpouring of thoughts and prayers during my recent ill­ness. Your support has been a beacon of hope and strength for me and my family during this challenging time.

I am grateful for each and every one of you who took the time to send well wishes, offer prayers, and provide comfort. Your kindness and compassion have made a profound impact on my recovery.

Thank you for standing by me and show­ing the true spirit of our wonderful commu­nity. Together, we have demonstrated that Forbes is not just a place, but a family that cares deeply for one another. Thank you.

I will be taking it slowly while I fully re­cover but am already feeling more myself since being back in Amazing Forbes.

Rug up and come along for a family movie night on Friday night at Nelson Park.

Join the Forbes Shire Council team from 4.30pm for some pre movie fun – includ­ing face painting, giant garden games and food vendors. The Australian movie RUNT will be featured from 5.30pm.

Everyone is asked to BYO chairs and blankets. You can find more details on the Forbes Youth Action Team facebook page or Council’s website.

Forbes businesses – NSW Reconstruc­tion Authority is hosting a business forum to help Central West business owners who have experienced or are at risk of over-floor flooding. Reconstruction’s Flood-resilience experts will present practical ways busi­ness owners can restore their business premises quickly after a flood.

The presentation will include practical tips and advice about building materials which will help you open your doors and start trading as soon as possible after a flood. This business event will be held at Club Forbes, 41-45 Templar Street, from 6- 8pm on Tuesday 3 June.

The colder weather has made me think of winter, fire buckets and heart food, which means Frost and Fire must be getting close. Tickets on sale now. We have sold a lot of tickets to people away so we don’t want the locals to miss out. This year’s live music is the Wolfe Brothers, Ripley Alexan­der, the Baker Boys Band, Easy Goin’ and Foxxy Cleopatra. It’s on Saturday 21 June starting at 4pm.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM

On Saturday the town celebrated that is had been 50 years since Gough Whitlam officially opened the Lachlan Vintage Vil­lage – you can watch the reel at the newly refurbished Visitor Information Centre on the site in Mary Street.

It is also very exciting as we commemo­rate this special event, we have launched several opportunities currently available at the site. Developers and accommoda­tion providers are invited to review and apply to develop one of two prime sites (with Newell Highway Frontage) within the Forbes Visitor Information Centre precinct.

The two sites are for a motel/conference centre (2.31ha) and a caravan/holiday park (3.28ha). Council believes this is a unique opportunity to shape the future of accom­modation in Forbes, to meet growing num­ber of travellers visiting the area. Closing 30 June 2025.

Suitably qualified operators are also cur­rently being invited to submit an EOI to lease the very popular Forbes Visitor Infor­mation Centre Cafe/Restaurant since the current operator has given notice. This is a very popular cafe, and we are hoping to at­l

tract a skilled chef/operator to run the busy venue, possibly even seven days a week.

Finally, local producers are again invited to submit an EOI to supply and sell their local goods at the new Forbes Visitor In­formation Centre, located at the former La­chlan Vintage Village. See Tenders and Ex­pressions of Interest on the Forbes Shire Council website for details about all current EOI opportunities.

NSW Reconstruction Authority is host­ing a business forum to help Central West business owners who have experienced or are at risk of over-floor flooding. Floodresilience experts will present simple and practical ways business owners can re­store their business premises quickly after a flood. The presentation will include practi­cal tips and advice about building materials which will help you open your doors and start trading as soon as possible after a flood. It will be held at Club Forbes, 41-45 Templar Street, from 6-8pm on Tuesday 3 June.

By Chris Roylance,
Deputy Mayor of Forbes Shire Council

This week is National Road Safety Week, and we are once again proud to support this important campaign where we encour­age everyone to drive so that others sur­vive.

Forbes and our partner shires in Road Safety – Parkes and Lachlan – are the first official Yellow Ribbon Road Safety Coun­cils in NSW due to our long-term commit­ment to the cause.

This week you will see the town hall lit up in yellow, yellow road safety ribbons and stickers available at the front counter and all of us taking the road safety pledge.

Make sure you have road safety conver­sations with your family and friends – we need to keep everyone safe.

I wanted to also this week congratulate the volunteers and staff involved in the reenactment of the Ben Hall Trial last Friday night! What a great event – well done to all! We have such a rich history in Forbes, and it is so wonderful to see it celebrated in this way.

We have plenty of activity happening around Lake Forbes at the moment – in­cluding works at Bates Bridge and Johnny Woods Crossing, where we see new foot­paths, landscaping and a new weir gate.

The Lake really is the jewel in Forbes crown and the Johnny Woods works in par­ticular are going to be fantastic.

Thanks for your patience while this work goes on – in the case of Johnny Woods it will be for a few more weeks yet. Please continue to take care in this area.

And finally, just to let you know that our Mayor is currently unwell, so I will be taking the reins for just a little while.

Please keep her in your prayers and I’m sure she will be back soon, stronger than ever.

By Chris Roylance,
Deputy Mayor of Forbes Shire Council

What an absolute honour to be recognised by Fire and Rescue NSW as part of its spe­cial event to celebrate St Florian’s Day, also known as International Firefighters Day.

Forbes Shire Council was recognised at a special presentation at City of Sydney Fire Station on Sunday. We were recognised for supporting FRNSW on call firefighters for more than 50 years and received a Com­missioner’s Primary Employer Recognition Award. The award recognises employers who support on call firefighters – provid­ing flexibility to enable on call firefighters flexibility to respond to incidents to protect our community. We currently have nine employees who are on call firefighters and have a proud history of many others serv­ing over the past 50 years.

As the President of Local Government NSW, we hosted the NSW Rural and Re­gional Summit this week at the State Li­brary. The summit is a focal point for the challenges faced by rural and regional communities. The day event addressed the NSW Government’s response to the parlia­mentary enquiry into Council infrastructure and funding. I was on the panel to outline the success and challenges during disaster and we also talked emerging invasive spe­

cies threats. Mayors, Councillors, Council staff and NSW Government ministers and representatives attended the event foster­ing collaborative solutions to bolster the socio-economic landscape in rural and re­gional areas.

Tradies and businesses it is time for an­other BUILD Forbes Tradies Night – this time we will be at the Forbes Inn on Fri­day 23 May 6pm. Join us for a network­ing night for tradies, builders and industry professionals. You can come along to meet with other trades, learn about Forbes de­velopment trends and planning and find out about job tendering opportunities. Forbes businesses and services are invited to host a free trade table call 6850 2300 to book your space. Tickets available on 123tix.

Now that the amazing acts have been locked in for the 2025 Frost and Fire, have you all invited friends and family and purchased your tickets? Acts like the Wolfe Brothers, the Baker Boys, Foxxy Cleopatra, Easy Goin’ and Ripley Alexan­der will draw some big crowds and we don’t want the locals to miss out. So secure your tix now on 123 tix and get ready for another amazing night of live music on Saturday 21 June 4pm to 10pm.

First I would like to say thank you so very much to everyone in our community who marched and attended the services on Anzac Day. Honestly I am so proud of this town and the amazing number of people in attendance. There were old and many, many young people – it was very inspiring.

Thank you to everyone.

I would also like to acknowledge the an­niversary of Molly’s passing last week and I remind everyone to keep her family in your prayers. Council continues to work to make real changes to enhance and to continue to strive for DV prevention education from an early age. Our community needs change and we need to keep having these hard conversations to make sure promises of change are kept.

Have you purchased your tickets to Frost and Fire 2025 – they are on sale now. Bet­ter yet if you buy anything from the Visi­tor Information Centre you can go into the draw to win two free tickets and two free Frost and Fire stubby holders. Keep an eye out for other local business offers, the Forbes Business Chamber had a meeting this week about how, we as a community, can collectively market and promote this key destination event. This is our sixth year of Frost and Fire and we have another out­standing line up of acts including the inter­nationally known Wolfe Brothers. I can’t wait. It is on Saturday 21 June 2025. See you there! Another exciting date for the calendar is the 2025 National BBQ Championships.

Following the success of last year we will again be hosting a two day event for grill­ing and smoking events so start thinking of your team members and get grilling to per­fect our BBQ skills. It is on this year 18 and 19 October for two days of BBQ perfection.

A reminder to all to make sure you cast your vote in the Federal Election by Satur­day. You can vote at the Town Hall, Forbes Tennis Club, Forbes High School or Bedg­erabong Public School from 8am to 6pm.

Until next week,
Phyllis Miller OAM
Mayor Forbes Shire Council

It has been beautiful weather for the start of the school holidays and we have had so many activities available for the community for the kids.

From art and mindfulness to fishing and first aid, it would be a big call for anyone to say there is nothing on for young people these school holidays. There are still some places available so if you are looking for something for the kids to do, head to the Forbes Youth Action Team facebook page for the details.

Things are heating up for Frost and Fire – if you’ll pardon the pun – with all artists locked in for what promises to be a great night as always. I’m really looking forward to the antics of our town’s MCs – Dooley and Shell Bell – who are very well known to most of the Forbes community. It’s so great to be able to involve locals in this event – I really think that’s what gives Frost and Fire its extra sparkle!We have had a few pre polling enquiries at Council so I wanted to let you know that the dates of pre polling are Saturday 26

April and Monday 28 April through to Sun­day 3 May 2025.

Easter is of course a great time to take a break and with that there are many people on the roads. Please be safe out there – as we say all the time here at Forbes Shire Council, you really need to “drive so that others survive’”. Take a break and don’t be in a hurry. If you do have friends and family coming it’s a great chance to get them out to see the Sculpture Trail, walk the lake and head out to the Bird Hides at Gum Swamp. Fishing on the lake or in the river is always fun for the kids – and if you have a kayak there is nothing better than a paddle. If you need any hints for what to do with your visitors go and see our amazing staff at the Visitor Centre – as locals they have all the goss on the good spots!I would like to wish everyone a very safe and Happy Easter with your friends and family.

God Bless,
Phyllis Miller OAM
Forbes Shire Mayor