It is another busy weeked in town with the Forbes and District Lions Club hosting the 2024 District Convention at the Forbes Golf Club. Welcome to the 150 Lions members who are in town attending the convention on Saturday and Sunday. Lions Clubs have been supporting communities in Australia for 77 years.

It is now the largest service club in Aus­tralia, here in Forbes we have first hand experience of the community service and commitment to helping others that the Lions Club are renowned for. The few, however very active members of the Forbes and Dis­trict Lions Club are familiar faces in the post flood recovery, manning the Driver Reviver Van and everyone loves a Lions Club BBQ.

Thank you to the Forbes and District Lions Club for all that you do for our town.

Tonight I will be welcoming around 200 Bushtracker Caravan Owners as they host their annual muster here in Forbes. Sev­eral members of this wonderful committee arrived earlier in the week to set up camp for the muster. The group hosts in-house markets, a camp oven cook off and a pho­tography competition. The members plan an active itinerary to enjoy the many sights and attractions our community has to offer.

Forbes Shire Council hosted the Net­waste Regional Waste Forum this week.

The event included a tour of our waste fa­cility and then the regional update, learning and forum agenda. Netwaste is a voluntary waste group formed in 1995 to enable coun­cils to collaborate the approach to waste and resource management. Now covering almost 40% of the state, there are currently 25 member councils in regional NSW. Net­Waste is funded through the NSW Environ­ment Protection Authority (EPA).

Finally have you heard the exciting news? London based, New Zealand born celebrity chef Matt Burgess has been announced as our guest chef and presenter at the 2024 National BBQ Championships. This event is going to be bigger and better than ever with two days of competition on Saturday and Sunday 9 and 10 November.

As well as the National BBQ Champion­ships (grilling) we have teamed up with the Australian Barbecue Alliance to include a smoking competition as part of this ma­jor event. Local and national teams will be competing for the titles and $20,000 in prize money.

I was honoured to meet with Member for Orange, Phil Donato, yesterday when he announced that Forbes Shire Council was successful in the 2023 Community Building Partnership grant. The $37,692 grant is for the installation of the shade sails over play equipment at the popular community space along the banks of the lake. Another addi­tion to our beautiful lake precinct.

Great to see the sun will be shining for the annual Forbes Show on Saturday. As always there will be plenty to see and do.

The gates open at 8am and the Grand Pa­rade will be at 2pm – you can fill your day with the many exhibitions, pavilion entries and displays that make a country show great.

Do you know of someone looking to start a new career? Council has launched its 2025 Traineeship campaign to recruit for 15 positions working and training in civil construction, irrigation, horticulture, ag­riculture, business, community projects, surveying and drone operations, sewer plant operations, as well as university level positions for a town planner and building surveyor.

Traineeships are an opportunity for peo­ple, of any age, to begin a new career and earn industry recognised qualifications while on the job. You can find out more de­tails on the Forbes Shire Council website, download the position descriptions and ap­ply. We have had great success with our trainees becoming integral and important members of our Council team.

There are plenty of outstanding women in our community and the NSW Govern­ment is seeking nominations for inspiring and aspirational women and girls in NSW for the 2025 NSW Women of the Year awards. These awards aim to recognise ground-breaking thinkers, everyday he­roes and social reformers. There are many outstanding women working in the local government sector and this is a great op­portunity to recognise their work. The re­cipients of the awards will be announced at the NSW Women of the Year Awards ceremony on Thursday 6 March 2025 as part of NSW Women’s Week, which will run from Sunday 2 March to Saturday 8 March.

Nominations close at 11.59pm on 15 Sep­tember 2024.

Until next week
Phyllis Miller, OAM – Forbes Mayor

The weather seems to be changing and there is just a hint of Spring in the air.

With Spring comes show season and I’d like to first of all congratulate the Bedger­abong Show committee on their wonder­ful event recently. It really is a true country show that showcases agriculture and the talents of locals, and keeps this great little community connected.

Our team attended and were able to have some terrific conversations with locals. I’m looking forward to the same at the upcom­ing Forbes Show.

In the coming months there will be lots of great events for all of us to enjoy – keep an eye out for Taste on Templar, The BBQ Champs and for fun kids events such as the Teddy Bears Picnic. There really is something for everyone!In the last week I’ve also been pleased to host Steph Cooke MP, Shadow Minister for Water and for Crown Lands here in Forbes.

This was another wonderful opportunity to raise issues for our Shire. Rest assured I will continue to put important topics such as the raising of the dam wall in front of our state and federal politicians.

We continue to install the amazing way­finding signage around Lake Forbes. I’m sure you would all agree that this looks ab­solutely fantastic and will be a great asset for locals and visitors alike. The signage is designed to help walkers and cyclists navi­gate the lake and highlight its wonderful features. We are sure that this signage will almost be a tourist attraction in itself with its elegant and professional design that fits nicely in with our lake style. Once again we are so grateful to the NSW Government for funding this and other aspects of the Lake Forbes Activation Plan through the Public Spaces Legacy Fund.

And finally a shoutout to our team un­dertaking all of the mowing, gardening, lin­emarking and weeding in all of our many parks, ovals and lake side open space. A huge amount of work is being done, which really is never ending with this weather.

Once again our town stands out in the re­gion with its beautiful presentation. Forbes really is a wonderful place to live.

Until next week
Phyllis Miller, OAM
Forbes Mayor

Today Forbes Shire Council has launched it 2025 Traineeship campaign – we are of­fering 15 trainee positions to work at Coun­cil in a range of roles, including outdoors, civil construction, agriculture, town plan­ning, surveying and drone operation, busi­ness support and building surveying.

Each one of these positions is an excel­lent springboard to a long term career with­in council. All trainees, receive training and the opportunity for supported study (time to study) for industry recognised qualifica­tions.

It is a two to four year contract of employ­ment, training and study all while you earn a living. I encourage anyone, of any age, if you are considering a fresh start or a new career to apply for one of these exciting traineeship positions.

The campaign has a host of FAQs and details on our website or you can email any questions to people@forbes.nsw.gov.au or phone our HR team on 6850 2300.

Forbes Shire Council is committed to growing and training our future leaders.

One of our current Directors actually start­ed in one of these positions and is now responsible for one of Council’s main de­partments responsible for Town Planning, Waste, Public Health, Planning and Growth and Economic Development.

Work around the Lachlan Street Trees is progressing with the first of the pavers be­ing laid this week. I am so excited to have this green boulevard developing. This con­cept was the result of comprehensive CBD consultation and will be well established by the summer months.

The trees have all established well in the underground root vault system which will save our roads in the future.

Major work is underway at the Forbes Cultural Centre with cranes and concrete pumps to construct the first floor slab.

Forbes Shire Council is project managing this site to keep it progressing. We have also secured state and treasury support for the remaining budget allocated for the original project and will continue to lobby for a completion budget.

I have been in Canberra this week, repre­senting Forbes as part of the Central NSW Joint Organisation, where we spent the day speaking with Ministers at Parliament House. These events are critical to continu­ing to lobby for support for our Council and community.

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM

Thursday was the current Council’s fi­nal meeting as we head into elections on Saturday 14 September. This Council has served from 2021 to 2024.

Nominations to run for the 2024-28 Council closed on Wednesday 14 August.

Voting is compulsory for all residents of the Forbes local government area who are registered on the electoral roll. Electors enrolled for federal and state elections are automatically enrolled for their local council area.

There is no absentee voting in local gov­ernment elections. If you are unable to vote on election day you can vote by either prepoll or postal.

Pre-poll voting will be available from Sat­urday 7 September 2024 to Friday 13 Sep­tember 2024 at the Forbes Town Hall, Har­old Street, Forbes. Monday to Wednesday 8.30am – 5.30pm, Thursday 8.30am – 8pm, Friday 8.30am – 6.00pm and Saturday 9am – 6pm.

Polling will take place on Saturday 14 September from 8am – 6pm at:

• Town Hall, Harold Street, Forbes.

• Bedgerabong Public School, North Con­dobolin Road, Bedgerabong

• Forbes High School, 18 Wyndham Ave, Forbes.

• Forbes Tennis Club, Church St Forbes.

You can check your enrolment details are up to date at www.aec.gov.auIf you are unsure where to vote you can type your address into the NSW Electoral Commission website electorate search tool to check the Local Government Council area that you are enrolled in.

I met with Lyn Ward from Neighbourhood Watch last week to discuss the need for more committee members. Still very ac­tive, the group is hoping to distribute a peti­tion to have a 24hr police station in Forbes.

Forbes Police come along to most meet­ings. The group met on Wednesday night and the next meeting will be on Wednes­day 11 September at the Vandenberg Hotel – all are welcome to attend.

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM

It’s time for another one of my favourite events – Welcome to Forbes to be held on Thursday 15 August. Are you new to Forbes? Is there someone new at work, school or in your neighbourhood – then please invite them to come along. This is a really lovely night for our new residents to get to know our council, service and community groups and other community members. Come along if you haven’t had a chance to attend before and want to be more involved in the community.

This time we will be greeting our new residents at the Forbes Golf & Sports­man’s Hotel, starting at 5.30pm for 6pm.

For further information please email com­munity@forbes.nsw.gov.au. RSVPs closed on Thursday but I am sure we can sneak a few more in. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Final stages of works will begin on Mon­day to complete the surface around the new Claret Ash trees in Lachlan Street. Now the nine new trees have settled, our crews will be on site to complete the paving and will be putting the final touches on the new green boulevard. During the works, expected to take three weeks, there will be traffic control in place and minor traffic delays. Work will start at the northern end of Lachlan Street on Monday with the Pitt Stop side of the road closed. As the work progresses traffic control and conditions will change. We ap­preciate your patience during the work and are excited about bringing more green in into our CBD.

Thank you to those who attended our 14th Be Road Ready for Harvest Field Day at the Central West Livestock Exchange.

Our overall aim is to ensure road safety at harvest and this is why we offer the oppor­tunity to learn about current rules and reg­ulations as well as a hands on machinery display. It is always a good morning and a great breakfast. If you missed the event at Forbes you can still attend one of the sat­ellite events at Tottenham on 27th August, Parkes Show on 28th August, Wirrinya on 29th August or Bogan Gate 30th August.

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM

It is Local Government Week! We hope to highlight Council’s role is so much more than roads, rates and rubbish – although it is important to keep getting this right, but as a progressive council we are driving de­velopment and investment in our commu­nity while including our residents in events, decision making and giving all an opportu­nity to be heard and represented.

On Tuesday night, Local Government NSW had an information session for poten­tial new candidates to run for Forbes Shire Council. The Local Government elections will be held on Saturday 14th September.

I am so proud to represent Forbes as the Mayor, I love everything this amazing town has to offer. Like so many I love walking around our beautiful lake, supporting our local football teams, playing squash or any other sport you want to. We have almost 60 sporting groups and around 30 sports facilities in our town.

The thing that I really love about Forbes though is the lifestyle and our friendly com­munity.

Forbes has maintained a significant spend on major and capital projects to the value of $36 million in the last year. Forbes Shire Council had a record spend on road maintenance – $10 million on State Roads and a further $10 million repairing flood damage.

I have had some feedback from the com­munity about the location of the new toilet block at the former Pitt Stop. You may re­call during the remediation works several underground storage tanks were found and could not be removed. The tanks and a sewer easement through the site resulted in a change of where the toilets were to be located (originally planned closer to the ex­isting building). I think you will all agree, this new green space in our CBD is just lovely.

Have you booked your place at the Be Road Ready for Harvest Field Day? This is the 14th year this has been held – now it has become a benchmark event of collabo­ration between road users and regulators.

Our overall aim is to ensure road safety at harvest and this is why we offer the op­portunity to learn about current rules and regulations as well as a hands on machin­ery display. See you there for breakfast on Thursday 8th August.

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM

Thank you to all those who attended NSW Reconstruction Authority. It is so important for residents to Have Your Say so we can get a housing recovery package that will fully meet the needs of our community.

These sessions will help define the $40 million package to be offered to residents to reduce the impact of future floods to be shared between Forbes, Parkes, Lachlan and Cabonne Shires. Consultation will close on Friday 16 August.

A reminder that there our Recovery offic­ers also have a free mental health session -Tough Times Require Strong Action on 31 July at Town Hall.

The team also is creating an e-newsletter that you can subscribe to through our web­site that outlines all of the latest news in recovery and all of the events that are com­ing up. Contact Council on 0268 502300 if you would like more detail on these events or to supply your email address for the newsletter.

Another big yarding at the saleyards with almost 55,000 sheep yarded on Tuesday morning and around 2000 expected Friday for the Store Cattle sale – no wonder we are considered the best area for primary production in NSW.

Our Community Funding program closes on the 31 July for this round. The Commu­nity Funding program is the way that you can ask Council for in kind or cash support for your event or activity. It’s for not-forprofit groups and clubs and is a competitive process- but you can access up to $5,000 in support. If you need help with the form, we can certainly help you to complete it – just contact our Community Relations of­ficer at Council and they will be able to give you a hand.

There are two rounds a year and we en­courage groups to think ahead. That is – if your event or activity is in the second half of the year, apply for the earlier round of the program – there are two every year. Ap­plications can be made through Council’s Website – just look for Community Funding program – and good luck!

God Bless, Phyllis Miller OAM

I hope that you are all staying warm this week with the icy conditions we have been experiencing. Spare a thought for all of the agents, vendors, buyers and CWLE staff at the Saleyards this week where 46,800 sheep were yarded in awful conditions, but a great top price of $324.20. The CWLE is such an asset for Forbes and is it amazing to see it being used at this capacity.

On the issue of weather I would also like to thank all of the oval using sporting groups for their patience at this time regarding the ovals. We are keen to ensure that they are not damaged to the extent of making re­pairs time consuming and expensive so we appreciate your co-operation in staying off the fields when we ask. Thankyou again for bearing with us and the weather!This week I had the immense pleasure of congratulating Donna Bliss on her Aborigi­nal Health and Medical Research Council 2024 Staff Member of the Year award. Don­na leads an incredible group of profession­als at Yoorana Gunya Family Healing Cen­tre Aboriginal Corporation supporting our community with their huge range of servic­es. We are very fortunate to have Yoorana Gunya in our town and it seems like they are going from strength to strength.

A reminder that there are a number of workshop opportunities and information sessions happening in coming weeks for Community Recovery. Next week Recon­struction NSW will be back in town running information sessions on the Central West Resilient Homes Program. On Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 from 10am to 7pm each day, affected homeown­ers are invited to come along to Town Hall to discuss the next steps in this program.

You can book a meeting by calling Service NSW on 1800 844 085 or just drop in on one of the days.

Our Recovery officers also have a free mental health session – Tough Times Re­quire Strong Action on 31st July at Town Hall and First Aid for Babies and Children course on 25th of July. The team also has a handy little e-newsletter that you can subscribe to through our website that out­lines all of the latest news in recovery and all of the events that are coming up. Con­tact Council on 6850 2300 if you would like more detail on these events or to supply your email address for the newsletter.

And finally a reminder that our Commu­nity Funding program closes on the 31st July for this round. The program is the way that you can ask Council for in-kind or cash support for your event or activity. It’s for notfor-profit groups and is a competitive pro­cess, but you can access up to $5,000 in support. Applications can be made through Councils Website – just look for Commu­nity Funding program – and good luck!

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM

This week we are extending our sympa­thies to the family, friends and extended family following the tragic accident on the road to Parkes. Our hearts are with you all at this time.

Reconstruction Authority will be in Forbes Tuesday to Thursday 23-25 July at the Forbes Town Hall to consult with our community about the Resilient Homes Program. These information sessions are for flood impacted locals to shape the pro­gram. Please do not miss these days – you can book online on nsw.gov.au/central-west-recovery, you can simply drop in or to book a session call 1800 844 085.

It is very important to be a part of this pro­gram – you will be able to view maps devel­oped by flood specialists and understand more about the Resilient Homes Program.

Also a big thank you to our Heated Pool users – this winter has resulted in some chronic condensation. After ongoing at­tempts to rectify the issue (including con­sulting a condensation expert) we have increased air input and airflow in the plant room and we have added louvre windows in the main part of the facility.

It has been a learning curve and we are making sure that in the long term we have a functional and well maintained heated pool facility. Now, we hope, the condensa­tion issues has been resolved we will be able to begin repainting and other remedia­tion works needed.

We do need pool users to please be mindful though, the pool can only operate at a temperature range of 24-28 degrees – we have had trouble with it being increased to 32. Unfortunately, this is a heated pool facility not a therapy pool and simply can­not be run at that high a temperature.

Thank you for your understanding.

God Bless
Phyllis Miller OAM