Maggi Barnard

A total of 19 initiatives in the region’s two shires have received grants from Northparkes Mines (NPM) in the latest round of the company’s Community Investment Program. The mine’s program has two rounds each year with $40,000 awarded to successful applicants each round. In the latest round of funding initiatives from Parkes, Forbes,
Peak Hill, Tullamore and Tottenham received grants. Funding was evenly split between the Parkes and Forbes Shires. Northparkes People, Safety and Environment Manager Angus Wyllie said: “We are pleased to be able to support such a wide range of programs in this round of funding.

“By funding initiatives which support aged care, disability services, recreation, sport, health, music and more, we know the Community Investment Program will benefit many people in our region,” he said. He said it was good to see so many applications for funding. “We received a record number in this round, which means there are plenty of wonderful community initiatives in the Central West.

“I congratulate the successful applicants and thank everyone who took the time to apply for the program. It was very challenging for our committee to select funding recipients from so many high-quality initiatives.” The successful applicants were: Calarie Recreation Reserve Trust, CanAssist (Peak Hill), Condobolin RSL Pipe Band, Currajong
Disability Services, Forbes and District Meals On Wheels, Forbes and District Soccer Club, Forbes Business Chamber, Forbes High School, Forbes Public School Special Education Unit, Havannah House, NSW SES Parkes Unit, Paint Parkes REaD, Parkes Early Childhood Centre, Quota International of Parkes, Rotary Club of Parkes,
St. Georges Anglican Women of Australia, Tottenham Late Notes and Trundle Central School.

According to some of the great philosophers our true character is revealed by how we react under pressure. On a Saturday afternoon in October one such moment put Parkes carpenter Travis Boland to the test. It was a split-second decision to rescue the occupants of a smouldering car wreck that proved Travis was a hero, and last week he was one of fifteen brave Aussies to be bestowed with a Pride of Australia Award in recognition of his courage.

Travis and his family were travelling along the Renshaw McGirr Way, between Parkes and Wellington, when they witnessed a horror crash. The car ahead of them veered off the road, hit a tree and flipped. The experience was surreal, but the shocked husband and wife immediately stopped to help. Belinda called triple zero, while Travis approached the vehicle to assist the occupants: Bill Phillips and his nine year-old son, Rawson.

By the time he’d reached them there was a small grass fire surrounding the wreck. Travis could see a jerrycan in the back of the car, and remembered the driver filling it up at the service station. “There was a moment when I thought it could go either way,” Travis said. “There was smoke and flames coming from the bonnet, and I could see stuff dripping off the car. I stopped for a moment, but then I heard the screams and kept going.”

With his own children anxiously looking on, and knowing that the car could explode at any moment, Travis smashed a window, and helped pull first young Rawson, and then Bill out of the wreckage. Within minutes the flames were inside the car. There is little question that Travis saved their lives. In October the attending officer, Inspector Steve Munn, said if Travis hadn’t got them out of the vehicle, they would have died.

While Travis was awarded a medal for his bravery at the ceremony in Sydney last Thursday, for him the real prize was seeing Bill and Rawson in person again. The accident survivors were special guests at the event, and the surprise reunion was emotional. “They look much better than when I last saw them being strapped into the helicopter,” he said.

In the past few weeks Travis has been overwhelmed with all the media attention and accolades. However, he says best thing about it all is making his four kids proud. “It’s pretty special to see your kids look up to you like that,” he said. The Boland children have coped remarkably well considering they witnessed such a traumatic event. Travis said the family have been open and used it as a life lesson. “The kids witnessed a lot that day, not just the accident, but they got to see the emergency services in full operation, which is incredible.” The incident has also given pause for some reflection. “You realise that life is very short and things do happen,” Travis said. “It makes you look at life a little bit differently. Certain people come into your life for a reason.”

Regardless of whether it was a case of being at the right place at the right time, or if there was a grander scheme at play, there are a lot of people who are thankful that Travis Boland crossed paths with Bill and Rawson on that day in October.

By Raen Fraser

There is no shortage of awards at the Parkes Shire Council this year, with the PAC Park Rehabilitation project taking out its second accolade in a month. The project won Division A of the Natural Environment Protection and Enhancement: On-Ground Works category at an awards ceremony held in Sydney last Tuesday. The annual awards recognise outstanding achievements by local government in managing and protecting the environment.

Last month the community-driven work done at PAC Park was recognised with a Blue Star Sustainability Award.
Parkes Shire Council Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM thanked the community for helping deliver this important project.
“This award is recognition of the time and effort our community members, local organisations and Council staff dedicated to ensure the potential of PAC Park was realised.” “Thanks to their hard work, the area has been transformed into a beautiful outdoor precinct for residents, visitors and wildlife to enjoy.”

The project has transformed a degraded stormwater channel into an ecologically complex wetland treatment system, while improving the overall public amenity of the reserve. As part of the project, dredging works were undertaken to remove a large amount of gross pollutants and sediments that had accumulated within the waterway. An existing
island infested with exotic weeds has been turned into a mudflat area to accommodate water plants that will provide habitat for native birds as well as improve water quality.

Funding for the project was made available through the Public Reserves Management Fund Program for Crown Lands, the Building Resilience to Climate Change program, and the Central West Local Land Services incentive program for Local Government. The Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards were initiated in 1998 and are held annually. The Awards are open to all local government organisations in NSW.

Do you want to attend a heroes and villains party? If you join the Parkes Shire Library’s annual Summer Reading Club and help all members to complete the mission of reading 888 books this summer, you are invited. At the party library staff will perform wacky challenges voted for by the members, only if members complete the mission!

The club is free and open to all children from birth to 17 years of age. Anything that you enjoy can be read: books, magazines, newspapers, comics and listening to stories on CD or online. For all children, especially the very young, having a story read to you counts too. “We love throwing out a good challenge to our Shire kids and are confident over 888 books will be read. The Library team are all wondering what crazy challenges we will have to do at the graduation party. Maybe we will have to wear our clothes inside out or be wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy
by the members,” said Library Officer Sandie Ward.

If you can’t decide what to read Library staff will happily provide some suggestions and help you find a new author or series. Visit Parkes, Trundle, Peak Hill or Tullamore Library to join. You will be given your heroes and villains mission kit, instructions and reading log to complete. The challenge concludes on Tuesday, 31st January 2017.