Maggi Barnard

Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith OAM and Sam Farraway MLC at the site where the pump track will be constructed next to the skate park.

Four projects totalling almost $900,000 will be delivered across the Parkes Shire to deliver new and upgraded facilities, infrastructure and programs that make a big difference to everyday life in the bush.

“In the Parkes Shire, we’re going to see over $843,584 invested across four projects,” said Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier Sam Farraway. Turf 1 hockey field will receive $483,584 for stage 2 of the $3 million redevelopment of the field. Tullamore Pool will receive $100,000 for upgrading the pools fibreglass shell.

A $200,000 grant has been allocated for a new pump track to be constructed next door to the skate park providing an all age and ability course for the community. The fourth project is $60,000 for Trundle Ladies Flex Their Muscles to purchase new exercise equipment.

COVID-19

The new year has started with a stark COVID reality check for Parkes Shire residents as the third and largest wave of the outbreak did not spare our town this time round.

On Wednesday another 14 positive cases were added to bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Parkes Shire to 336, of which 220 were still active with the Omi-cron variant proving more contagious and difficult to contain.

The highest daily rate so far for Parkes was recorded on 15th January with a total of 35 new cases.

The COVID situation was discussed at the Parkes Shire Council meeting on Tuesday. Chief Operating Officer Anthony McGrath reported that while a total of 24 staff members had contracted COVID so far, it had not yet impacted Council’s services.

“We’ve put special management procedures in place to ensure water and sewage staff do not have to be in contact at work,” Mayor Ken Keith said.

Deputy Mayor Neil Westcott highlighted the positive effect being vaccinated had with 67% of all hospitalisations were of people not vaccinated at all. “We need to remain vigilant and make sure to get vaccinated,” he said.

Parkes has been earmarked for a special vaccination hub for booster shots and children aged five to 11. The date of the hub will be confirmed soon.

Jane Rutter, known as Australia’s Flute Queen, has been named the 2022 Australia Day Ambassador for the Parkes Shire.

Internationally acclaimed concert soloist Jane Rutter will be the Parkes Shire’s 2022 Australia Day Ambassador.

Jane received the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’) award from the French Government in 2016 in recognition of her significant contributions to arts and literature in France.

Jane studied under the great French flute players Jean-Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion, and has become one of the few flautists in the world who has successfully crossed over into the world of jazz, pop and cabaret.

Known for her onstage warmth, she brilliantly conveys passion, sparkling technique and elegance of expression through her beautiful flute playing.

Jane is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music, an award-winning TV presenter and multi-ARIA (Australian Grammy) nominee and has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and on the same bill as Pavarotti, Carreras, The Manhattan Transfer, Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, Michael Crawford and many others.

Jane is renowned for her relaxed onstage charm and musical imagination, and is also an inspiring music educator and lecturer in performance pedagogy, flute and chamber music. She spends time on environmental issues, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, she created a series of online meditations to assist those with stress.

Jane is in demand as an artistic director and composer. Her Live at Lunch series at The Concourse, Chatswood is one of Australia’s most successful concert series. Jane has become a household name in Australia and has been featured on 60 Minutes, and in Vogue Magazine.

“We are honoured to have Jane attend our special Australia Day activities at Peak Hill and Parkes, as well as present the Citizenship, Cultural and Sporting Awards during the official ceremonies,” said Parkes Shire Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM. “We look forward to hearing about Jane’s worldwide experiences, travels and performances.”

Last Friday saw an exciting event at the Parkes Early Childhood Centre (PECC). It was the premiere of a song and video clip called Fire Heart and was the culmination of a several years-long project.

Children from PECC and invited guests attended with the Welcome to Country, delivered by Geoff Anderson.

The project arose from discussions between Lindy Farrant, much-loved Centre’s previous director and Sean James Cassidy, local artist and former pupil of PECC. The idea was to create an installation to introduce the young children of Parkes to the culture of this area’s First Peoples, the Wiradjuri.

The concept Sean developed, took the form of six story branches which had been shaped and patterned by the natural world, growth, the weather, animals and insects. These were then added to with carvings of Wiradjuri iconography by Scott Sauce Towney and Scott Turnbull.

Children at PECC explore the six new carved story branches.

Each of the six story branches represents a word encapsulating PECC’s values; care, create, kind, truth, respect, share. It is hoped that the story branches and their textures will help to stimulate interest and imagination, providing a different avenue for learning.

The video clip that accompanies the song features the voices of some of the children at PECC. Under the tuition of Kelly Thompson, the children were recorded speaking the six words in Wiradjuri. These were then highlighted with animated sign language, creating a video clip in three languages, English, Wiradjuri and Auslan (Australian sign language). Sean’s uncle, Paul Cassidy, who was born deaf, provided his expertise for the signing actions and said it was a privilege to be included in this project. The song Fire Heart was written by Jason Murchie with the backing of the Parkes Wiradjuri Language Group and features Drew Farrant-Jayet, Lindy Farrant and Bill Jayet’s son, playing lead guitar. Other elements of the music include sound samples of locally played didgeridoo and bull-roarer mixed to produce the sound of a human heartbeat.

The song Fire Heart now joins its part-ner song Nuganirra which was released previously and was selected to represent Mother Tongue Day in 2021.

You can access the song and video clip on Ub Ubbo Exchange’s Facebook page.

By Kerrie Peden

The closing date for the 2022 Jack Scoble University Scholarships has been extended until Friday, 4th February. If you are a Parkes Shire student undertaking your first year of full-time university studies in 2022, then this is for you!

The scholarship provides funding to put towards tertiary studies, such as the purchase of a laptop and textbooks, or relocation and accommodation costs.

If you haven’t received your HSC results yet, you can still apply by simply submitting an application without the results. Once you receive your results, you can send them via email to council@parkes.nsw.gov.au. To learn more and to apply, visit: https://bit.ly/3npopki

At the meeting in December were at the back (L-R) are Anthony McGrath (Acting Director Customer, Corporate Services & Economy), Brendan Hayes (Director Planning and Community Services), Cr Jacob Cass, Cr George Pratt, Kent Boyd (General Manager), Cr Glen Wilson, Cr Daniel Webber, Cr Bill Jayet and Ben Howard (Director Operations). In front are (L-R) Cr Kenny McGrath, Cr Louise O’Leary, Mayor Ken Keith OAM, Deputy Mayor Neil Westcott and Cr Marg Applebee.

After the NSW Local Government Elections in December last year, 10 councillors were elected to represent the Parkes Shire.

A total of 19 candidates contested the election, with six of them forming a group. All six councillors who stood for re-election were voted back in, and four new candidates were elected. A total of 8,824 votes were cast, which is a turnout of 83.1%.

As part of the December Council Meeting held just before Christmas, the elected councillors chose to say either the oath or affirmation to signify their acceptance to represent the Parkes Shire in local government.

During this meeting, the election for Mayor and Deputy Mayor was also held. Cr Ken Keith OAM was re-elected Mayor and Cr Neil Westcott was elected Deputy Mayor. The first-time councillors are Marg Applebee, Jacob Cass, Glen Wilson and Daniel Webber.

The first Council meeting of 2022 took place on Tuesday, and Mayor Ken Keith congratulated all the councillors on being elected as part of the team to take the Parkes Shire Council forward for the next three years.

Councillors were appointed to the various Council committees at the meeting.

“I am so excited to be taking on committee roles on behalf of Council with so many of our wonderful local organisations who give back to the towns and villages that we live in,” said first-time Councillor Marg Applebee on her Facebook page after Tuesday’s meeting.

Another first timer Jacob Cass said he was “incredibly honoured to recite his Oath of Office and officially take on the title of Councillor for the Parkes Shire. I look forward to what we can achieve in 2022 and the remainder of this electoral term.”