IMAGE: COMMUNITY CONNECTION… Chief Inspector Scott Rayner has been in the job for about six months and is working hard at making the police more visible in the community.

Parkes is a safe town and crime is generally on the decline. This is the opinion of the new police chief after about six months in the job.

Chief Inspector Scott Rayner told The Parkes Phoenix in an interview he had no concerns allowing his children to go anywhere by themselves as he considered Parkes to be safe.

This does not mean Parkes is completely crime free, but compared to other towns in the district he said crime was certainly falling. “This is as a result of implementing strategies to reverse incidences of crime. This does not mean we can rest on our laurels as we constantly have to adapt to the circumstances of the time.”

He mentioned an example from September last year when there was a spike in stealing from vehicles and breaking into homes at a particular location in Parkes. “We had an overt and covert operation to tackle the problem, as well as a lot of communication with people in the area and this resulted in arrests, significant charges and the incarceration of the offenders.”

“We are not waiting for something to happen, but aim to be out there to prevent criminal activity,” said the Chief Inspector.

Scott sees his appointment as Chief Inspector in August last year as going the full circle as he is no stranger to Parkes.

He first transferred here in late 2008 as duty officer and stayed in the position for a number of years. He has spent most of his working life in the Central West and when the position came up last year, he felt it was a good fit.

In his role as Chief Inspector, he would really like to improve the visibility of the police in the community. “We need to be out there driving and walking around and talking to members of the public. People should feel comfortable to approach the police. That is why we attend events, walk down the main street to try and break down barriers and establish open communication with the community.”

According to Scott crimes are subject to spikes, but during the second half of February and in early March there have been several incidences of stealing form motor vehicles in Parkes. “We’ve made a series of arrests and recovered some stolen property in relation to the February spike. The offenders have been seen on CCTV from Council and from homes, to be going from house to house and trying door handles until they find one that is unlocked.

“This is where we ask the community to help us by making sure to lock their cars and not to leave anything valuable obviously visible in the car.”

He said while drug crimes were not a significant problem in Parkes, there were a number of operations being targeted by the police currently. “People often want quick results, but these operations take a lot of planning, time and resources to makes sure we get the best evidence to put before the court.”

In general the Chief Inspector would like to encourage community members to keep an eye out for their neighbours as a neighbourhood watch program is not run in all areas. “We’re not asking people to do our job, but being a good citizen means looking out for your neighbour and showing some general care for those living next to you.”

– By Maggi Barnard

TREASURES UNEARTHED… On Wednesday Phil Donato MP recognised Judi Unger (left) and Margaret Haddin (right) for their inclusion in the 2020 Hidden Treasures Honour Roll.

We do not always know about the hidden treasures in our community, but on Wednesday two local women were recognised for their outstanding volunteer work.

Margaret Haddin from Parkes and Judi Unger from Peak Hill received awards from Member for Orange Philip Donato MP in recognition of their inclusion in the 2020 Hidden Treasures Honour Roll with 102 other rural women.

Hidden Treasures is an initiative of the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Rural Women’s Network. The aim of the program is to formally recognise and thank inspiring rural women volunteers within NSW rural, regional and remote communities.

“The Hidden Treasures award recognises the women volunteers who really go ‘above and beyond’ in what they do for the local community,” Phil said.

“These women ensure the viability of several important community groups and charities; without their contribution many local initiatives we take for granted would just not be possible.

“It’s an honour to be able to celebrate women volunteers who give so much of their own time, effort and dedication to their community.”

Phil thanked them for their invaluable contribution and said: “Our region is incredibly grateful for all that you do.”

Support from family members is vital to being able to volunteer in a community as the two local hidden treasure candidates in the Parkes Shire have demonstrated. They were joined by their husbands at the ceremony on Wednesday. (L-R) are Ray and Judy Unger, Phil Donato MP and Margaret and Rob Haddin.

Margaret thanked her husband Robert for his support over the years, Marg Applebee for nominating her and the Parkes community for their support. She said the nomination came as a big surprise and that it felt good to be acknowledged.

Judi said she was very grateful for the nomination, but felt there were so many more deserving women who should be nominated. “The older you get, the more time you have to give to projects. When you are in a small community, there are not so many people with expert knowledge to help out.”

Margaret Haddin biography:
Margaret grew up in South Sydney, and move to Parkes in 1979 with her husband Rob to establish an engineering business and raise four children. She has contributed her time to Landcare, both locally and regionally over the past 10 years. Four years ago she joined the committee for Parkes Meals on Wheels, once again contributing her time and skills. She is still contributing endless hours each week to Landcare and Meals on Wheels. Margaret has been an active member of the Parkes community for more than 30 years, volunteering her time and knowledge.

Judi Unger biography:
Judi’s passion for empowering people in rural communities was nurtured during her formative years on the family farm east of Peak Hill. She chose teaching as a career, and when she retired as deputy principal at Parkes Public School in 2012, she left a legacy of personally created and innovative teaching resources and programs, which are still being adopted throughout the state. In the mid 1980s Judi and her husband Ray be-gan to convert their conventional farm north-west of Peak Hill to an Australian certified organic biodynamic broadacre enterprise. They now host annual workshops and field days to share their journey and knowledge. She is serving on the Board of Biodynamic Agriculture Australia while studying organic and biodynamic farming. Judi’s passion is to support women in agriculture. She also uses her photographic skills to promote arts and crafts and tourism.

EXPLORE TO ADORE… Members of the Lachlan Valley Branch of the National Parks Association on a bushwalk at the Mount Murga lookout in the Nangar National Park. They are (L-R) Graeme and Liz McCraild, Peter Cannon and Warren VanAkker (left). President of the Lachlan Valley Branch of the National Parks Association Martin Bell after accepting the Environmental Award on Australia Day (right).

Parkes residents are privileged to have access to about 11 national parks and reserves within an hour’s drive considering only nine percent of the state of NSW is conserved.

In addition, the Lachlan Valley Branch of the National Parks Association organises two to three bushwalks per month in these national parks run by knowledgeable and skilled volunteers who are keen to share their knowledge.

President of the Lachlan Valley Branch Martin Bell encouraged residents to explore these parks at the Australia Day awards ceremony in Cooke Park last month when he accepted the Environment Award for 2021.

“We do not organise hikes, but ramble in the parks and state forests and take our time to appreciate the birds, other wildlife and countryside,” Martin told The Parkes Phoenix. He said a long day would be a 10km walk, but most of the walks are five to eight kilometres. “This means you don’t have to be super fit and everybody is welcome to join in.”

He said a typical day would start at 9:30am, include lunch on a log or rock somewhere and end by 4:30pm “We normally see between 40 to 50 species of birds, and also have members who are very knowledgeable about biology, geology and botany.”

According to Martin participants will not only gain new knowledge, and enjoy the trees and solitude of the bush, but they will also gain a better understanding of the natural environment and why it is so important to conserve it.

He said there were so many interesting and unusual things to see and discover, like the threatened Glossy Black Cockatoo and endangered Swift Parrot, as well as seasonal birds from Papua New Guinea, like the Dollar bird. “We often come across interesting goannas and snakes, and as Parkes and Forbes are on the intersection of the coastal and desert districts, there is a great variety of plants and birds to observe.”

With some of the best parks in NSW on our doorstep, another benefit is that these parks never have large crowds of people like those closer to the cities.

As COVID-19 has restricted travel opportunities, Martin said it was a good time to join the Lachlan Valley Branch walks as it offered locals a great opportunity to discover spectacular scenery close to home. He said numbers had started to increase since COVID with about 12 people joining a walk.

The Lachlan Valley Branch is also involved with the Forbes Arts Council’s Gum Swamp bird hides and the Lachlan Valley Sculpture Trail projects, while Central West Lachlan Landcare (CWLL) is very supportive.

The Lachlan Valley Branch will be supporting two events of CWLL over the next two months.

On 24th March the Get to know the Glossy Black Cockatoo workshop will take place in Parkes. The day includes a presentation by photographer Warren Chad, as well as an overview of the Glossy Black project from Local Land Services staff and then a field trip to Lake Metcalfe to talk further about Glossy Black habitat, some bird observation and a bird count and finish up around 1pm with BYO lunch at Lake Metcalfe. (Also see details on page 4 of the call for volunteer counters for the Great Inland Glossy Count.)

On 7th April the Securing the Swift Parrot workshop will take place with Saving Our Species Team Leader, Energy, Environment and Science, Matt Cameron as guest speaker. The Securing the Swift Parrot project aims to stabilise or improve the trajectory of the Swift Parrot by 2023. They are nationally listed as critically endangered. The Swift Parrot is unique as it feeds in the Central West during winter on flowering Eucalypts and Ironbarks, then flies to Tasmania to breed over Summer.

More details of these workshops are available on the Central West Lachlan Landcare website.

If you would like to join the Lachlan Val-ley Branch bushwalks, due to start again from next month when the weather starts cooling, look on the Parkes Shire Council’s What’s On page, or on Central West Lachlan Landcare Facebook page, get a copy of the program at the Parkes Visitors Centre, or contact Martin Bell on 0429 346 586.

By Maggi Barnard

A SLICE OF SYDNEY… The Parkes Dragon Boat Club was determined not to let COVID derail their plans of doing an 8km challenge race, and on Saturday they organised a very successful event for clubs in the Western Region at Lake Endeavour. (Photo: Ian Griffey)

The Parkes Endeavour Dragons decided to re-enact a challenging Sydney race on its home turf and include the rest of the Western Region clubs when COVID derailed plans of participation.

The Parkes Dragon Boat Club (PDBC) had trained hard right through the Christmas break for the famous 8km Bei Loon challenge on Sydney’s Pittwater, but COVID uncertainty saw the team cancel its plans about two weeks before the race date.

Coach Beth Thomas and sweep Bill Thomas came up with a plan to invite all the clubs in the region to do the race at Lake Endeavour. On Saturday about 100 paddlers from seven clubs turned up for the event with some quirky surprises on the course offering teams the opportunity to circumnavigate a makeshift Scotland Island, while a miniature of the famous Wild Oats yacht was anchored in a small bay.

Each of the five teams recorded their own distance and time as the five teams started the challenge at ten minute intervals. Dubbo Outback Dragons did the fastest time of 44:41. Parkes came in second in 46:54 and Colour City Dragons from Orange third in 47:53. The combined teams of Forbes/Pinnacles/Mudgee and Bathurst/Parkes were fourth and fifth respectively in 49:50 and 54:32. Six members of the Parkes team did two races back-to-back to help make up numbers in the Bathurst boat.

“The day was a roaring success,” said Beth. “Our Lake Endeavour was just filled with joy!” She told her team: “You’ve made Endeavour Dragons a hit in the Western Region.”

President of PDBC Tony Gatt said the sportsmanship and camaraderie reflected the intention of the invitation and all who attended enjoyed the day. “Special mention to Bill and Beth and the rest of the PDBC members for their hard work leading up to the day. Our sincere thanks to those who travelled and joined in. We look forward to many more.”

Messages from the participating clubs came pouring in with several saying it should become an annual event. The Colour City Dragons said: “Thank you for having the foresight and determination to organise our very own regional 8km challenge.” They said the inclusion of the quirky elements added an entertaining touch to the day.

The Dubbo team said they were thrilled to paddle around Scotland Island for the first time! “We’ve paddled Bei Loon five times and never got to do the island. (Getting to paddle around the real island is often hampered by bad weather when the course has to be changed.)

The organiser of the Bei Loon challenge George Webster could not believe that a Western Region version of the challenge took place. “I am absolutely lost for words… fabulous and in fact quite touch-ing,” was his reaction.

Just like at Bei Loon, each team went home with a lovely trophy, and memories of a fun day with fellow paddlers.

By Maggi Barnard