The Newell Highway brings a truck a minute through Parkes, but the biggest infrastructure project ever for Parkes is going to change that.

Calling it the jewel in the crown of the Newell, Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said at the sod-turning ceremony on Mon-day the $187.2 million project would deliver a game-changing upgrade to a 10.5-kilometre section of the highway to allow traffic and heavy vehicles to bypass the town of Parkes.

Before Paul Toole, Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier Sam Farraway, and Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith turned the first sods, Yalmambirra of the Wiradjuri Council of Elders conducted the ancient custom of a smoking ceremony at the construction site. Yalmambirra said the smoke from a native plant had cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits.

The Georgiou Group was appointed in August to manage the three-year construction of the bypass that is expected to create 350 jobs. Mayor Ken Keith said it was an extremely significant day for the Parkes Shire. “We look forward to the potential this project will bring to our community and I encourage local businesses to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Paul Toole said the bypass would take 1,200 vehicles out of the centre of town every day. “This will give the opportunity to return the town to the locals.”

The bypass project includes bridges over existing railway lines and connections to the Parkes Special Activation Precinct to leverage the Inland Rail project and the existing freight logistics hub. Work to adjust or upgrade connections to local roads has been under way since January.

Further information about the Parkes By-pass project is available at: https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/newell-highway/parkes/index.html

The winners of the Parkes Radio Telescope 60th Anniversary Competition are (L-R) Heather Veal, Sean Cassidy with Jim Cassidy (who accepted the music prize on behalf of Jason Murchie); Jocelyn Moles (who accepted the model dish painting prize on behalf of David Moles); Ashlee Trim (front); Narelle Pizarro, Karin Unger and Beryl Twardy.

The creativity of Parkes Shire residents did not disappoint with some wonderful entries received for the Parkes Radio Telescope 60th Anniversary Competition.

The winners received their prizes from John Sarkissian, CSIRO Operations Scientist, at The Dish on Tuesday. “It was a great way of getting the community involved in our 60th anniversary celebrations, as we could not plan a large event because of COVID,” said John.

The winner in each category won a guided tour of the telescope and a $50 Shop Parkes gift card.

The winners are: Literature – Karin Unger and Heather Veal and Narelle Pizarro both received honourable mentions; Art – Beryl Twardy and Rosanne Jones received an honourable mention; Mu-sic – Jason Murchie; Makerspace Design Challenge – Ashlee Trim; Model Dish Painting – David Moles.

McGrath Breast Care Nurse Dianne Green did a presentation to the Parkes Evening VIEW Club during breast cancer awareness month in October about breast awareness, types of breast cancer and her role in supporting women and men diagnosed with breast cancer. She brought silicone breasts to help members experience the technique of identifying lumps in a breast. Di (second right) is pictured with members Chris Szabo, Pamela Ward and Wendy Stoker.

Motorists are urged to be patient when approaching oversize vehicles during harvest time.

Farm machinery and trucks are becoming a common sight on our roads as the mobilisation process is set in motion for another big harvest across regional NSW.

Drivers are urged to take extra care on the roads as the bumper harvest will mean there are more trucks and farm machinery on the roads, as well as a surge in activity on level crossings where trains are not often seen, according to Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor.

“When approaching an oversize vehicle: be patient, reduce your speed and wait for a safe opportunity to pass. Don’t drive right behind the farm machinery because the operator can’t see you.

“Trucks may also have trailers attached and can be longer or wider than expected, so drivers need to take extra care when changing lanes and should not try and overtake until it is safe,” said Melanie.

An awareness campaign with fold down grain truck warning signs positioned along key harvest routes and at silos, and a radio campaign will remind drivers what to do when they encounter farm machinery on the road. “We want everyone to get home safely this harvest,” said Melanie.

Parkes Shire Council is one of 124 councils in NSW to take part in the election of councillors on Saturday, 4th December.

The majority of voting will take place on 4th December, but pre-poll and iVote voting will open on 22nd November. Voting is compulsory at all NSW local government elections. All electors enrolled for federal and state elections will be included on the roll.

Voters in the Parkes Shire will be able to choose from 13 candidates, plus one group consisting of six candidates.

The list of 13 includes six existing councillors and seven new candidates, while the group of six are also new candidates.

The ballot draw was conducted last Thursday at the Parkes returning office. The candidates were drawn out by returning officer Matthew Irvine from a ballot box.

The candidate names will appear on the ballot paper in the order they were drawn as follows: 1 Neil Westcott; 2 Ken Keith; 3 Cathy Francis; 4 Marg Applebee; 5 Johanne Burke; 6 Bill Jayet; 7 Jacob Cass; 8 John Coulston; 9 George Pratt; 10 Shawn White; 11 John Southon; 12 Kenny McGrath; 13 Louise O’Leary.

In normal circumstances, local government elections are held on the second Saturday in September every four years, but had to be postponed last year because of COVID. It was going to be held in September this year, but was postponed a second time, as NSW was under lockdown at the time.

The NSW Electoral Commission has a COVID safety plan in place that includes checking in with a QR code and wearing of face masks.

Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack (left) was in Parkes on Monday for the announcement of the grant. He was joined by (L-R) Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith, Northparkes Mines Managing Director Hubert Lehman and Kent Boyd, Anna Wylie and Andrew Francis from the Parkes Shire Council.

The Parkes Shire Council will receive $6 million in funding to not only double the town’s water supply but also guarantee water security for many years to come.

The grant from the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) will go towards Stage 1 of the Lachlan River Water Supply Duplication Project.

Collectively, the package of water security projects valued at approximately $61 million, will create a new raw water supply network that will almost double Council’s capacity to meet future demand for more raw water. Currently, Council can only supply 6ML of its 12GL water licence entitlement, largely due to the constraints of ageing water infrastructure. Council also conveys water for Northparkes Mines who owns their own water licences and is dependent on access to a secure and sustainable raw water supply.

The Parkes water security projects include construction and replacement of raw water infrastructure and assets. In total more than 39 kilometres of new pipeline will move water around the supply network more efficiently based on new and improved pump stations and pre-treatment plants at Eugowra Road and Akuna Road, additional storage capacity of 20ML in the raw water dam, additional bores to sustainably spread the load on the Lachlan aquifer and a direct pipeline route to the water treatment plant.

After treatment, new pipelines will distribute the treated raw water to the benefit of residents and businesses in the shire. In addition, Parkes is collaborating with neighbouring Shires to create a new CENTROC regional water grid.

This new raw water supply network will be powered sustainably by solar energy to reduce electricity from the grid and limit CO2 emissions, as part of Council’s commitment to introduce renewable energy to support and sustain our environment.

The construction process is expected to create between 60 to 80 jobs.,

The Parkes Radio Telescope was commissioned on 31 October 1961. The Dish will be celebrating its 60th anniversary throughout this month.

The pictures tell some of the story of its construction and when the Governor General came to Parkes for the opening of the telescope. (Photos: CSIRO)