Parkes Shire General Manager, Kent Boyd.

The Parkes Shire Council will be building up its reserves over the next two years for future projects as set out in the draft Operational Budget and Plan for 2020-21.

“Over the past five years, there has been over $195 million in assets constructed which is probably the biggest build over a five-year period that Council has ever done,” said Parkes Shire General Manager, Kent Boyd at the May Council meeting last week.

“We have done that with the assistance of substantial grants, but it’s now time to exercise a little bit of moderation to build our finances back up for the next term of council.”

Kent said the focus was on completing the projects that were currently going. “We want to finish those off and start to strengthen our reserve balance.”

The draft operational budget and plan will go on public exhibition after it was adopted by Councillors last Tuesday.

“It is a difficult year for a lot of people. We currently have a two-stream economy running in the Shire. People involved in the construction, mining and agricultural industries are thriving, while our hospitality and retail sector have felt the full impact of COVID-19,” said Parkes Shire Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM.

He made special mention that over 50% of the budget would go towards roads, rates and sewer across the Shire, ensuring that service delivery to the community continues to be priority.

Councillors Alan Ward and Neil Westcott both commented on the tough times continuing on from the effects of the ongoing drought, and hardships in front of us because of COVID-19.

“We must now buckle down to make sure we do everything we can to support our ratepayers during this time of hardship,” said Alan.

The Mayor reminded residents to contact Council’s Finance Team for a confidential discussion if they were experiencing hardship in paying rates.

Cooke Park Café in Welcome Street.

After the closure of the Cooke Park Café last year, Tammy Alexander saw an opportunity and re-opened the cafe in late December 2019.

Since the re-opening, she and her six staff members have been very busy. Tammy has more plans and is looking at introducing a breakfast menu on weekends.

During the recent strict pandemic regulations, the café started providing various types of dinner packs, from roast dinners to T-bone steaks, on top of their normal meals offered as a take away.

My partner and I have become regulars at the Cooke Park Café over the past two months of lockdown. Our menu has been Wednesday night’s hamburger with the works, Friday night’s seafood box and on Sunday Night we enjoyed the roast.

My favourite is their hamburger and my partner enjoys the Sunday roast dinners. When we have our granddaughter over, she likes to get the chicken nuggets.

Tammy, who grew up in Tullamore, went to school in Sydney and moved to Parkes with her family, worked in the food industry at a local hotel before taking over Cooke Park Café. She and her staff would like to say a big thank you to everyone in Parkes for their support during these times and look forward to serving you in the future.

By Keith Turk

Videographer Andrew Barnes films Tiffany Steel, one of two Parkes locals to be featured in the We Want You Back tourism campaign.

Two local identities were filmed this week for a new campaign to showcase our shire’s quirky experiences, iconic attractions and unique character.

The Parkes Shire has teamed up with 10 other local government areas for the ‘We Want You Back’ campaign targeting visiting friends and relatives (VFR). The VFR market makes up 35 to 40% of travellers to the region.

Tiffany Steel, home grown events and marketing specialist and daughter of the Parkes Elvis Festival founders Bob and Ann Steel, will highlight the heritage and pop culture experiences, boutique accommodation, and shopping and dining options.

Jim O’Donoghue, well-known local business owner of Moo Ma’s Milk, will highlight the range of family fun and adventure experiences that our region has to offer.

The aim is to create a personal connection between the locals and travellers, with the expert knowledge of renowned videographer Andrew Barnes capturing the con- tent including a series of video interviews and beautiful imagery.

“After being cooped up at home for the last few months, people are eager to get out and explore – many looking to reconnect with loved ones as a priority,” said Parkes Shire Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM.

The Mayor urged holidaymakers to still respect NSW Health guidelines by staying home when sick, and to practice good hygiene and social distancing to ensure visitors and the community are kept safe.

This Central West tourism campaign, to be launched next week across social and digital media channels and supported by a public relations campaign, coincides with the ease of restrictions from the 1st of June.

Other local government areas featured in the campaign include Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and Weddin.

Local businesses and members of the community can join in the social campaign by sharing what they love about the Parkes Shire region by tagging @VisitParkesRegion on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and using the #wewantyouback.

When Jacinta Knowles completed Year 12 at Parkes High School in 2016 she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Three years later she qualified not only with a Certificate III in Hairdressing from TAFE, but her passion and hard work rewarded her with a perfect score in every single module of work she had to complete for her course. She also finished her course three months early.

“She is like a sponge and wanted to learn everything,” said Janice Cassidy, owner of Janice Cassidy’s Hair Salon where Jacinta has worked since the start of her studies.

“We’ve connected the whole way through, and ensured she had plenty of practice on specific topics as they covered them in theory.”

“I am very proud of her achievements,” said Janice.

Jacinta is very happy her hard work brought her such good results. She now enjoys focusing on her passion and making her clients feel good, while still staying up to date with the latest technology and fashion styles. “I like creativity, and using colour techniques.”

When Jacinta is not in the salon, she loves being outside either playing soccer, fishing or camping.

If Jacinta’s 100% achievement is the standard she works towards, she should not have any problem reaching her next goal of running her own business one day.

By Maggi Barnard