More than 130 students from Parkes East Public School had the opportunity to learn about Council’s role in the community during an outdoor, interactive lesson. Council workers did a lesson across the road from the school where they have been constructing a pipeline for the new Water Treatment Plant. Students learned about worksite safety, environmental awareness and careers at Council, before getting behind the wheel of a stationary piece of machinery for hands on learning. (See photo on page 7.)

The wet weather couldn’t dampen the fun at the 30th anniversary of the Trundle Bush Tucker Day with the live performance by Troy Cassar-Daley the highlight of the day. Congratulations to the organising committee delivering such a great event.

Parkes residents are encouraged to enroll in this summer’s Learn to Swim Programs. Parkes Shire Council will run the Learn to Swim programs for the first time at the pool. The 10-week term kicks off on 10th October for all ages and abilities. Enrolment details can be found on Council’s website www.parkes.nsw.gov.au.

Residents will take to the polls tomorrow for the Local Government Elections. Prepoll voting in the Coventry Room in Bogan Street ends today at 6pm. Residents can vote for five or more candidates. A number of roads have been closed due to heavy downfalls and flooding. Council urges motorists to avoid flood waters. For a current list of road closures visit Council’s website.

Enjoy your weekend.
Yours Faithfully,
Parkes Shire Council

Parkes Shire Council would like to congratulate the District Show Societies for another successful show circuit. Residents of Tullamore, Trundle, Peak Hill, Parkes and surrounds took advantage of the public holiday to enjoy the shows. The show circuit was capped off with a spectacular fireworks display at Parkes Showground. Paintings from Parkes Shire Council’s art collection have gone on exhibition at the new Parkes Hospital. As part of an exciting culture and arts program, Council has loaned 17 works to the hospital to be on display until 9th February 2017 .

As we head into September, residents are encouraged to take an inventory of their unwanted agricultural and veterinary chemicals and register for Chemclear’s state-wide collection. Collection will be free for chemicals with a readable product label, not mixed with any other product and within two years of the expiry date or deregistration.

A quote will be provided upon registration for any chemicals that do not meet the free eligibility requirements. Waste holders within the Parkes Shire must register with the program before close of business today to be included in the October collection. To register call the hotline on 1800 008 182 or visit www.chemclear.com.au.

Trundle Bush Tucker Day will celebrate its 30th anniversary on tomorrow. If you plan on attending, get your tickets online – a first for the event. Special guest, Troy Cassar-Daley, will be performing live. Head to www.
trundlebushtuckerday.com, and follow the links. With the rain returning this week, Council urges motorists to drive to conditions and be extra vigilant on the roads.

Enjoy your weekend.
Parkes Shire Council

More than 500 Year 10 students from 10 high schools from the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council areas have learnt valuable road safety lessons at the annual mock car crash demonstration. The program was developed in response to crash data showing young drivers are over-represented in road crashes.

Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Hon Duncan Gay MLC, visited the Parkes region this week to inspect the recent works carried out on the Newell and Mitchell Highways. Minister Gay attended the site of $36 million upgrade to the Newell Highway between Parkes and Peak Hill at Trewilga where 6.4 kilometres of road will be improved by early 2018.

Council would like to congratulate local Olympian Scott Westcott for his tremendous efforts at the Rio Olympics. Scott finished 81st in the marathon with a time of 2:22:19. Council is extremely proud of Scott who, at 40 years of age, was theoldest Australian athlete competing at the Games. Residents can still visit the Olympic showcase at the Parkes Library, which features the stories of eight former and current local Olympians.

Trundle Bush Tucker Day will celebrate its 30th anniversary on 3rd September. Get your tickets early online so as not to miss out on special guest Troy Cassar-Daley’s performance. Have a happy and safe weekend.

Parkes Shire Council

Parkes Shire residents will have their choice from a quality field of candidates for the next term of Council, with the Returning Officer receiving 20 nominations. The candidates will spend the next three weeks campaigning in the community before the Local Government elections on Saturday, 10th September. Locals have had the opportunity to find out more about what’s going on around the Shire from the Council exhibit at the Tullamore and Trundle annual shows. Council staff will also visit the Peak Hill and Parkes shows, giving away native plants to residents who pop by an enquiry. It’s part of Council’s initiative to provide residents with a greater understanding about the role native vegetation plays in the landscape and to encourage locals to positively enhance their surrounding environment.

Council has now progressed to the demolition stage of the old Parkes hospital site, with the internal strip out of the buildings commencing this week. Consultation and communications with fronting residences is currently being undertaken to keep them informed of project phases and activity, and any changes or impact to traffic and pedestrian movements.

Parkes Shire residents are encouraged to check out the Olympic showcase currently on display at Parkes Library. Eight banners, each featuring a current or former Parkes Shire Olympian, provide a snapshot into the journey of each of our local Olympic athletes. The banners will be on display at the library for the remainder of the Olympics Games, and then will travel around to various locations in the Parkes Shire. Parkes Shire residents can learn more about the rise to glory of all eight Olympians at www.historyparkes.org.

The Olympic journey has come to an end for our local Hockeyroo, Mariah Williams, after a loss to the Kiwi’s in the quarter final. However, hopes for a medal are still alive for our other local Olympian, Scott Wescott, who will run the marathon this Sunday, 21st August. Council wishes Scott all the best.

Enjoy your weekend.
Parkes Shire Council

Council has taken advantage of the break in wet weather this week getting our crews out-and-about for maintenance and repairs on our roads. Council thanks the community for reporting damage caused by recent rains. Parkes Shire Council encourages local businesses to apply for an exciting opportunity to develop and expand their online presence. The Building Business Capacity (BBC) Program will offer advice to utilise e-commerce and digital marketing. Make sure to attend one of four free workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions to be conducted by local consultants JPA Business and Adloyalty.

Over 20 people attended the two councillor information sessions to learn more about local government. The Returning Officer received a healthy number of nominations, which bodes well for a quality field of candidates for the 2016 Local Government Election on Saturday, 10th September.

Today Parkes’ students are painting the town Flame REaD! Commencing in Cooke Park with an opening ceremony and arrival of the Book Relay, the day celebrates reading in all shapes and sizes. Children will participate in reading activities, verse speaking, baby competition, rhyme hunt and games along Clarinda Street. Parkes Shire residents are encouraged to get behind our local Olympians in Rio.

Hopes of a medal have slightly dwindled for our local Hockeyroo, Mariah Williams, with the Australian women’s hockey side going down against Great Britain and the USA this week. Scott Westcott’s Olympic campaign only kicks off on 21st August, as the men’s marathon is one of the final events of the Games. We wish both Mariah and Scott all the best in their individual pursuits.

Enjoy your weekend.
Parkes Shire Council

This weekend I will travel to Echuca Moama for the 2016 Regional Tourism Awards. Council is delighted to be nominated in the Festival’s and Events category and also for Destination Marketing. Council is pleased to announce the winner of the ‘Shop + Win’ promotion. Zarin Barber of Baldry, who placed his entry at Worklocker Parkes, will be sailing the beautiful Coral Sea on an eight-night cruise for two people to New Caledonia, Mystery Island and Lifou next year. Thanks to We Know Travel Parkes who generously donated the prize.

This year’s AstroFest was an outstanding success with approximately 120 people attending the John Bolton Lecture. Hot-offthe-press is an astrophotography calendar featuring the finalists from this year’s David Malin Awards. You can purchase a copy from the Dish Discovery Centre. Parkes Shire Councillors are nearing the end of their four-year term having attended their last council meeting before entering caretaker mode before the Local Government Elections on Saturday, 10th September.

Those interested in becoming a Parkes Shire Councillor are invited to attend the information sessions held on Wednesday, 27th July and Wednesday, 3rd August at Parkes Shire Council’s Administration Centre from 5.30pm. Visit parkes.nsw.gov.au for all the details.

Enjoy your weekend.
Yours Faithfully,
Cr Ken Keith OAM
Mayor of Parkes Shire

This year’s annual trip to Weberek in East Timor was a success despite the constant rain. We installed new solar panels and replaced the meter on the water bore, doubling the capacity of the village water supply. We also held a fencing demonstration day teaching locals how to use strainer posts by erecting a fence around the health clinic. We continued the good rapport with the villagers enjoying a community volleyball game, which the locals won convincingly.

The container of hospital equipment is yet to arrive in Dilli but when it does Bill Shalvey the coordinator of the operation will head back with a few others to receive and distribute the items. Geoff Steventon needs congratulations for his organisation of this and previous trips to East Timor. Parkes welcomes world renowned astronomers for AstroFest this weekend. The annual conference and astrophotography festival endeavours to expose the people of the Central West to the wonders of modern astronomy.

Local Government Elections will be held on Saturday 10th September. Anyone wishing to find out more about becoming a Parkes Shire Councillor is invited to attend an information session. The information sessions will be held on Wednesday 27th July and Wednesday 3rd August at Parkes Shire Council’s Administration Centre from 5.30pm. Visit parkes.nsw.gov.au for details.

Enjoy a happy and safe weekend.
Yours Faithfully,
Cr Ken Keith OAM

The Federal Election is here and for the first time, Parkes will join the electoral division of Riverina. Election day is this Saturday from 8am to 6pm at designated polling places including Middleton Public School, Parkes East Primary School, Parkes High School, Parkes Little Theatre, Assemblies of God Hall, Bogan Gate Public School, Peak Hill Central School, Trundle Central School and Tullamore Central School.

It’s with pride that I say a heartfelt thank you for the many donations that have flooded in for our East Timor Fundraising Appeal. A forty-tonne container filled with surplus items from Forbes and Parkes Hospitals is on its
way to Weberek in East Timor. Thank you to all who made generous donations and to the volunteers for their efforts. An extra special mention to Bill Shalvey and Malcolm Stacey who worked tirelessly behind the scenes packing the container.

The East Timor Fundraising Appeal is something I feel very passionate about and am once again honoured to see such generosity and support from the Parkes community. Congratulations to Parkes Library for hosting its first ever community Book Club, where they discussed ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. If you’d like to join the monthly Book Club, please contact the Parkes Library on 6861 2309. On that note, I’d like to leave you with a quote from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’…” The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” Harper Lee.

Cr Ken Keith OAM

Our Shire has certainly needed gumboots and winter woollies with the significant drop in temperature and wet weather this past week. Let’s hope all this lovely rain is setting our farming community up for a bumper spring.
Parkes polling for the 2016 Federal Election will commence from the 27th June at the Parkes Business Enterprise Centre. Opening hours are outlined on Council’s website or you can visit the Australian Electoral Commission website aec.gov.au for more detailed information.

Parkes Shire Council is currently upgrading the Parkes Waste Facility to make it more user friendly for customers as well as to allow for increased diversion of materials from landfill. Construction is underway to improve the efficiency, safety and environmental aspects of the facility. A comprehensive tree planting program is also planned for the perimeter of the facility to screen the operations from roads and nearby residences. The construction phase is scheduled for completion at the end of August 2016. As part of the upgrade of the facility, Council will also be implementing fees and charges at the site. The fees and charges that will be applied once the new facility is operational will not be significantly different from current fees and charges. Many of the waste fees and charges have
been reduced to encourage greater diversion of waste from landfill.

Enjoy a happy and safe weekend.
Yours Faithfully, Cr Ken Keith OAM