The staff and children of Parkes Early Childhood Centre gathered on Wednesday morning to find out who the new director will be. Colette Genet-Marks (third left) is taking over the reigns from Lindy Farrant (second left). With them are Craig Smith and Mayor Ken Keith.

The Parkes Early Childhood Centre (PECC) has a new director!

On a beautiful autumn Wednesday morning outgoing director Lindy Farrant handed over the baton to incoming director Colette Genet-Marks.

President of the management committee Craig Smith made the announcement with all the staff and children present.

Colette thanked the staff for all their encouragement and support. “We are an awesome team and that is why I wanted to move into this role.”

Parkes Mayor Ken Keith said it was wonderful to see the succession plan for PECC in place and welcomed Colette to her new role.

After a big send-off for outgoing director Lindy Farrant on Saturday, she was happy to be present for the big announcement of the new director. “It is lovely to pass the baton over to Colette,” said Lindy of her colleague of 25 years. “I believe the inter- viewing process was rigorous and I am so proud of you and know PECC will continue to flourish. This is a wonderful celebration today and gives me great delight.”

Lindy will officially retire from PECC at the end of the month, but has been on long-service leave with Colette in the acting role. The community gave Lindy a big send off thanking her for 33 years of unconditional service and love.

By Maggi Barnard

From next month Parkes will also be on the Uber map! Uber Australia announced last week they’re bringing the Uber app to every corner of NSW, including our town.

Uber has decided to bring expansion plans forward to help fire and drought-affected regions get back on their feet in support of the #LoveNSW initiative to bring domestic and international tourism to the regions.

“The Central West is the fourth most popular place to visit amongst domestic tourists in NSW, and our own data shows domestic and international tourists love Uber,” said Uber Australia General Manager Dom Taylor.

“In fact, over the first two months of this year, tens of thousands of domestic tourists from 35 places around Australia, have used the Uber app to get around the parts of regional NSW we already cover.”

“That’s why we believe rideshare can help drive spend for local businesses as locals and tourists get around to the fantastic restaurants and pubs that Parkes has to offer.”

Parkes residents can now sign-up to drive with the Uber app ahead of April just before the Easter long weekend when Uber will be turning on its app across NSW. This will make it one of the largest geographic areas Uber covers anywhere in the world.

“Since we’ve expanded to towns like Orange, Tamworth and Byron Bay, we’ve learnt that Uber is a great way for people to get home safely and avoid drink driving. It’s also a great opportunity for people to earn some extra dollars on the weekends or during peak tourist periods,” said Dom.

Signing up to drive with Uber in NSW is straightforward and cost-effective. Find out more at https://www.uber.com/au/en/drive/sydney/get-started/

Community halls around regional and rural NSW could receive a little extra support with the launch of the Essential Energy Community Halls Program.

The program, which has been running for around 10 years, recognises that community halls are often the heart of a local community and provide a place for people to come together.

“Previous recipients have told us that this money has helped their halls continue to play an important role in their local communities,” said Manager Community Relations Northern, David Crough.

“With many in our community doing it tough this year with drought and then fires, these halls are as important as ever, and we really encourage all eligible community halls to apply.”

Hall representatives can apply for the $200 payment online at www.essentialenergy.com.au/web-forms/community-hall-application or by contacting 13 23 91. Applications close 5pm on Friday, 20th March.

Ellie Hawkins, Scheduling Engineer at CMOC-Northparkes Mines is a finalist in the NSW Mining Young Achiever of the Year category of the NSW Mining Industry and Suppliers Awards.

She started at Northparkes in 2017 as a graduate mining engineer, became drill and blast engineer after 12 months, and was promoted to scheduling engineer in mid-2019. She is also completing a Master of Research at the University of Wollongong, and is an active member of the Northparkes Emergency Response Team (ERT). The awards will be announced at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Thursday, 2nd April.

At the awards ceremony were (L-R) Kevin Werksmen, Global Water Leader, Aurecon (award sponsor); Andrew Francis, Director Infrastructure, Parkes Shire Council; Julian Fyfe, Infrastructure Technical Manager, Parkes Shire Council; and Paul Freeman, NSW President of the AWA. (Photo: AWA)

The Parkes Recycled Water Scheme won the Program Innovation Award at the 2020 NSW Australian Water Association Awards last Friday.

Parkes Shire Council’s Technical Infrastructure Manager, Julian Fyfe said that while many utilities reclaimed water, Parkes achieved something unique within the Australian water industry, designing a system that had a small footprint and a big impact.

“The Scheme is designed to work within the solar window, is supported by renewable power and has an optimised and integrated distribution system.”

The Parkes Recycled Water Scheme is now a finalist in the National Australian Water Association Awards which will be announced at the Ozwater conference in May.

The women behind the scenes at Parkes Services Club are (L-R) Reanna McGuire (Finance Manager), Cindi Murphy (Club Manager), Lara Messiter (Finance Assistant) and Chloe Dean (Admin Assistant/Bar Person).

After almost 15 years at the Parkes Services Club, Cindi Murphy became Club Manager in October last year.

With a staff complement of around 50 people, Cindi is very grateful for developments in the business environment and support offered to women. She has so far received a lot of encouragement in her new position.

“You still come across a minority of mostly older generation men who think that a man would do a better job,” says Cindi. “They find it hard to take direction from you and to change their mindset that the position is only suitable to a man.”

Cindi is not discouraged by these attitudes and says to the contrary it only makes her more determined to do a better job and prove them wrong.

“I am also very lucky to be working in the Clubland environment where there is a lot of support and training for women, perhaps more than in other places.” She says colleagues and managers have given her a lot of encouragement. “They value my opinion as much as theirs.”

After four months in the ‘hot seat’, Cindi really enjoys the teamwork. “We are like one big family!” She also likes all the different challenges that comes across her desk every day.

“The club is here for the community and it is important to run it successfully, not only to maintain the jobs of our staff, but also to keep on supporting the communities in the Parkes Shire through donations to clubs and schools.”