Parkes Shire Council is inviting owners and leasees of significant land and buildings to apply for dollar for dollar matched funding under their Local Heritage Fund Program. Council’s Heritage Committee Chair, Cr Alan Ward said since the program was implemented in 2000 it has achieved great results. “The program has successfully delivered 69 heritage projects valued at more than $400,000 with $133,000 provided through local heritage funding.”

“A number of significant heritage places and items have been restored including the Old Post Office building, St George’s Anglican Church, Trundle Hotel, Bogan Gate Uniting Church and Peak Hill and Trundle Main Streets,” Cr Ward said.

Last financial year, Council’s Local Heritage Program successfully completed more than $58,000 worth of heritage projects. More than $41,000 was contributed by the applicants with $17,000 provided through local heritage funding.

Work included the repair and repointing of a brick wall at the Parkes Old Post Office, the reinstatement and repainting of Balmoral House, the reinstatement of the bar and pressed metal ceiling at Peak Hill’s Carrington Hotel, and the repainting of the Tullamore Hotel in period style colours. Applications for the 2016/17 Heritage
Fund close on Friday, 26th August 2016. Application forms, conditions and guidelines are available on Council’s website or from Council’s Administration Centre. Council encourages anyone interested in maintaining their heritage building to make an appointment with Council’s Heritage Advisor.

Free professional advice is available to owners who want to renovate or redevelop private homes or commercial buildings. The advice is of a general nature. For more information, or to make an appointment, please contact Council’s Planning & Environment Department on (02) 6861 2373.

“Isn’t the weather just horrible?” is a common greeting around Parkes these days. The deluge of rain over the past couple of weeks has pushed the total recorded over eight days of rain to 45.8mm. This is 1mm more than the long-term average of 44.8mm recorded over 12.6 days for July. The wettest day so far this month was last Friday when 17mm was recorded, according to the Weatherzone website. This lead to the closure of the Eugowra Road as the Billabong Creek was running over the road. The weir at PAC Park on East Street was flowing very fast and provided some fun for kids on holiday when the rain stopped. School children have been housebound most of the holiday so far with the wet weather. Every bit of sunshine is a good opportunity to get out for fresh air and some exercise. Although it feels like it is raining non-stop, we still need a lot more rain to reach the record of 2010 when 110.8mm fell during July.

To make the wet weather more intense, the average maximum temperature of 12.9°C for this month so far is also lower than the long-term average of 14.3°C. The highest temperature this month was 16°C on the 7th and the lowest temperature recorded this month so far was on 4th July when it dropped to -0.4°C.

According to the weather forecast we might be getting some warmer weather next week with a maximum of 18°C on Monday, hooray! Many communities in the Central West have surpassed seasonal rainfall averages including Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Wellington, Mudgee and Cowra. The widespread rain has increased many dam levels significantly with some even overflowing.

By Maggi Barnard

PJL Group have recently expanded their operations, adding a fifth site to their Australian footprint. PJL have purchased Parkes Heavy Mechanical Repairs, allowing them the opportunity to expand their capabilities and become a major shutdown supplier, infrastructure maintenance and construction service provider throughout NSW.

Heading up the Parkes operation is Clayton Maynard, who brings with him industry specific and managerial experience. Keen for the challenge, Clayton has worked with PJL for 7 years, previously managing PJL’s Engineering facility in Orange.

The existing operation in Parkes has been co-ordinating and running shutdowns for a number of years with various clients in the local area. This required a particularly unique skillset within management and trade based staff, therefore 90% of the existing Parkes Heavy Mechanical Repairs employees accepted roles under the new PJL business management.

“With the majority of the existing employees coming over to PJL, we hope to integrate these skills and processes throughout our other operations.” Clayton said. The Parkes operation brings with it a number of different service offerings, allowing PJL to expand their capabilities and increase efficiencies across the group. New services such as poly welding, sheet metal folding, pressing and rolling will be leveraged by PJL’s Orange, Cobar, Perth and Mt Isa facilities, allowing them to offer more fit-for-purpose services for their clients.

PJL’s existing operations and experience within them will also complement the Parkes business model and enable the group to offer a more specialised service to clients in this area. “This, combined with PJL’s scale, in house qualified engineers and internationally accredited operating systems will assist local clients with upcoming projects as well as planned maintenance events”. Clayton explained.

PJL currently have a contract in place to supply shutdown services, scaffolding and poly welding to CMOC at Northparkes Mines, which is not something any of the other operations specialise in. “Engineering opportunities into solutions is something PJL has seen great success with since its inception back in 2006, and it is something that will take us forward into the future” Clayton went on to say. “We are excited to now be a part of the Parkes community.”

Tullamore local, Jenny Harvey, has recently participated in the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service. Jenny struggled with mobility due to her bad knees, back and arthritis. She was unable to walk or stand for very long and Jenny’s doctor told her she would need a wheel chair in the future if she didn’t get healthier.

Spurred on by her doctor’s advice, Jenny joined the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service and was given a dedicated health coach named Jordon. “I loved hearing from Jordon every fortnight. I felt really comfortable with him and fantastic after each call. He really made me motivated,” Jenny said; “I have never exercised. I registered with the Get Healthy Service as part of the Healthy Towns Challenge and started with the local aqua fitness group. I felt so light the first time and now I can’t go enough! I even did two, one hour sessions in a row!”

In the winter Jenny stays motivated by her coach, trying Tai Chi and joining an adult exercise class. She has improved her eating habits, can do more gardening and has lost weight from around her waist. “Since joining the Get Healthy Service I get a lot more satisfaction from life. It means I get out more and the social benefits are really great. One thing leads to another!” Jenny said.

“I feel fantastic! I have had fantastic people around me. I get off my backside and do much more and my family are all proud of me. I’d be so happy if my story helped other people get healthier.” Have you heard about the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service? If you’d like to find out more about this free service, go to www.gethealthynsw.gov.au.