Letter to the Editor
I believe it is wise to take the time to write to the people of the Orange Electorate making it very clear why I see the importance of standing up here and now for my principles, my country values and the people of this region. The catalyst for my decision to stand as an Independent, apart from the many people who approached me to do so, was the proposed ban against the greyhound industry.

I believe the values of democracy in country areas in New South Wales are being eroded and this is our opportunity to voice our concerns not only over the greyhounds but other issues that are important to us such as Forced Amalgamations which this Coalition promised would never take place. I do not believe in Forced Amalgamations as I believe that country people have the right to participate in the decision making process of issues surrounding the
future of our regional towns and villages.

I will also work hard to close the gap of inequity in funding for rural roads and transport infrastructure. There is also parking at the Orange Health Service, TAFE and its cutbacks, and a respite centre for Forbes and other issues for which I am prepared to fight. I have also been working very hard to find investors to bring an export abattoir to Forbes as this could create 800 jobs for the area.

We need a member who is going to listen to the real issues of real people and who will stand up for the values of country people. I am a businessman of 36 years, a farmer, a family man and someone who empathises with the issues that you face as country people. Send this government the message that country people will fight for their rights and Vote 1 Munro for strong representation in Parliament.

Scott Munro

Dear Editor,
I’d like to thank all our supporters including the committee, volunteers, the Quota ladies, our sponsors and The Parkes Phoenix. We unfortunately had to abandon our last race meeting as the track was deemed to be unsafe for the horses and jockeys. The track was inspected twice by the NSW Racing Stewards from Dubbo with the hope that we might have been able to race, but this was not so.

We were looking forward to our local trainers having a run. One local trainer, Sarah Mcilrick, was hoping to have her first official race start. We are racing again in January. One of our most popular meetings is the Australia Day Meeting, which we are looking forward to conducting. Hopefully it won’t be washed out.

So once again, I’d like to thank all our supporters and look forward to seeing everyone trackside next year.

Mark Ross
President
Parkes Jockey Club

Dear Editor,
It will be a very sad day if Parkes Ladies Gym, Curves, has to close at the end of August after operating for nearly 10 years in the town.

Many members have been attending for 9 plus years and many have come and gone only to return again as they realise the benefits of the exercise circuit in calm, secure and friendly surrounds. For me, I consider it as a prescription to help manage my health and wellbeing, others have found it helps them lose weight and keep fit. All this will be lost if someone does not come forward to take on the gym from its current owner who is wanting to retire.

With sadness but with much appreciation we will be farewelling Barb who has done a wonderful job in setting up and managing Curves in various locations in Parkes. It would be great if a new owner could be found soon.

A very grateful Curves Member

Dear Editor,
Essential Energy would like to remind tradespeople, scaffolders and other construction workers to be aware of the potential for electrical hazards on the worksite and stay safe around electricity. Regional manager Northern, Mark Summers, said plant equipment and temporary structures should be kept well clear of the electricity network.

“Powerlines can be situated underground and overhead and workers should be aware of their location before picking up a jackhammer, operating machinery or excavating an area,” Mark said; “We recommend every worker, from the foreman through to the apprentice complete an onsite safety induction before commencing work – identifying the location of all electrical hazards.”

The Electricity Supply Act requires any excavation work to be logged with the free Dial before you dig referral service at www.1100.com.au, to identify the location of underground utility assets. The safe operating distance for workers and their equipment from overhead powerlines is three metres for distribution and transmission lines up to 132kV and four metres for scaffolding.

If scaffolding has the potential to encroach within four metres of powerlines, builders must contact Essential Energy to ensure safety controls are implemented to keep workers safe.
“We also recommend a competent safety observer be assigned to each worksite to monitor work teams and guide machinery movements near overhead powerlines,” Mark said. For more information contact 13 23 91.

To the Editor,
Re Cooke Park, Parkes
A number of citizens are worried about the future of Cooke Park under the new CBD plan. We feel that the plan is a very basic plan with green bits here and there, not a complete artistic representation of what the Park would really look like.

Every town has a small park that is dedicated to the history of the town by commemorative areas and Cooke Park is one of these. What concerns us is that we’ve lost so many of our Heritage buildings recently. Spicer Park grandstand is to be pulled down. Is Cooke Park next?

Cooke may not be demolished, but by removing it’s historical items isn’t this the same? Is the plan to rename it too? Cooke Park was named after Henry Harry Cooke an early miner who lived and mined in Currajong, he owned our first newspaper, was a Parliamentarian, friend and associate of Sir Henry Parkes, first Mayor and was involved in the first school at Currajong. The park was known as Cooke Park but wasn’t officially opened until 18th Nov. 1928. A fitting person for us to name our first public park after.

The Band Rotunda was an integral part of the Park for many years, built in 1912, it was paid for by donations and used by the Parkes Town Band, Parkes borough and Peak Hill Bands were among many visiting ones to use the Band Rotunda. It was sad to see it go and not be returned. At one time the Rotary Club were going to restore it. The Swan Pond feature, including Henry Parkes’ concrete statue donated by former resident Mrs Strickland and built in 1928, are gone. The statue was blown up by vandals and not replaced The water trough/ fountain, built to commemorate the bores/pumping of lifesaving water for Parkes will be removed.

We certainly need more space for festivals and events but is Cooke Park the right place? Why are we so keen to destroy our history and our special places? The only way we can stop the destruction of our special places and heritage is to write to the papers, Local Council and Councillors. Start a petition because decisions are being made by persons who don’t understand the significance of retaining our local heritage.

Yours Faithfully, Rosanne Jones
Concerned Ratepayer

Are hotel bookings robbing us blind?
We all have on occasion booked into a hotel where they request your credit card for a pre-authorisation. I am wondering how many of us actually check that these funds have been returned to our credit card. I had occasion last week to stay at the Crowne Plaza in Adelaide and they took a pre-authorisation amount of $50. I just happened
to notice that by Saturday of that week this amount had not been returned to the card. On ringing the hotel they said that it was up to the bank to return this amount, however they had also been experiencing some problems with this and some payments were being made and others weren’t. Surely a hotel of this stature, if they realised that there was a problem, would try and remedy this and would have somewhere in their checking system a procedure to find out if this was being returned?

I wonder how many times this happens across the world. So, be vigilant and always check that this pre-authorisation amount is returned to your card. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Yours sincerely,
A concerned traveller

Response to ‘For Bricks Sakes’ letter to the editor in issue 7…
I think that bricklayers do a great job. I have seen them at work and it is backbreaking work in all sorts of weather and the people who do it must be extremely strong and hard-working. However as a neighbour to a house that is being built, I believe that bricklayers need to respect the time that they start on a weekend.

There are local government rules which govern this and to be woken up earlier than 7am on a Saturday with a generator going outside your bedroom window is one thing, but to then request that it stop and as soon as you walk back inside, it restarts is another. We can spare a thought for the brickies if they spare a thought for the residents.