The weird and wonderful plants, fungi and animals of the Parkes Shire will be the subject of a new photography competition for students.

The inaugural Biodiversity in Focus photography competition is open to all students across the Parkes Shire with cash prizes for the most creative and intriguing photos of the biodiversity found in the Parkes local government area. 

Students can submit up to three of their most striking and engaging photos. A judging panel will select the finalists, and their images will be displayed in the Coventry Room at the Parkes Library & Cultural Centre in November.

Finalists will be chosen across three divisions: infants (K-2), primary (3-6), and secondary school students (7-12). 

“This competition aims to showcase and celebrate the beauty of the natural world through the eyes of our local youth, as well as improve awareness and interest in native organisms and the ecosystems they inhabit,” said Parkes Shire Councillor Marg Applebee.

“In addition to having their photographs displayed in the Coventry Room, one winner from each division will receive a $50 Shop Parkes Gift Card and will score their school a nesting box,” said Marg.

“The nesting box will benefit native species who rely on tree hollows for shelter, nesting and raising offspring. The opportunity to observe animals interacting with the nesting boxes will provide students and staff with an uplifting learning experience,” said Marg.

Visit council’s website at www.parkes.nsw.gov.au to enter. Entries will be open from Thursday, 1st September to Wednesday, 28th October. Students must upload at least one image and provide a title and short description. Up to three submissions per student are welcome.

Parkes Shire Council has embraced renewable energy signing a new electricity contract with a wind energy supplier at Wellington.

The new electricity contract with Iberdrola Australia was finalised last week for the supply of energy for Council’s large sites and streetlighting from 1st January next year. The Bodangora Wind Farm near Wellington in NSW will supply the electricity, while Council will also have the option to change to the Flyers Creek Wind Farm near Blayney when it becomes operational.

“We know that electricity prices are skyrocketing, and this new deal means Council has security in terms of pricing in the coming years,” said Mayor of Parkes Shire Ken Keith OAM.

“The eight-year contract is a huge achievement for Council, and we are excited that we have been able to secure such a great deal in the current electricity market.”

Iberdrola Australia Managing Director and CEO Ross Rolfe AO said: “We are delighted to be partnering with councils in the Central NSW and Riverina regions, enabling them to access reliable and affordable clean energy backed by our wind farms and flexible, fast-start assets.

“We have worked with the councils and communities in these regions for many years. These councils have supported the Australian economy’s green energy transition.”

The new contract is for 50% renewable energy, which means Council can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2,318t CO² annually, while also helping to support new renewable energy development.

“We’re all looking for ways to keep costs as low as possible and this contract allows us to do that while reducing our carbon footprint,” said the Mayor.

Central NSW Joint Organisation Chair, Cr Kevin Beatty said: “Collectively, the Central NSW region will source around 78% of its electricity for councils’ large sites and streetlighting from renewable energy under this deal. This is a huge win for the region,” he said.

Both students and staff were eager to celebrate Education Week this year by promoting a love for learning and having some fun along the way.

“Inspiring students today to shine tomorrow” was the theme for primary students on Wednesday. In line with this year’s Education Week theme, Creating Brighter Futures, students had the pleasure of working with the team from Bright Future STEM Program from AREEA (Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association) in conjunction with CMOC Northparkes Mines and Howden Australia to explore the wonders of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and career opportunities. The students were inspired and their love for learning was ignited as they engaged in plenty of hands-on activities, including the use of virtual goggles and puzzle solving that encouraged plenty of critical thinking, teamwork, imagination, and FUN!

The week started with the Forbes Public School Book Fair which encouraged many of our students from the most avid readers to those who simply enjoy listening to and/or reading along with others to purchase books for their home libraries. We were excited to welcome our community along to share in our love for books. The day proved a huge success raising over $7,000. These proceeds will go back into providing resources and activities for our students to both benefit from and engage in. 

We are thrilled to know that our students have added to home libraries, their imaginations and time with loved ones at home sharing a story or two having purchased books.

The highlight of Education Week is always, the Book Character parade, where book characters are brought to life by both staff and students who proudly showed off their costumes by parading to music in front of the school community on Friday. The parade is always a welcomed opportunity to connect with our families over plenty of fun and laughter. The parade was followed by a family picnic and open classrooms where teachers, students and their families were able to share in student learning experiences and opportunities that have occurred so far this year. 

It was wonderful to have our wider school community on site, joining in the fun of the book fair, the parade, picnic, and classroom activities. We are grateful during these current times to be able to come together as a whole school to not only celebrate a love for learning, but also the fun and community spirit that comes with being a part of the FPS community. 

Three years ago Kerry Willems was sleeping in her car with no money to buy food, no clothes, and no facilities for personal hygiene. 

Kerry, who now lives in Forbes in secure accommodation, still has not forgotten the despair she felt. 

Speaking at a Homelessness Week event in Forbes last week hosted by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, she said: “Those days are now gone for me, but they will never be forgotten. 

“It is still very real and can happen to any one of us at any time.” 

She had an “absolutely intoxicating fear of being alone”. 

Kerry had always been employed, and even owned a successful florist business in Sydney before she became homeless. 

Her experience is not uncommon – the number of homeless people aged 55 years and above increased by 28% between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census. 

“I was one of those statistics,” Kerry said expressing concern about the rates of homelessness among women in that age bracket. 

Through CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, Kerry received accommodation in the women’s refuge, and was able to regain employment. 

“Once I was employed, I was able to start applying for private rental properties. I have now been employed for three years with Woolworths and live in my safe little home.” 

Kerry said sharing her story meant the world to her. “Sadly, so many people do not have the strength and the courage to get where I am today,” she said. 

“I fought my homelessness and won.” 

There was a lot of catching up to be done after two years of ‘silence’ at the Knit ‘n Natter event at Craft Corner last week.

About 40 women from Orange and Bathurst joined locals from Parkes and surrounds to not only natter over a cuppa and cake, but also knit squares for the Wrap with Love project that provide warm wraps to vulnerable people all over the world.

“We donate wraps to overseas charities, but also donate to 12 local charities including to the women’s refuge, nursing homes, oncology department and more,” said Dianne Percy, co-ordinator of Wrap with Love in Orange.

The annual even at Craft Corner, going for more than 14 years, is a great way of bringing people together, but members of the public are knitting at their homes and with friends right through the year for the project.

“One rug is made up of 28 squares, and we have 604 completed so far this year,” said Dianne. All the knitted squares from the Central West go to Orange and since the start of the project a total of 7,000 rugs have been made so far.

Wrap with Love was started in Melbourne in 1992 and donations have been sent to people in more than 75 countries.

Craft Corner members and anyone else keen on knitting are encouraged to drop off their knitted squares at the Craft Corner in Parkes. The squares should be 25cm square, knitted in 8 ply yarn with no. 8 (4mm) needles in garter stitch all plain rows.

If you have any 8 ply yarn lying around at home, feel free to drop that off at the Craft Corner too.

Dianne’s group meets at the Orange City Library every Thursday from 9 to 12 in the morning. She said the group also made beanies for homeless people, twiddle muffs for people with dementia and children with disabilities, outfits for stillborn babies and trauma teddies for hospitals.

By Maggi Barnard

Local Wiradjuri artefacts have been given a permanent home at the Parkes Library and Cultural Centre after it was identified as a priority project by the community.

Parkes Shire Council has collaborated with representatives of our First Nations community to curate the Wiradjuri Ngurambang Exhibition that was officially opened last week by the Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith OAM. 

Pieces in the exhibition include a range of artefacts from local Wiradjuri community members, from the Henry Parkes Museum collection as well as pieces sourced from local Wiradjuri artists. Objects include hunting and gathering tools, grinding stones, digging sticks and spears, coolamons, dilly bags and ceremonial pieces.

“The Wiradjuri Ngurambang Exhibition will give voices to our artefacts,” said exhibition curatorium member and environmental artist Ronda Sharpe. “Our local First Nations community has been working with Council to bring the project together and excitedly gathering items for the exhibition.”

The Mayor said it was just wonderful to see an exhibition of this nature produced with so much quality and taste. “The Wirajuri Ngurambang Exhibition is a cultural gift to not only the people in our shire but also to many visitors who come to Parkes giving insight into the Wiradjuri language and culture as well as the history of Parkes, present and future.”

The curatorium members included Robert Clegg, Geoff Anderson, Ronda Sharpe and Irene Ridgeway with guidance from the Elders Advisory Group and the Parkes First Nations Community Working Party.

The digital component of the exhibition, produced by Sean James Cassidy of Ub Ubbo, complements the display and provides an introduction to Wiradjuri culture. The organic filming style seeks to highlight the importance of looking closely at and listening carefully to nature, our Elders and each other. 

The exhibition was funded by the Australian Government’s Local Roads & Community Infrastructure Program and is part of the Let’s Get Digital initiative by Museums & Galleries of NSW.