Mayor Ken Keith.
Support And Positivity – Mayor’s Message: Mayor of Parkes Shire Cr Ken Keith OAM reassured the community stating we are all in this together. “Be assured that as your local Council we are here to ensure essential services continue to be delivered to our community and we will support you in any capacity we can.”
Whilst there are still no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Parkes LGA, the surge in cases around NSW is concerning and Council has actively been putting measures in place to respond to these increased risks. Council’s operations will begin to be scaled back to essential services only. The public swimming pools, libraries and Parkes Visitors Information Centre were closed on Tuesday. The libraries moved to online and over the phone services, while the visitors centre still attend to online and phone enquiries during regular opening hours. Council will start planning for possible further restrictions or closures of customer service areas in the public offices, meetings spaces and consolidation of public amenities to ensure we are prepared to act swiftly should the need arise.
“This is a challenging time for us all, let’s support each other, be kind and heed the directives of government to ensure we all stay safe.”
COVID-19 Support For Regional Australia: An initial $1 billion will be injected into regional communities to support businesses, agriculture and tourism impacted by the ongoing spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said many small and medium businesses were the core of regional communities. “Our funding will ensure we provide the right support so industries and businesses keep going and employees can keep their jobs which includes the more than three million small and medium businesses as well as casuals, sole traders, retirees and those on income support.”
Viral Kindness: Dominos stores across the country started delivering thousands of free pizzas to healthcare workers on the battlefront of the health crisis. The local Parkes branch joined in the “Feeding the Frontline” campaign calling on health care workers to contact them. “No strings attached, we’ll just make a time on a busy shift in the hospital or health centre and turn up with free pizza for the team.” Let us join the kindness drive and make it go viral in our community!
While the Craft Corner has closed its doors, they are not closed for business. Customers are welcome to phone in orders, especially with Easter and Mother’s Day coming up. There are lots of beautiful handcrafted items for sale.