The past couple of weeks have flown by and we are now a quarter of the way through the year.
On Monday the 8th April Councillor Boag represented the Bogan Shire on my behalf at the Country Mayors Regional Housing Conference in Forbes. The Conference was held over two days and discussion topics during the conference included housing shortages and solutions, displays of modular housing and the efficiency of modular home builds compared to building a home from scratch.
Youth Week is being celebrated through the Shire with activities being held for our youth at different venues. Nyngan High School kicked it off with a Colour Fun Run last Friday, a Glow Roller Disco was held on Saturday and the FMX Bike Show was held at the Showground on Monday.
Stormco have also been in town this past week holding activities at the Youth Centre and O’Reilly Park, with assistance from the Youth Centre Staff. This included a movie afternoon and volleyball competition.
Youth drop-in sessions have also continued at the Youth Centre with various activities including some craft. There will be a disco with photobooth at the Youth Centre tomorrow to finish off the week’s celebrations.
Bogan Shire Councillors held their annual Village Tours on Thursday 11th of April 2024. It was great to see the progress over the past twelve months of upgrades in the Villages and to discuss upcoming ideas. All Villages are to be commended.
Council has received a fine from Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) for $1000 where Council had repaired the low-level crossing beside Monkey Bridge. We have also been told that we will have to remove the structure totally. Anyone who has used this crossing will be well aware how vital it is for the movement of machinery and stock as the bridge is only a single lane structure. I would urge any concerned residents to contact Roy Butlers office to air their concerns about the impact the removal of this structure will cause. Fisheries main argument for its removal is that the round concrete pipes currently installed will impede fish migration and the only option left to us is to put a crossing at floor level of the river, which would mean trying to cross in a significant height amount of water or to replace the pipes with square culverts, which would be a significant cost to council unless funding was provided from elsewhere. Yet again another classic example of environment before communities with no consideration for the disruption this will cause. Council will be exploring all options to prevent the removal.
Anzac Day is fast approaching and the annual Anzac march of the schools, community service members and veterans to the cenotaph will commence at 10:50am starting from the front of the Nyngan RSL. After the presentations and wreath laying at the front of the Council offices, the Annual Anzac Day races will kick off around midday with a 6-race program for the day it is always a family fun day out and I wish the committee all the success for the day. If the races are not your thing, pop into the RSL which will be busy commemorating well into the night.
All our thoughts are with the victims, their families, witnesses and the heroic community members that helped and the first responders in the wake of the tragic Bondi Attack, to what can only be describe as a horrific event in history. Strength to you all.