Up Coming Events

Children's Week Celebrations-28th October

Rotary Friendship Exchange-16th October

Freshly Plucked Festival receives funds- 2nd October

Tim Sullivan Car Park-30th September

Glenroi Public Meeting- 24th September

St Petersburg Quartet- 23rd September

NAIDOC Week Celebrations-20th till 26th September

Rotary Enviro Expo- 18th till 20th September

Fusion's 20th Anniversary Orange-19th September

Blackmans Swamp Stormwater Harvesting Official opening-27th August

Rotary Club North Orange-Guest Speaker-13th August

Civic Welcome The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC-3rd August

Frost Fest opening-30th July

Art Health and Wellbeing Music Conservatorium-31st July

Nationals Warren Truss-30th July

Cpt Paul Moulds Oasis-27th July

After Five Action Coach-28th July

Certificate of Appreciation presentation-23rd July

PCYC- Sir Neville Howse Stadium- 13th July

Tough Times, Smart Solutions

The Local Government Association of NSW Annual Conference 2009 was held in Tamworth from the 24th to 28th of October 2009. The Local Government Association is an association of councils representing metropolitan and large regional councils, resolved to provide leadership and advocacy for the benefit of all communities. Over 600 delegates from member councils as well as representatives of County Councils meet to discuss and set policy for the coming year. Mayor John Davis and I attended to represent our district.

The theme was, appropriately, Tough Times, Smart Solutions. The conference focused on finding ways for councils to continue to deliver quality services and infrastructure to their communities despite the severe curtailment of our finances and the increasing demands of modern society.

Australia’s population is constantly growing and the development and provision of our services must also grow to meet future needs. The conference discussed many cross-council issues for this future.

· Housing and town planning included: developing sustainable housing corridors, housing linked to transport routes, mandatory green house gas emissions reductions, reducing water leakage and usage, recycling and rate-pegging.
· Health issues included: using local development laws to ban artificial trans-fats in fast food outlets (e.g. Gosford and Kogarah), and discouraging smoking in public areas - thirty percent of NSW councils have some sort of outdoor smoking policy.
· Recognition of the critical role of local government in tourism by identifying opportunities to attract new investment and planning for the needs of tourism destinations.
· Local Government Amendment (Planning and Reporting) Bill 2009 has been passed by Parliament and now new tendering guidelines have been provided to assist councils in the procurement of goods and services.
· The Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework provides a legislative base for councils to develop mechanisms that facilitate direct citizen participation in the strategic planning process.
· Encouraging many Regional Organisations of Councils to develop resource-sharing initiatives that align with the planning and reporting reforms.
Lots to be thinking about and actively including in our work for a better community.

Children's Week Celebrations

On Wednesday 28th October Glenroi Community Centre celebrated Children's Week with a fun day of disco, play-dough modelling, mural painting, bubble blowing, face painting and jumping castles!

This nationwide, annual event provides an opportunity to emphasise a child's right to enjoy childhood and celebrates the talents, skills and achievements of children. Kids from Family Day Care, Occasional Care, Courallie Park Child Development Centre, Spring Street Children's Centre, Yarrawong Children's Centre, Bush Babies Playgroup and the Multicultural Mothers Group all attended and had a great time. Each of these centres is supported by council.

I found the enthusiasm of the kids, staff and parents to be very enjoyable and I was so proud knowing that our council provides such positive, family focused services. For more information about our council's commitment to the community have a quick look on the council website.

Orange City Council Children's Services

Australian National Field Days 2009

Held over three days from Tuesday 20th to Thursday the 22nd, this year’s Australian National Fields Days event was another success for our community. The feature exhibit was “Changing Agriculture in a Changing Environment”. This is a fabulous event for our community, bringing in new ideas and expertise. Orange itself was particularly busy over the full week supplying the accommodation and needs of exhibitors and visitors alike.

The feature exhibit concentrated how to better prepare and adapt to meet the challenges of modern agricultural and environmental concerns. Exhibitors gave information on a range of issues including: biodiversity, soils, water management, cultural heritage awareness and native vegetation. I particularly enjoyed our council’s stall focusing on low water use plants.

There was even a demonstration soil pit was outside the pavilion manned by Catchment Management Authority (CMA) where all landholders were encouraged to bring along their soil samples or soil test results for analysis and discussion. Water quality testing was also available for testing samples and advisers discussed improvement methods there too.

Probably the most topical event of this year was watching a solar-powered Mitsubishi Triton Ute used to sow crops! It was developed by an innovative, Bathurst farmer Michael Inwood, the electric-powered vehicle, charged from solar panels, can pull a disc seeder! This is another great example of farmers looking at finding their own solutions and exploring ways to improve their land management and energy saving practices.

Oregon Rotary Exchange

It looks like I’ve found my “twin” in Oregon!

This week Orange hosted a number of Rotarians from Oregon as part of a Rotary Friendship Exchange program. They are touring across NSW and spending three days in many different regions.

The Rotary Friendship Exchange program gives Rotarians and their families the chance to host and then visit other Rotarians from around the world. The idea is to build international understanding and goodwill among communities. As well as experiencing other cultures and making lasting friendships, an exchange may provide opportunities for vocational experiences and developing service projects.

I was able to spend some time with the group before they left and aside from discovering a virtual “twin” in the person of Carol Winston, I was also impressed by the possibilities offered by programs like this. We often see opportunities for Youth Exchange to encourage personal growth and connectedness for young people; however, it is rarer for these opportunities to be offered to “mature” candidates, it is good to see they do exist!

Prostate Cancer Awareness at Wellness House

On Monday 12/10/2009 Wellness House held a sound and light show to highlight prostate cancer awareness. Wellness House glowed with blue lights and enthusiasm. This is such a worthwhile cause aimed at assisting those whose lives have been touched by prostate cancer. All funds raised were given to the Orange Prostate Cancer Support Group to encourage their ongoing support for men in this region. A wonderful evening was had by all who attended with many thanks to Alan Brown (Centrestate Sound and Lighting) as well as Cecilia Rochelli and Andrew Ferguson for their time and skills to support this event.

People affected by prostate cancer are often bewildered by conflicting information about the disease and find it difficult to get clear and accurate answers to their questions. Orange Prostate Cancer Support Group aims t0 offer valuable background information, patient support materials, and contacts for advice on living with prostate cancer. You need never be alone in this journey.

Please contact Barry Spilstead on 0427 624 067 for more information or to donate to this worthwhile cause.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

Prostate Cancer Awareness-Wellness House

The Orange Prostate Cancer support group and the Wellness Foundation presented a Prostate Cancer Awareness evening just recently in Orange. The Wellness House was lit up with blue lights and plenty of material was on display in the hope to raise awareness of Prostate Cancer within our community. Claudia did sm amazing job in helping to bring together the evenings events with other community representatives. Claudia is very active with the Wellness House Foundation.

The night was a great success with fabulous music from Cecilia Rochelli and Andrew Ferguson. The blue lighting was supplied by Alan Brown. Extensive resources were available to give people information about Prostate Cancer. There was mention about the extensive work that Orange City Council is currently doing to secure commonwealth funding to support the Regional Cancer Care centre of excellence.

To learn more about Prostate Cancer visit the web-site www.prostate.org.au

November's Freshly Plucked Festival

The Freshly Plucked Festival is locked in for November but organisers are still seeking sponsorship to help this worthwhile event. Magic Dirt will headline the festival with The Fumes, Regular John, The Jezabels, Claude Hay and Dreadnaught also performing.


The aim of the festival is to remind us all that there are many great ways to have fun without drinking or taking drugs.


Lyndon Community executive officer Craig Mills reports that the Lyndon Community will happily provide $2500 in funding sponsorship for the festival as an alcohol and drug free event.
The Lyndon Community is a dedicated non-government organisation providing alcohol and other drug treatment in residential and non residential programs. It provides accessible, high quality drug and alcohol services to reduce the harm and improve health and well being of individuals, families and the community.


This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to not only enjoy themselves but to also develop a variety skills and real world experiences. Theory is all well and good, but for personal growth they all need to get involved, they need to experience all the worthwhile opportunities our community can offer them. Sponsorship is the biggest hurdle. This youth outreach deserves more funding and any business interested in providing sponsorship can contact the Freshly Plucked Festival project officer Tara Selwood on 0407 208 467.