Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA) NSW Conference

What an inspiring conference. Held over 3 days, 4th – 6th March 2010, Moree Plains Shire Council hosted “Women Making a Splash”, an event aimed at the promotion of women and their important contributions to our communities.

As Country Vice-President of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association, I enjoyed the speakers and presentations very much. There was even some time for participants to explore and shop in Moree! We are an organisation of women (and men) who are concerned about the many difficulties facing our country. We aim to become well informed about important local, state and national issues and to apply that insight in practical ways in our own communities.

This event provides the opportunity for us to learn about and speak with women who are making a difference in their own communities and workplaces. Some of them are succeeding against significant prejudices and setbacks. When you listen to the experiences and achievements of so many strong women it genuinely makes you itch to try to achieve your own best.

Among the many impressive presenters were featured:

Hon Linda Burney MP - Minister For The State Plan, Minister For Community Services And Member For Canterbury. She was the first Aboriginal Australian to be elected to the NSW Parliament and is a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation. Linda’s commitment to Indigenous issues spans 30 years.

Jude Munro - Chief Executive Officer Brisbane City Council (BCC). Jude is a Director of the Brisbane Institute, Australia Trade Coast Pty Ltd, the City of Brisbane Airport Corporation, United Way Queensland and the Translink Transit Authority Board. She is a former Director of the Brisbane Riverfestival, Adelaide City Marketing, Adelaide Convention and Tourism Authority and the 7th Australian Masters Games Board.

Air Commodore Margaret Staib - in June 2000 she was posted to an exchange position with the United States Air Force, in the Pentagon. For her work on logistics trans-formation, she was awarded the United States Meritorious Service Medal. She was promoted to the rank of Air Commodore in January 2006, and took up the post of Director General Strategic Logistics, in Joint Logistics Command. During 2008, Air Commodore Staib led the Logistics Companion Review in support of the 2008 Defence White Paper, and is currently the Commandant at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Source: www.algwa.org.au/docs/ALGWA%20Registration%20Smaller.pdf

What a wonderful program that inspires more women to overcome adversity and reach their potential in any sector they choose.

New Website for Updates

I will no longer be making posts on this site as I now own my own web-site http://www.fionarossiter.com/

I have enjoyed keeping you informed and have found this blogger site very easy to use. The format as you can see is easy to manouvre around and provides the opportunity to upload photos and links to web-sites.

I will however keep this blog site as it has some useful information attached. In the future I will provide regular updates on the blog attached to my new web-site which can be found at http://www.fionarossiter.com/

I look forward to remaining in touch with you

Cheers

Fiona

New Website for Updates

I no longer post on this site as I now own my own web-site with lots of information supplied for you. I also have a blog which I use online with regular recent entries. The reason I have changed this process is due to the many various different places I post in such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Bebo. Because it was all proving very time consuming I now post on my web-site and link to all other sites. I will continue keeping you up to date on my Council ventures and look forward to hearing your feedback.

For future updates please view my new web-site http://www.fionarossiter.com/



For anyone considering blogging then I do recommend Blogger for ease of use and as you will see when viewing this site the layout works well and the system is very easy to follow.

I look forward to staying in touch

Fiona

Orange City Councils free mobile water audit

While we are talking about water for Orange I would recommend you take advantage of the free mobile water audit available to people in the Orange electorate.
To learn more visit the link below

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=app_2347471856&ref=profile&id=761252925

Is that thunder I just heard! It has been raining since yesterday evening here in Orange and we have collected 10mls so far in our rain gauge. Plus both of our tanks are full!
Fiona

4th February Council meeting

We came back for our first Council meeting last night since the Christmas break. Of course water was the major topic for discussion as it always has been in Council. You will find attached a report I have written with regards to last nights meeting and in particular the water issue. I welcome comments and suggestions.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=app_2347471856&ref=profile&id=761252925

This report has been posted on my facebook site under the notes section in the main tabs on the page.

Orange Regional Arts Foundation (ORAF) Gives Grand Piano to the City

The Orange Regional Arts Foundation recently gave a Yamaha grand piano, valued at $59 000, to the city of Orange. The piano will be housed at the Orange Regional Conservatorium (ORC). This will really assist those senior students and performers at the conservatorium.

An unveiling was held on Thursday the 26th November when Graham Sattler, the Director of Orange Regional Conservatorium played for us all. It was great to see him engaging the community with his varied repertoire.

Graduation from the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation

What an amazing experience of not only self discovery but also world and state discovery. As you may know I have been on an 18 month course of leadership with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (APLF). I was sponsored by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. One of the days spent in Canberra involved a trip to Outward Bound our adventure can be view at the ARLF site.
As a part of our course we were required to develop a vision statement, ours is "Communities empowered to create their own vibrant future" and my task specifically is to gain a greater understanding of support for all families. I intend to conduct a survey with the support of Orange City Council to establish the needs of Orange residents. More details on this can be viewed at the Australian Rural Leadership site.
A Symposium was held on Friday 20th November which included guest speakers Professor Peter Shergold, Peter Cosier, Leo D'Angelo Fisher, Darriea Turley and Chris Sarra. Mixed in with our guest speakers were presentations from several course participants on their vision tasks. For more details on these they can be viewed at the ARLP site. Leo D'Angelo makes reference to the days activities and I would recommend you read his article at BRW a leading Business magazine.
I welcome any speaking opportunities to speak further about our vision statement, my vision task or my involvement in the Australian Rural Leadership Program. Contact me at frossiter@bigpond.com

Opening of Yarrawong Children’s Centre

On Monday the 9th November the new extension for the Yarrawong Children’s Centre was opened. Yarrawong Children's Centre is a community-based, not-for-profit, long day care centre that has been offering high quality accredited care since December 1993. The centre caters for children aged between 0 and 5 years. This is a positive, family resource that encourages children to learn and develop through play; where staff encourage exploration in groups and support individuals to learn at their own pace within a safe environment.

The new, council funded, extension allows for a greater separation between age groups and gives the centre 10 extra places to offer the community.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudds visit to Bathurst

Having the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Health Minister Nicola Roxon was something I am glad to have been able to do. It is not every day that the Prime Minister comes out to Regional and Rural NSW, in fact it is very rare. The community was able to ask questions relevant to Federal Government and tap into areas of great concern such as health, education, transport, environment and water.

Although this was a great opportunity, it was also frustrating. When viewing and partaking in question time it proved difficult for the Prime Minister at times to answer the relevant questions. Instead time was wasted in finding fault and playing the blame game on others. Questions were asked and answers were needed.

I travelled with other people from Orange because the visit by the Prime Minister did not extend past Bathurst, again this is an unfortunate decision I believe made by the Labor party. It shows those people outside of Bathurst that they are either irrelevant, insignificant or of no value when seeking votes for further elections. Aside from that I would like to think that a positive or several positive outcomes could come from this event.

If the Prime Minister is true to his word along with the Ministers then we (country NSW) can expect some significant changes. One in particular that comes to mind would be the assistance for community service projects which I mentioned. I plan to keep you all updated on this matter and would like to think we could expect a positive outcome.

Looking forward to further contact with the cabinet and discussions and funding to help rural and remote communities.

View the story from the Central Western Daily and there is more... to read

Presentation of Rural Fire Service Awards and Handover of Tankers.

Yesterday, the NSW Rural Fire Service acknowledged the contributions of long time volunteers to local brigades in the Canobolas Zone. The Rural Fire Service is made up of volunteers from all walks of life - men and women who give up their time to protect our community. Although unable to attend, I sincerely wish to congratulate these people for their ongoing efforts.

The RFS is the lead agency in NSW for bush fire fighting. It is also responsible for fires and related emergency incidents within Rural Fire Districts: districts that cover more than 95% of the State! Add to this, the RFS’s role supporting other agencies in emergency situations such as floods, storms and rescue situations and it is easy to see the vital contribution that these people make to our community.

The brigades in the area had additional cause to celebrate as the NSW Government handed over the long awaited tankers and bus to their Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra and Orange operations.

Orange Outstanding Business Awards 2009

Congratulations to the Orange Business Chamber for all their work contributing to the GGU Orange Outstanding Business Awards 2009. The Orange Business Chamber aims to bring Orange businesses closer together and to promote these business to develop a better economy for all businesses.

In a festive dinner dance at the Orange Ex-Services’ Club, awards were given in over a dozen categories. The theme this year was “driving energy efficiency and water conservation in our community.” This was a very well attended evening and everyone had a great time celebrating and dancing.

Winners include:
Retail Small – Skinsational Beauty Therapy
Retail Medium to large – Printflow
Professional Services – Orange Veterinary Hospital
Hard Trade – Jeff Hort Engineering
Soft Trade – Sheeradiance
Tourism, Food, Accommodation – Black Sheep Inn
Manufacturing – Almighty Industries
Agribusiness – Orange Veterinary Hospital
Innovation – Orange Courier Service
New and Emerging Business – Small Acres Cyder
Not For Profit – Orange Credit Union
Energy Efficiency – Mick Fabar Engineering
Water Conservation – Electrolux Home Products
People’s Choice Business – Mission Australia Community Services
People’s Choice Employee - Catherine Bayada

I attended as a representative of Orange City Council and very much enjoyed the entertaining and informative evening: a culmination of outstanding achievements.

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.

Tim Sullivan Car Park

On Wednesday the 30th of September an unveiling ceremony was held for the Tim Sullivan car park which is at the near of the Orange Civic Centre.

The dedication reads:

"This facility was named in honour of Tim Sullivan (OAM) in recognition of his commitment to civic duties and to the Orange community. Mr. Sullivan was an Orange City Councillor from 1978 to 1991 and from 1995 to 1999. He was mayor of the City of Orange from 1983 to 1991. Mr. Sullivan was born on the 22 November 1944 and was educated at De la Salle Orange. He was a former board member of the Central Tablelands County Council, Advance Energy, Country Energy, Orange Agricultural College and the Bathurst Orange Development Corporation. He is a former president of the Orange City Rugby Union Club and the Orange CYMS Rugby League Club. He was awarded a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship in 1990. In 2003, Mr. Sullivan was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to local government and the Orange community."

This is a fitting and much deserved acknowledgment for a popular, fair and equitable mayor; a respectful recognition of his work and achievements.