The first meeting of the newly elected Council will be held at 1pm next Thursday. There are a number of items on the agenda for the first meeting including the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Everyone is welcome to attend Council meetings.

The engagement strategy for the review of the Community Strategic Plan will be underway next week with our community surveys released online on Friday. We will keep you posted with the link to the survey in the next column. The survey will also be sent out with the September Community Newsletter, which will be distributed to all households the week commencing September 26.

Thanks to all of the residents who helped the SES filling sandbags this week. It was great to see so many people there Saturday and Sunday. Please remember not to drive through flood water. It may not look very deep but the condition of the road underneath the water could be very poor. The flood water is expected to be around for a few days, so please stay cautious.  Council extends its appreciation to all our emergency services, volunteers and staff, for their great efforts.

Council hosted a Prostate Cancer Awareness Forum in conjunction with CanAssist last week. It was very successful with approximately 40 people attending the evening. The event gathered significant interest in the establishment of a Forbes Prostate Cancer Support Group and the first meeting will be held next Thursday at 5.30pm at the Forbes Youth and Community Centre.

The Forbes Show is still going ahead. I hope everyone enjoys the event. Remember to come and visit our Council stand while you are there.