The mayoral election will be one of the first items on the agenda for the monthly Council meeting, which will be held at the chambers in Harold Street from 1pm.

While candidates for mayor can nominate before the meeting, those nominations have not been released by Council as they remain open. 

Local Government NSW regulations require that the returning officer, Council’s general manager, will call for nominations on the day.

Councillors will vote by ballot, and the election for deputy mayor will follow the mayoral election.

Forbes Shire’s current councillors Phyllis Miller, Grant Clifton, Steven Karaitiana, Susan Chau, Graeme Miller, Jenny Webb, Michele Herbert, Chris Roylance and Jeff Nicholson were elected in September 2016.

Cr Graeme Miller was elected mayor at the first meeting of the new council, before a large audience at the Services Memorial Club.

The other candidate was Cr Phyllis Miller, who served as mayor from 2008, and again from 2015.

At the 2015 mayoral election, votes for the councillors Miller were tied and the mayor was drawn from a hat. 

The new mayor will take the chair for the rest of Thursday’s meeting, and a $22 million dollar dairy expansion is on the agenda for councillors to consider.

The proposal, outlined in the business paper on Council’s website, is to increase herd size, introduce robotic milking technology, and build barn infrastructure to accommodate the increased herd at the Payten’s Bridge dairy.

Council has received five submissions, included with responses in the report to Council, after notifying 20 neighbours of the development application. The Environmental Protection Authority has also been included in the process.  

The recommendation from staff is to approve the expansion.