News

Orange residents buying or selling a house with a pool will have to make sure the pool fences complies with contemporary safety standards, following the passing of a new NSW government deadline.

Orange City Council’s Planning & Development Committee chair, Cr Russell Turner believes the 29 April deadline is the next step in the process of making backyard pools safer for young children.

"Too many children are still drowning in backyard pools and the NSW Government is to be congratulated for introducing this step," Cr Russell Turner said.

For a number of years, all householders with backyard pools have had to register their pools on line.

Reaching this new deadline means that anyone who wants to sell or lease their house must also have an inspection and a certificate to show the pool is up to safety standards.

Orange City Council is geared up to respond to any requests. Residents can download the application form from the council website, drop it in to the council and arrangement payment. The state government has set a fee of $150 for the inspection.

It’s expected the inspection will be able to happen in a matter of days.

"The best way is for home-owners to work their way through the online check-list and get any necessary work done on their pool before they arrange an inspection," Cr Turner said. "That could avoid the need for a potential follow-up inspection if problems are found."

Orange residents will have an extra way to remember the sacrifice of the men and women who served in military conflict, during Anzac commemorations this year.

Staff at the Orange cemetery have arranged a display of Australian flags marking the graves or headstones of more than ninety ex-service men and women whom served in WW1.

Orange City Council’s Centenary of World War One Community Committee chair, Cr Reg Kidd said the placement of flags will be a poignant reminder of the impact of the war on the Orange community.

“Throughout the centenary events, people have been moved by the sheer depth of the impact the conflict had on the community of Orange,” Cr Reg Kidd said. “Placing an Australian flag next to each of the ninety-four war service graves is a profound reminder of how this damage to families was felt across the Orange community, but also the breadth of the service by so many people.”

Orange Cemetery has 94 war service graves from WW1, where the families of the deceased have selected to acknowledge their war service on the headstone or with a plaque.

Of that 94, 63 people survived the war, returned to live in Orange and are now buried in the Orange Cemetery.

The other 31 are commemorative plaques for people who are buried in France, Belgium etc.

This group includes three who served at Gallipoli :-

• EDWARDS, Arthur Louis – Private, 2^nd Australian Infantry Battalion – died 26 / 1 / 1915 age 28
• LIDSTER, Cecil Reginald John – Private, 1^st Light Horse Regiment – died 6 / 6 / 1915 age 22
• BEASLEY, William Robert Clive – Private, 2^nd Battalion – died 2 / 5 / 1915 age 20

“The plan is that these flags will be placed for each year until the 100 year anniversary of the WW1 concludes”, Cr Reg Kidd said.

“As well, a photographic field guide of all headstones and plaques at the cemetery, acknowledging war service from any war is being prepared.”

The cemetery will be open for visitors across the long weekend. The flags will be left in place until Wednesday 27 April.

Road safety in Orange has been boosted by the latest new round of funding announced under the Black Spot program which includes funding for 11 local accidents blacks spots.

Federal Member for Calare, John Cobb announced that Orange was awarded funding worth $1.9 million of the $5.2 million allocated to Calare.

“This investment is helping to make our local roads safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians," John Cobb said.

“I’m sure residents across Calare will recognise the history and notoriety of each of these locations and welcome the news these dangerous areas will be addressed."

City of Orange Traffic Committee chair Cr Russell Turner has welcomed the funding announcement, the most 'Black Spot' funding has received in recent years.

"The Federal Government has recognised the accident record of these local roads and intersections, that and we thank for the funding that they are providing to to make a lot of intersections and out internal roads just that little bit safer," Cr Russell Turner said.

ROUNDABOUT : Member for Calare John Cobb and City of Orange Traffic C'tee chair Cr Russell Turner discuss the new roundabout to be built at the corner of Lords Place and March St.

According to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, there were 1,242 road deaths in Australia in the 12 months to February 2016.

At each of the 11 Orange locations to be funded for an upgrade, there were multiple accidents over the last five years where people were injured.

The approved projects in Orange include:

• $322,000: 1.8km section of Pinnacle Road from Shiralee Road southwards to improve the camber of the road, upgrade the seal to a high level non-skid surface, install curve alignment markers, install shoulder and mark road edge lines.
• $310,000: 1.8km section of Forest Road south of Cadia Road to install wire rope barrier on roadside, upgrade seal to high level non-skid surface and replace w-beam barrier with wire rope barrier.
• $300,000: Intersection of March Street and Lords Place to install a single lane roundabout.
• $250,000: Intersection of Woodward Street and Moulder Street to install a 2-lane roundabout
• $200,000: Intersection of Wentworth Lane and Kenna Street to change cross intersection into staggered T-junctions
• $120,000: Intersection of March Street and Sale Street to remove sight distance restrictions at intersection, move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions and install raised islands with additional stop or give-way signs.
• $110,000: Intersection of Moulder Street and Sale Street to move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions and install raised islands with additional stop or give-way signs.
• $110,000: Intersection of Prince Street and Clinton Street to move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions and install raised islands with additional stop or give-way signs.
• $80,000: Intersection of Sale Street and Warrendine Street to move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions.
• $80,000: Intersection of Dalton Street and Spring Street at Orange to move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions.
• $40,000: Intersection of Coronation Drive and Frost Street at Calare to move stop or give-way lines forward using kerb extensions.

Design work is under way on the new projects, and work is expected to begin in the new financial year.

The next step in the process of starting the new waste contract in Orange starts on Sunday night (10 April).

Contractors have delivered new red and yellow bins to 16,000 households across Orange, and residents have started to use them.

Orange City Council thanks local residents for their patience as they sorted through this change. Generally this change has been handled smoothly. It’s understandable that residents whose bins were in good condition didn’t see the need for a new one, but across the whole community it’s more efficient to make this change at the start of a new waste contract for everyone at the same time.

The next step is for residents to decide whether or not they want to keep the old bins.

Keeping one bin, either red or yellow, might be handy to handle occasional overflow problems or a spike in a family’s waste needs. Residents can pay for an extra bin collection for only $1.95 by buying tickets from the Civic Centre and placing them under the lid of their extra bin.

If residents want to get rid of their old bins, simply put them out on Sunday night (10 April). Stand them empty and upside down where they usually put out their bins.

There are extra contractors collecting these old bins and they could be collected at any time during the week.

Make sure they’re out on Sunday night as the crews are only planning to go each street once.

Some residents will also still have bins in their backyards from any previous waste contracts. These can also be put out on Sunday night to be taken away for free.

A milestone for the museum project was reached (Thursday 7 April) when the external construction fencing was removed and from mid-morning the public had access to :

• the roof,
• the lift to the roof,
• the grass area and
• the tiered amphitheatre area.

A number of Orange City Council members took up the opportunity for a first-hand look at the landmark building's new grassed roof.

This clip shows what happened next ....

While the external structure of the new museum is now complete, the internal fit-out of the building will continue.

Orange Mayor John Davis has welcomed the latest progress.

“While work continues on the internal fit-out of the building, I’m delighted we’ve reached the ‘practical completion’ milestone of the external construction project,” Cr John Davis said.

“I congratulate the team from construction company Zauner for the quality of their work along with the many local contractors they’ve used to deliver this fantastic project.”

“There’s still a lot more work to do and an official opening is still some time away. The internal fit-out can now begin and that’s expected to take another six to eight weeks.”

“I think it’s fantastic that this landmark grassed roof will be open for the annual FOOD week. The tiered amphitheatre will be used on Friday night for the launch of two new major exhibitions at the Regional Gallery.”

The Occasional Child Care cottage is responding to client demand by increasing its opening hours.

One of Orange longest-running child care options the centre, run by Orange City Council, is now open on Mondays.

For more information contact the cottage on 6393 8670 or visit the cottage online or visit their Facebook page.

The successful study routines of Orange City Council staff member have paid off with the presentation of a road industry award.

Transport Assets Engineer Jason Theakstone is two years into a three year degree in Assets Management, and picked up the award for topping the class for all students in the course. The course includes a number of students from overseas countries who are studying online.

The assets management role is aimed at providing value for council money by routinely assessing the condition of every road in Orange's 500 kilometre network of transport links.

Each road is assessed for factors such as the condition of the road-seal. The assessments are then used to manage maintenance and renewal schedules.

The award was presented at a recent Roads Australia (RA) conference in Sydney. The conference heard an address from Roads and Maritime Services Chief Executive, Peter Duncan.

More than 240 industry leaders heard Peter deliver his fifth annual Roads Australia address, in which he provided an overview of the current capital works program in NSW.

Attendees were told that so far this financial year, major road contracts worth $734 million have been awarded in the State, with $1 billion in major projects currently out to tender or under assessment and a further $1.4 billion of major work in the immediate pipeline.

The underlying message was that looking farther ahead, there was more to come for the NSW roads industry. Peter also used his address to underscore the benefits of engaging with the private sector to deliver value-for-money outcomes, citing NorthConnex as a prime example.

AWARD : Roads and Maritime Services Chief Executive, Peter Duncan presented the RA-sponsored CPEE Student Excellence Award for Pavement Management to Jason Theakstone, from Orange City Council.

A large piece from the Orange community’s contemporary sculpture collection that was removed during construction of the new Orange Regional Museum, is now back in pride of place alongside the entrance to the site.

‘Ripper’, a work by artist Chris Fox was placed in storage for twelve months while construction work continued.

The artist was brought back to the site earlier this year to help position and align the sculpture in its new location. The Regional Arts Foundation was also consulted about the new location.

Two and a half cubic metres of concrete foundations were installed before the four metre high stainless steel and steel plate structure was craned into position and re-assembled.

RETURNED: John Siret from Midstate Mechanical is pictured re-installing ‘Ripper’ at the front of the new Orange Regional Museum. The piece of modern sculpture has been in storage while the new Orange Regional Museum was built. (Pictured on the scaffolding are Jessie Siret and Steve Collison.)

John Siret and his team from Midstate Mechanical, oversaw the re-assembly, which saw the two halves of the structure welded together again.

Orange City Council’s Museum Committee chair, Cr Neil Jones is delighted to see the sculpture in place again.

“The Orange community has a fantastic collection of large-scale outdoor sculptures, and this work by Chris Fox called ‘Ripper’ is a key part of that collection,” Cr Neil Jones said.

“For me this crane shape has connections with Orange’s rich history of farming and mining. It’s a crane that’s under pressure and is buckling due to the load it’s carrying.”

“It’s former location would see it hidden between two buildings. I’m pleased it will be visible both from inside the museum and gallery but also be right along the entrance as visitors approach the site from Byng Street.”

The latest exhibition at the Orange Regional Gallery sees art-works from the gallery’s collection, given a fresh new twist with the creation of new works inspired by the old.

On 19 April 2016 Orange Regional Gallery marks its 30th anniversary. To acknowledge this significant milestone the Gallery invited some of the region’s leading artists to create an entirely new work in response to a work from the Gallery's collection.

The resulting exhibition, Call + Response, features these new works displayed alongside the works that inspired them. Each artist reviewed the 1500 works in the Gallery’s collection in September last year to select the work that resonated most powerfully. They completed their responses over the following five months with their final works delivered to the Gallery in February. The artistic responses range from the quite literal to the highly imaginative and include paintings, sculpture and video.

Orange City Council’s Services Policy Committee Chair Cr Ron Gander said the new show celebrates not only the gallery but the valuable collection that has been assembled over the past 30 years.

“It’s fantastic to see what contemporary artists have made of paintings from the vaults,” Cr Ron Gander said.

“A painting of a willow tree at Carcoar by Brett Whitley has prompted today’s artists to look at the mining that’s now happening near Carcoar, to produce a work that combines animated video images with a painting.”

“Another painting from 1955 by Ian Fairweather has triggered two new art-works, a cast iron sculpture and a ceramic piece.”

Participating artists are:

• Ros Auld,
• Alexander Boynes and Mandy Martin (jointly),
• Martin Coyte,
• Neil Cuthbert,
• Victor Gordon,
• David Serisier and
• Tim Winters.

The artists chose works by high-profile artists and by those that are lesser-known. They include :

• a painting by Ian Fairweather,
• drawings by Aida Tomescu, Brett Whiteley and Wendy Sharpe,
• sculptures by Alan Peascod and Frank Hinder and
• a photograph by Jeff Carter.

Gallery Director Lisa Loader is delighted with the new project.

“The artists approached the project with so much enthusiasm,” Lisa Loader said. “It’s great to see the seriousness given to their works, and the artistic responses produced.”

“The new works have created a fascinating dialogue with the selected works from our collection, and revealed new dimensions.

A publication has been produced in association with this exhibition, authored by Dr Andrew Flatau.

Call + Response will be officially opened by Janie Raffin on Friday 8 April at 6:00pm. During the early 1980s, Ms Raffin played a key role in pushing for the establishment of the Orange Regional Gallery.

The exhibition is on display 26 March- 12 June 2016

During the coming week (starting Monday 4 April) the next milestone in the start of a new waste contract will unfold.

Over the last month new red and yellow bins have been delivered to 16,000 households across Orange.

From Monday 4 April residents should start putting these new bins out for collection on their usual bin days.

With the scale of the change, it’s anticipated that may be misunderstandings or confusion during this period.

If people have accidentally put waste in old bins since their last collection, these bins can be put next week and they will be emptied. But please only put out one red and one yellow bin, unless you’ve paid for an extra bin collection, and have a ticket attached.

This week, residents should also start to think about whether or not they want to keep their old bins.

Any old bins which residents don’t want to keep should be put out for collection on Sunday 10 April.

These bins should be empty and stood upside down in the usual locations. They will be collected at any time in the following week.

As well as their old red and yellow bins, residents can also put any former bins that are around their yard from former waste contracts. These will also be taken away at no charge.