THE POST, Thursday, June 26, 2025 - Page 1
parkeschampionpost.com.au
ESTABLISHED 1891 Thursday, June 26, 2025
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Destroyed pipeline in state budget PARKES’ water pipeline from Lake Endeavour destroyed by floods two and a half years ago has been funded in the 2025-2026 State budget. The NSW Government has committed $27 million, announced in the NSW Budget on Tuesday, to repair water infrastructure in Parkes, Cabonne and Lachlan shires that was damaged or destroyed in the November 2022 floods. The Lake Endeavour pipeline was washed away, while sewer infrastructure managed by Cabonne Council and water infrastructure managed by Central Tablelands Water were damaged in Eugowra, Canowindra and other Cabonne communities. These projects were not eligible for disaster relief funding. State Member for Orange Philip Donato welcomed the announcement: Parkes’ urgent need to get the pipeline up and flowing again was his top budget priority. “Over the past year I’ve vigorously lobbied the NSW Government for the $27m critical water infrastructure funding, and I made it my number one budget priority,” he said. “I am grateful to Minister [Janelle] Saffin and Premier [Chris] Minns for listening and now responding with the budget announcement that the repair and replacement of this critical water infrastructure will be fully-funded to restore this essential network for our flood-impacted communities.” ■ Continued on page 4
State Member for Orange Phil Donato, Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller, Federal Member for Parkes Jamie Chaffey, Parkes Mayor Neil Westcott, Country Universities Centre Parkes chair Tracie Robertson and centre director Jacob Cass cut the ribbon on 18 June. PHOTO: Madeline Blackstock
A legacy continues By MADELINE BLACKSTOCK THE “search for knowledge” continues at 7-9 Court Street as the Parkes Country Universities Centre (CUC) officially opens its new, grand facility. Inside the building once known as the home of the Parkes Champion Post, centre director Jacob Cass acknowledged the local newspaper’s legacy and that the search for knowledge had taken place for many decades, and will all hopefully continue for many more. “Now here with the Country Uni-
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versities Centre we get to do that across 15 disciplines and we have 86 students this semester who are all seeking knowledge, and that’s something truly special,” Mr Cass said. The new CUC location welcomed students on 22 April after five years located at the Parkes Library and Cultural Centre, a space which the facility ultimately grew out of. It took about six months to transform the building. To officially open the new centre on 18 June, CUC students and Mr Cass joined Federal Member
for Parkes Jamie Chaffey, State Member for Orange Phil Donato, Parkes Shire Mayor Neil Westcott, Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller and CUC Parkes board members, including chair Tracie Robertson. Mr Donato acknowledged the opening of the first CUC Centre at the library and said it was great to see the centre grow, prosper and develop into what it is today. “Facilities like this embedded in our towns provide pathways for young and mature aged students to upskill and contribute back to the community,” Mr Donato said.
Cr Westcott knows the centre’s value to both Parkes and Forbes, and looked back on his own academic journey and how a Country Universities Centre would have been valuable to him advancing his studies. “I finished my HSC in 1977 and all my peers and friends but one left town, and there was a sadness in that for me who stayed behind to run the farm,” he said. “I’ve taken on different opportunities but it’s not lost on me that if an opportunity like this (CUC) was ■ Continued on page 9
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