Media Release - Forestry Corporation Wind Towers
May 23, 2024 in Community

Oberon Council have issued the following media release: Today the Forestry Corporation has announced that they have issued forest permits to investigate wind farms in the four areas where NSW State Government Legislation permits wind towers in State Forests. These are Oberon, Orange, Sunny Corner and Bondo. Within the Oberon Local Government Area, the defined locations for the Investigation Permit are within the Gurnang, Mt David and Southern Vulcan State Forests.
See the rest of the release here

May 2024 Oberon Council Meeting
May 23, 2024 in Community

Lots of action at the May Council meeting, with presentations about the importance of the timber industry to Oberon and the imminent danger to the O'Connell Avenue of Trees caused by the transport of wind turbine components. There was also discussion of possible locations for electric vehicle chargers and the state of some of the area's playgrounds.
You can see more about the meeting here

The wind tower conversation heats up
May 23, 2024 in Community

Nobody around Oberon could be unaware of the signs around the town opposing the location and construction of wind power turbines in the Oberon area. A particular issue with the proposals is that the turbine parts will have to be transported through O'Connell and the very wide and long loads will require that the trees in the ANZAC Memorial Avenue be cut back.
See more about this story here

Author talk - Susan Ackroyd
May 23, 2024 in Community

On Friday, May 17, Susan Ackroyd gave a presentation at Oberon Library about her book "Rhyme and Reason", subtitled "English history through nursery rhymes". The talk was organised by the Friends of Oberon Library (FOOLs). The accompanying slide show took the audience through the history of some of the nursery rhymes that everyone had known since childhood.
See the story here

Walk'nTalk in the wintery weather
May 16, 2024 in Community

Risking hypothermia, a small group assembled at the Oberon Common for the May Walk'n'Talk for Life to talk about suicide prevention. Guest speaker for the day was Tori Evans from Neami National Orange who talked about the programs at Neami to help people in distress or who might be heading for self harm and even suicide.
See a bit more about this here

Open day at Oberon 411 Fire Station
May 16, 2024 in Community

Standing in the rain watching a group of firefighters tear a car apart was both entertaining and educational. It's the sort of service you hope you will never need, but it's reassuring to know it's there and people are trained for the job. And free smoke alarms!
Plus the longest serving fire fighter in NSW.
See the story and photos here

How important is timber to Oberon?
May 16, 2024 in Community

It should come as no surprise that timber is big business in Oberon, but just how big? A report prepared for the Central West Forestry Hub by BDO EconSearch and the University of Canberra published at the end of 2023 indicates the size of the industry. Oberon LGA was selected as a case study, and the areas looked at were not just production (just less than a million cubic metres of timber) but also the economic, employment and social aspects of the industry.
You can read the full report here

A cold day for Oberon Farmers' Market
May 9, 2024 in Community

Cold weather and drizzly rain didn't stop people turning out for the May Farmers' Market.
See some photos here

Letter - NAB bank closure
May 2, 2024 in Letters and Community

Oberon resident and NAB customer Dave McMurray expresses his opinion about the closure of the Oberon NAB branch.
You can read the letter here

A night out in Black Springs
May 2, 2024 in Community

Saturday, April 27, saw about 100 people gathered in the Black Springs Community Hall for a community dinner. This was a sort of experiment as it wasn't a concert or a bush dance - it was just a dinner where people could get together to socialise, have a drink and something to eat and meet and chat with neighbours.
See the pictures here

Goodbye NAB. It was almost nice knowing you
April 25, 2024 in Community and Business

The Oberon branch of NAB has finally closed. This happened 15 days after the new CEO of the bank assured customers that "We also want to help our communities prosper." Unfortunately, it looks like the community of Oberon will have to prosper without them.
See the story here

Autumn Garden Showcase - Torbeag
April 25, 2024 in Community

Janet and Hamish Gibley-Baird's garden at Torbeag might be small but it offers constant surprises from the Wollemi Pine to the fruit trees (that the birds love to feast on before harvesting) with the best surprises being the occasional views of Lake Oberon. The garden would be very nice without the view, but it's the glimpses through the trees as well as the broad views of the lake which make it special.
See the photos here

Autumn Garden Showcase - Beyond Avalon
April 25, 2024 in Community

There's a real surprise hidden away in Black Springs. It's Rosalie Pollock's wonderful garden named "Beyond Avalon". The size and layout of the garden make it easy to get lost wandering around, and the sheer scale of it make it easy to forget that it's the work of a single person. Rosalie started creating the garden about 20 years ago. "It was just a paddock with a few gum trees, which I hate," she said. "I have a passion for gardening and the time to do it, so I decided to transform the block."
See the photos here

Autumn Garden Showcase - St Clements
April 25, 2024 in Community

This is not a conventional garden with edged flower beds and trimmed shrubs, it is a total experience created over more than 60 years around the natural path of flowing water. There are some flowers and autumn-leaved shrubs and trees, but the real experience is just wandering around feeling a sense of peace. There is nothing individually outstanding or surprising, but it's the totality that makes this an almost perfect garden for relaxing and forgetting that the rest of the world exists.
See the photos here

Quick action at the Op Shop
April 25, 2024 in Community

Since its move to its current location a year or so ago, the Lifechurch Op Shop has become an established part of the Oberon scenery. In the middle of April, 2024, a minor disaster struck and the building started to have electrical problems, causing the temporary closure of the shop, but quick thinking kept the essential food bank open.
Read the full story here

Another day of busy fingers at the Malachi
April 25, 2024 in Community

There was a project started some time ago by Lexi Kellam and Lynne Webb for the Oberon U3A Fleece, Fibre, Felt and Yarn Group. It was to create some small rugs for audience members at the Malachi Gilmore Hall to keep themselves warm on cold October nights.

It all started in October 2022 when balls of natural raw wool were spun using wool supplied by Cress Dawson of Mount Olive.
See the full article here.

April 2024 Oberon Council Meeting
April 25, 2024 in Community
Updated May 17, 2024

The April 2024 meeting of Oberon Council attracted the largest audience of ratepayers and community members seen there for some time. They had come to ask questions about the quality of water supplied to some parts of the town, particularly the businesses along the western end of Oberon Street.
See the rest of the story here.

Autumn Garden Showcase - Bellenden
April 18, 2024 in Community

A very traditional garden style, with clipped hedges and edged borders, but Heather and Bob Scott have made this into a small paradise. It's one of those gardens where you keep walking around corners and saying "That's something I haven't seen before".
See all the photos here

Autumn Garden Showcase - Casper's Cloud
April 18, 2024 in Community

This anything but a conventional garden. Chris Dutton and Michael Wilson have over 12 years transformed a paddock next to the Fish River from a place with a single poplar tree to a large garden which incorporates the landscape and scenery into the experience.
See all the photos here

Autumn Garden Showcase - Meant To Be
April 18, 2024 in Community

John and Patricia Moss show how even a small, standard building block can be transformed with a bit (lot?) of hard work and enough time. What was a totally bare block a few years ago now holds a lovely collection of plants.
See all the photos here

Have fun and learn some new sports
April 18, 2024 in Community and Sport

The first Monday of the school holidays saw Creative Community Concepts (CCC) back in Oberon, this time with a sampler of many different sports for kids to try out.
See the story and pictures here.

A "new" carriage for OTHR
April 18 ,2024 in Community

There was a surprise for everyone at the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway late on the afternoon of Sunday, April 14. It was the delivery of a "new" train carriage to add to the railway's collection. The surprise was that it wasn't expected to be delivered until the following Tuesday, but it's the sort of surprise that doesn't bother anyone.
See the full article here.

Walk'n'Talk, one step at a time towards preventing suicide
April 18, 2024 in Community

April 13 saw a small group of people get together at the Oberon Common for a regular Walk'n'Talk for Life meeting to talk about suicide prevention. One small answer to the problem is simply talking about it, rather than keeping it in the shadows. Not only does this raise public awareness, but it lets those in danger know that they are not alone.
Read the full story here

A bit of rain around Oberon
April 11, 2024 in Community

A big and nasty weather system arrived in NSW from the northeast on Friday, April 5, causing a lot of flooding and damage in areas around Sydney and along the coast. Possibly protected by the Blue Mountains Oberon got off lightly, with only the usual road closures that follow deluges.
See the full article here.