YOUNG AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR TO VISIT ORANGE

May 26, 2010

World Refugee Day 2010 will be commemorated in Orange on Friday 18 June at a luncheon to be held at the Orange Ex Services Club from noon.

Keynote speaker, Khoa Do (pronounced Kwa Doe) was the Young Australian of the Year in 2005. As a writer, director, actor and teacher he has carved an impressive niche in the Australian film industry.

Khoa has extensive experience working with the most disadvantaged young people in the community, inspiring and guiding them to incredible success. Khoa, himself a refugee, was born in 1979 in Saigon, Vietnam arriving in Sydney with his family in 1980 (his brother is the comedian Anh Do).

World Refugee Day is devoted to lift consciousness about the state of affairs of expatriates all through the world. There are close to 40 million people on the earth who have been expatriated from their homes due to hostility and maltreatment. There is prospect this number will amplify due to more and more complex issues, such as the strain on civilizations and economies from harsh transformations in climates.

Services Policy Committee Chair Cr Fiona Rossiter said that roughly a third of refugees were people who had left their nations due to civil wars and racial, ancestral and religious brutality.

“They were forced to escape and have lost everything and in most cases can’t revisit their home nation. Commemorating the bravery and intestinal fortitude of refugees and demonstrating our support is what World Refugee Day is all about,” she said

Kho will be joined by local members of the community who will speak on their experience of being a refugee. The event has been made possible by Community Services as an initiative to provide training for youth workers in the Central West and Far Western regions. Free training will be provided prior to the luncheon at 10am. It will be facilitated by Lane Blume who has extensive experience in marketing, management, training and organisational development.

Bookings are essential for the training and the luncheon and prepaid tickets can be obtained from the Orange Community Information and Services Centre at $25 to cover catering costs. For further information please contact Council’s Community Development Coordinator on 6393 8607.

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REDUCE CLUTTER AND LANDFILL

April 15, 2010

Orange residents can take advantage of a free e-waste recycling program from Saturday 17 April.

E-waste is the collective term for electronic items that are unwanted, and have no resale value or market and is a type of waste that has limited disposal options, particularly in the central west. Not only does e-waste take up valuable space when disposed in landfill sites, but the components that are used to make the items, such as lead and mercury can contaminate the soil and groundwater through leaching.

In recognition of the issues with management of e-waste, Orange City Council is one of sixteen Councils in the NetWaste region participating in this important program to provide an e-waste recycling service in partnership with Sims Metal Management. The material collected through this campaign will be sent to the Sims E-Recycling Facility in Sydney, where valuable components of the e-waste can be recovered for other uses.

Orange City Council will be accepting e-waste from local residents free at the Ophir Road Resource Recovery Centre. The e-waste recycling service is only available for a limited time, so residents are encouraged to take the opportunity to reduce clutter, and reduce landfill now.

The types of e-waste that can be dropped off include computer towers, printers, faxes, copiers, servers, scanners, projectors, DVD and video players, computer monitors, televisions, keyboards and mice, laptops, telephones, electronic games and joysticks, CDs & DVDs, cameras, speakers and stereos.

This is the fourth year of the e-waste collection program in the NetWaste region, with more than 48 tonnes of material collected and recycled so far.

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STOP THE DROP

April 8, 2010

DrippingFaucet1 The Water Loss Management Program has played a major part in driving down Orange’s water usage.

Through the NSW Local Government and Shires Association Water Loss Management Program, Orange City Council received $110,000 from the Australian Government Water Fund – Water Smart Program. Orange City Council used the funding for a leak detection project. Council committed $220,000 to the project, which commenced in mid 2008.

The project involved leak testing 450 kilometres of pipelines, 14,000 commercial and residential meters, 5000 valves and 8000 hydrants. More than 200 leaks were identified in Council infrastructure. Leaks were also identified on private property and residents were made aware of the problem.

The leak detection and subsequent repairs save approximately 500 megalitres a year, which at current usage rates equates to approximately 12 per cent of demand.

The saving is equivalent to supplying water to approximately 2800 homes for a year.

“Orange residents have done a great job in driving down consumption from a record high in 2002 of 7100 megalitres to 4100 megalitres last year. Asking residents to tighten their usage had to be matched by an Orange City Council commitment to ensure there was a robust system in place,” Orange Mayor John Davis said.

“The LGSA Water Loss Management Program and the Federal funding allowed Council to match the community’s commitment.”

“Orange has gone from using 6606 megalitres in 1980 when the population was 30,000 to 4100 megalitres in 2009 with a population 38000. It is a huge effort but you can’t leave it to residents alone to drive down usage.”

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HARMONY DAY 2010

March 22, 2010

OUR COMMUNITY OF VOICES

The Harmony Day 2010 Community Celebration will be held on Sunday 28th March, from 3 pm to 7 pm at the South Court, Orange Regional Gallery, Byng Street, Orange.

This year’s event entertainment includes a range of food and cultural activities with input from the Aboriginal community and multicultural and youth groups. It is also the first activity for Youth Week 2010.

A feature of this year’s event will be South African musician, storyteller and performer, Valanga Khoza. In addition to Valanga’s performance, he will lead community voices to sing a song taught throughout the preceding week at workshops held at schools, the Orange Regional Conservatorium and at Kenna Hall.

A range of Aboriginal, multicultural and youth singers and dancers will perform at Harmony Day including the Burralgang Aboriginal Dance Group, Tongan Island and Cook Island dancers, Sutherland Family singers and the Australian Filipino Cultural Club dancers, to name a few.

“The Tongan and Cook Island dancers, local Filipino dancers will contrast well with the local youth bands, adding great variety to the event. As this is the first event of Youth Week in Orange, we are pleased with the diversity available in music, food, entertainment and activities,” Orange City Council’s Services Policy Committee Chairwoman Cr Fiona Rossiter said.

Local multicultural group members and service providers will be giving away Harmony Day stickers and badges and orange Glow Sticks throughout the afternoon, as well as a variety of multicultural and community information. The local Aboriginal Bush Babies and Canobolas High will offer craft and activities free for children. Orange residents are encouraged to choose a national costume to wear, or the colour orange, symbolising peace and harmony.

“We will also have a number of interactive activities aimed at families, including some cultural sharing such as Hair Braiding, Henna painting and Aboriginal art. Community members are asked to bring along a rug or fold up chair,” Cr Rossiter said.

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