IT’S wonderful to be back on the pages of the Gunnedah Times in its first edition under the ownership of Times News Group.
This is great news for the Gunnedah Shire community who value having a local paper to voice concerns and opinions, find out about upcoming events and developments, and celebrate milestones, the lives of loved ones, achievements, and sporting successes.
Council is able to share useful and important information with residents through the paper including details on rates changes, events, projects, public exhibition documents, Council resolutions, grants programs, art exhibitions, movies at The Civic, advocacy, and more.
That being said, I have some news to share.
I recently attended a seminar on Australian law and legal affairs hosted by the Multicultural Women’s Association in response to needs within our migrant communities. The informative event was supported by Council through our Section 356 Small Grants Program, which is undergoing some changes.
The Community and Sports, Arts and Cultural, and Access Incentive grants are being combined into one grant program with a retained level of funding to streamline and maximise the number of local organisations applying for and receiving the grants.
A draft policy for the new Small Grants Program includes key changes such as the removal of restrictions that made community groups or organisations ineligible if they already receive financial assistance from Council.
It’s our hope that these funds can be directed to where they will most benefit the community, so we encourage you to have a look at the draft policy, which is on public exhibition at Council’s office at 63 Elgin Street and on Council’s website: www.gunnedah.nsw.gov.au. Submissions should be received no later than 5pm on Tuesday, 23 June 2026.
Other Council items on public exhibition include proposed road name changes and the updated Draft Drought Management Plan. In response to community requests received through our Customer Service Request channels, Council is proposing to allow watering from 7am to 9am when water restrictions are in place if the change is adopted following the public exhibition period. In the current plan, watering is only allowed between 6pm and 8pm in daylight saving time and 5pm to 7pm all other times.
The proposal does not increase the total allowable watering duration and the change is not expected to affect Council’s water supply during periods of water restrictions or drought conditions if residents keep to the two-hour limit.
The draft updated Drought Management Plan is on public exhibition for 28 days at Council’s office at 63 Elgin Street and online at www.gunnedah.nsw.gov.au. Submissions should be received no later than 5pm on Friday, 26 June, 2026.
Gomeroi woman Hollie Crawford is running an art workshop for First Nations women on Sunday, 14 June from 10am to 2pm. The focus is to assist participants to create a work of art for submission to the 2026 NAIDOC Week Art Exhibition.
The workshop is free for First Nations women and is limited to 12 places. All materials are provided, and no experience is needed. The initiative will be facilitated through Arts Northwest and is funded by the Australian Government’s Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Program.
Entries for our local NAIDOC Art Exhibition will open on Monday, 22 June and we encourage artists, hobbyists, schools, organisations and individuals to come together and explore this year’s National NAIDOC Week theme – 50 years of Deadly – by submitting art in any medium for the annual exhibition that celebrates our First Nations peoples.
The exhibition will open on Friday, 3 July at the Gunnedah Bicentennial Creative Arts Gallery.
Colleen Fuller OAM
Mayor, Gunnedah Shire
