Local Government happenings in the region include an esteemed award for a local charity icon, Council comes down on the side of locals opposed to Hampton Park, and a grisly display comes to the WPCC, as saleyard numbers go to record highs.

Photo News veteran gets due recognition

Bit of a local institution with a lifelong love of the Orana region, charity worker Donna Falconer has just received Dubbo’s top honour.

Donna was last week named winner of the 2025 Tony McGrane Award — named after the town’s much-loved former mayor — for “exceptional contributions to the community”.

Back in the day, she was also on board at the founding of our humble and august journal, for which she still has strong ties.

“I was sales manager for about 10 years, and actually started at the inception of Dubbo Photo News two decades ago,” Donna recalled.

“More recently, I’ve been working with Country Hope; we support families with children with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses,” she added.

Country Hope, in announcing her win, pointed out that Donna is “the driving force behind the Pink Angels, a volunteer-based organisation providing practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients.”

They added that she also played “a pivotal role” in establishing the “Groovy Booby Bus”, a travelling breast cancer awareness service that brought life-saving information to women across western NSW.

Not only the driving force, but also as the driver of this moving marketing phenomenon, she has seen plenty of our wide brown land, but still esteems the friendly west.

“It’s community, family, I’ve travelled all around Australia on the ‘Groovy Bus’ — more than 100,000km to every state and territory — and I still call Dubbo home,” Donna enthused.

“It’s a town that is very supportive of people and initiatives, we step up and help each other out,” she concluded.

Her award was announced as part of the annual Dubbo Day Awards that mark our fair city’s gazettal as a village on November 23, 1849, that is designed to “recognise the hard-working volunteers who go above and beyond to positively contribute to their community”.

Council opposes Hampton Park Green Energy Project

In some good news for residents opposed to our rush to renewables, Council recently resolved to tell the Department of Housing, Planning, and Infrastructure in Sydney that they oppose the Hampton Park solar and battery project.

Council resolved that the “project not be progressed further, with an accompanying document outlining why Council considers the Hampton Park site to be inappropriate.

“Council will also write to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces raising concerns of the compatibility of the solar farm and storage system with adjoining and adjacent properties including visual amenity, social and bushfire impacts.

“It will also highlight the Regional Housing strategy which may include provision of land for such projects,” the resolution concluded.

Local residents near Dubbo are opposing the project over environmental, economic, and social impacts, including the loss of prime agricultural land and mature trees, increased fire-risk, noise and visual pollution, and potential damage to local infrastructure.

A "Stop Hampton Park," group has also been formed to advocate against the development.

Grisly theme for new WPCC exhibit

It may not be quite as graphic as a Damien Hirst exhibition — the English artist whose shows have featured such “provocative” works as a diamond-encrusted human skull and dead sharks and cows suspended in formaldehyde — but it’s macabre enough.

We’re referring to the new “thought-provoking” exhibition at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) entitled “Carcass: The Death of the Animal” that runs until February.

“The exhibition features over 40 artworks from a variety of creators and includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and sound installations,” Council’s media release stated.

“Carcass: The Death of the Animal explores how we perceive and react to the death of animals and their representation in art; it explores representations of death centred around themes of religion and morality, environmental impacts, and contemporary issues.”

“The exhibition will generate discussions and conversations about how we view animals and why we react to death in the way that we do,” Council’s Assistant Curator, Natasha Lunniss opined.

“Art often presents the world in new and unexpected ways that challenge perceptions and can express complex subjects. This exhibition invites individuals to bring their own interpretation of how the death of animals is represented and art, and it continues to emotionally impact us,” she added.

For those interested, the exhibition is offering a guided walk-through hosted by Ms Lunniss on Friday, December 12, starting at 5.15pm.

This free event is designed to “discuss how exhibitions are curated and offers an opportunity to discuss the artworks with like-minded people”.

More animal news, this time, from the saleyards

In more news of the animal production kind, Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets achieved a “historic milestone” last Thursday, having “drawn” 13,136 head of cattle to the facility, with a final sale number yarding of 10,171 bovines.

Mayor Black said it has been more than 10 years since the livestock markets has been in this position.

“Numbers like this show the strength of our region’s livestock industry and the confidence producers have in Dubbo as a premier selling centre for our region,” Cr Black enthused.

“The DRLM plays a vital role in supporting local jobs and injecting millions into our economy and we are proud to see this facility continue to deliver outstanding results for producers and buyers,” he added.

Previously the highest yarding recorded was about 9000 head of cattle recorded in September 2013.