In current Council news, outdoor staff wasted no time in fixing vandalism damage to safety railings that briefly closed the Shibble Walking Bridge, as kids are being encouraged to read these Christmas holidays, and the Gaol and Zoo cleaned-up in recent tourism awards.

Council wastes no time fixing bridge

Dubbo Council wasted no time in fixing damage caused to the Shibble Walking Bridge over the Macquarie River in south Dubbo last Saturday, invoking the "broken windows theory".

The bridge was so badly vandalised that Council closed the structure and the walking path between Dundullimal Homestead and Macquarie Street due to safety concerns.

However, it was only a few hours later that they declared “the Shibble Walking Bridge is now open and safe to use.

“Further works will be undertaken early next week, to repair the broken barriers.”

The “broken windows theory” is that visible signs of social and physical neglect, can lead to an increased sense of disorder and criminality in a community. It is based on the phenomena whereby a derelict building with broken panes is far more likely to have other windows smashed, than a building in which they are all intact.

“That’s ‘Vandalism Management 101’, you clean up these things as quick as you can,” deputy mayor Phillip Tonton told Dubbo Photo News of the speedy bridge repairs.

“If you leave it, the longer it goes, people think, ‘oh, they don’t care, we’ll do some more damage’, they think it’s acceptable,” Cr Toynton added.

He believes that, despite the recent damage, Dubbo does pretty well in avoiding the major urban blight that impacts many of our larger cities.

“I wouldn’t say we have an overly lot of vandalism, you see a bit of graffiti around the place but, you don’t see lots of wanton destruction.

“It’s still there, there’ still vandalism graffiti and spray painting, and abandoned homes do tend to get wrecked, but it’s not an overwhelming problem… though we do have some petty destruction, don’t get me wrong,” he concluded.

Mayor Josh Black, however, has a different perspective, saying that vandalism and associated anti-social behaviour is a “significant” cost to the region and to ratepayers.

“Graffiti removal, vandalism, and illegal rubbish dumping cost Council in the tens of thousands of dollars a year, easy,” Cr Black said.

“This is money that could be put into any number of other projects,” he added.

Big Summer Read is back on

Local kids are again being encouraged to put down their devices and re-learn the wonders of literature with the “Big Summer Read” initiative.

This incentive program is for children aged 5–16 years, that runs until Saturday, January 31, and which aims to help maintain literacy levels over the summer school holiday period, Mayor Josh Black said.

“We want to encourage kids to pick-up a book, as reading is a great form of entertainment and relaxation with the benefit of supporting your child’s reading skills ready for when they return to school next year,” Cr Black enthused.

To join Big Summer Read, visit your local Macquarie Regional Library branch and sign up to a log to track your reading.

Children mark off each day they read a book, magazine, picture novel, or listen to an audiobook. At the end of the program, children return their completed log to their local library to receive a prize and an entry into the major prize draw, Macquarie Regional Library Manager, Kathryn McAlister said.

“Our team are always on hand to help with reading suggestions and to help encourage children to explore the wonderful world of books,” she added.

Gaol and Zoo clean up at tourism awards.

Out two great tourist attractions, Dubbo Gaol and Taronga Western Plains Zoo, were recently recognised at the 2025 NSW Tourism Awards.

The Gaol bagged gold in the Cultural Tourism category, while the Zoo was pipped for first place in the Unique Accommodation section, taking homa silver.

The Awards were announced at a “gala” celebration at Waterview in Bicentennial Park in central Sydney with a whole bunch of gold, silver, and bronze awards presented across 30 categories, NSW Tourism head honcho, Natalie Godward said.

Other regional winners included a Visitor Information Services gold for Bathurst, another gold in the Major Festivals & Events category for Broken Hill’s famous Mundi Mundi Bash event, and a silver in Tourism Marketing and Campaigns, for Orange360’s “Enjoy the Now” promotion.