Community & Business
7 May, 2026
Bogan Shire Council's annual villages tour
Various Bogan Shire councillors and staff hit the road for last week's village tour.
Four Bogan Shire councillors joined senior Bogan Shire Council staff for the annual Village Tour last week, meeting with residents at Coolabah, Girilambone and Hermidale.
It’s an exercise in community engagement where residents can hear first-hand what council has been up to and raise any matters themselves.
This year councillors Glen Neill, Doug Menzies, Graham Jackson and Sam Issa accompanied general manager Derek Francis and four directors on the trip.
Coolabah (population 32)
The Coolabah United Citizens Association provided morning tea for the touring party in the local hall, and around nine residents attended the meeting.
The key concerns included:
1. The replacement of Monkey Bridge. NSW Fisheries has requested Bogan Shire Council replace the Monkey Bridge crossing near Coolabah with one which is more conducive to fish passage. Cr Neill told the meeting Council had received the engineer design for the new crossing, which was expected to cost $700,000 to build.
“At the last council meeting, the decision of council was to take that up with Roy Butler's office and the relevant minister as well, because we just don't have $700,000 to build that bridge. There are, in my opinion at least, a lot more urgent priorities around the shire if we had a spare $700,000 - which we don't.”
Cr Neill said he and the general manager were hoping to organise a meeting with the minister for Regional NSW and Western NSW, Tania Moriarty, to discuss the situation further.
2. Prickly Pear and other weeds. Coolabah residents have raised concerns with the weed growth along the old railway corridor, and also the amount of prickly pear around the district.
Bogan Shire general manager Derek Francis said the manager of the rail corridor on behalf of State Rail, UGL Regional Linx had inspected the weed situation and had informed council there was “nothing that required urgent attention”.
Director of development and environmental Services, Cathy Black, said council had been working to eradicate the Prickly Pear by releasing the cochineal bug which is a natural biocontrol. Mrs Black said some targeted chemical spraying had also taken place and advised the residents both control methods took some time to take effect.
3. Town water supply. As the dry season continues, the Coolabah village water supply is low causing some concern. Cr Neill re-assured residents that while ever Nyngan had water, the villages would as well – as council would cart water to them. Resident Garry Johnstone suggested an extra tank be installed near the public toilets to ensure the water doesn’t run out there. “The toilets get used non-stop all day long, every day, seven days a week,” he said. “Currently if you fill the big tanks in the car park near them it disappears within an hour.”
4. Road safety. Coolabah residents are concerned at the narrow shoulder along some places of the Mitchell Highway between the village and Nyngan, and also raised concerns about a stretch of Arthur Hall VC Way five kilometres towards Brewarrina.
General manager Francis said council had raised concerns about the Mitchell Highway to Transport for NSW and Roads and Maritime Services. “As far as I’m aware, we’re no further forward with them actually scheduling works on the Mitchell Highway,” he said. Following the meeting, the councillors and staff inspected the concerning section of Arthur Hall VC Way.
5. The Coolabah Tip. Residents requested council do some work at the rubbish tip to make it more accessible. “It just needs a tractor down there,” Mr Johnstone said. “People comes from other towns and drop all their rubbish, and you can't hardly turn down there now. It's that full.”
Girilambone (population 86).
The council party met with local residents Anthony Gibson and Ben Fanning at the Hog N Billy Hotel in Girilambone – directly opposite the local park where the local community association had recently re-fenced the War Memorial.
The key concerns included:
1. Speed zone at entry to village. The director of infrastructure services, Grayden Curry informed residents of the recent results from the TfNSW investigation of vehicles as they approached the 70km hour limit on the Mitchell Highway approaches to Girilambone. Around a third of all vehicles exceeded the limit as they drive through the village. TfNSW has recommended “gateway treatment” (signs and line marking) to assist in driver awareness.
2. Emergency access to mine site. Residents have requested better signage to the new mine entry for emergency vehicles. Currently online maps are not accurate which leads to confusion.
3. Pedestrian crossing. There is a pedestrian crossing between the park at the Hog N Billy Hotel which has no accompanying signage. Mr Francis told residents TfNSW did not officially recognise the crossing and therefore hadn’t installed the signage.
4. Residents also requested an upgrade for Murrawombie Road which is experiencing increased traffic.
5. The Girilambone Railway Station. The residents enquired about furniture for the railway station so it could be better utilised as a meeting space, as well as a keypad entry system to replace the need for a physical key. There was also some discussion about who was responsible for the general cleaning of the building to ensure it looked presentable to visitors.
6. Water availability once the existing supply has run out. Council’s response was as per Coolabah.
Hermidale (population 127)
The Hermidale meeting took place in the Community Centre, with around nine residents in attendance.
The issues included:
1. Water: BSC general manager Derek Francis updated the meeting on the “great water mystery”, where an exorbitant amount water has seemingly been used from the Nyngan-Cobar pipeline at Hermidale costing council excessively in water charges from the Cobar Water Board. Earlier the councillors and staff had stopped to look at the new signage on the village overhead tanks, requesting users to contact council should they need to obtain water from them. At previous meetings residents had asked for a water tank specifically for firefighting purposes.
2. Road safety: Mr Francis also updated the residents on their 2025 request for a truck turning lane at the intersection of the Nymagee road and the Barrier Highway, which has been denied by the RMS.
3. Hermidale Community Centre: Residents asked council for clarification on the Hermidale Community Centre administration, including insurance, booking arrangements and possible building modifications to overcome the acoustics. Council director of corporate Services Steph Waterhouse provided direction on these matters.
4. Weeds: Council staff also provided an update on the prickly pear eradication efforts.
Read More: Hermidale, Giralambone, Nyngan