The Hon. Simon R. Molesworth AO QC, Liz Vines OAM, and Peter Oldsen have shared the top honour at today's John Reid Heritage Awards, with each receiving an Outstanding Commendation. The trio were key figures in the push to secure the city's National Heritage Listing in 2015. The awards were presented by Deputy Mayor Marion Browne, who said all three recipients had made a huge contribution to Broken Hill over many years.

Users will soon be able to take full advantage of Council's new and improved website, which is due to launch across April 29 and 30. The new site features an improved interface, increased accessibility to online services, and performs like an app when accessed on a mobile device. Council’s Digital Officer, Luke Dart, said the new site represents a significant upgrade on Council's previous offering.

Those who have contributed to the preservation of our city's heritage will be honoured at the annual John Reid Heritage Awards this weekend. The awards will be held at the Broken Hill City Library at 10am on April 27 as part of the Heritage Week celebrations. The event will begin with a presentation titled 'What is the heritage of Broken Hill?' by Broken Hill's Heritage Advisor, Paul Davies.

Council has committed to lighting up the city with a $1.68m tender awarded to Sydney-based lighting specialists, Silver Bullet Projects. The company's directors have over 40 years’ experience in entertainment lighting, and have worked on projects such as the Commonwealth Games, Sydney New Year's Eve celebration, and Sydney Arts Festival.

Councillor Tom Kennedy lodged three notices of motion calling for $3.2 million earmarked for the new library to be spent on other projects. The motions called for the money to be spent on lighting for the Alma Oval, and upgrades for Queen Elizabeth Park and Norm Fox Oval. No other Councillors were willing to second the motions, and they lapsed.   Councillors voted to lodge a formal application with the NSW Geographical Name Board to rename Airport Road to "Pro Hart Way".  

Councillors have made good on their promise to listen to feedback regarding a proposed site swap involving the VIC building and Police, with the proposal now removed from early plans around the new library project. The Cultural Framework around the new library and cultural precinct was officially adopted at last night's meeting, with all references to the proposed site swap removed from the plans.

In honour of Mr Absalom's career, staff at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery have re-hung its permanent collection to feature a large number of the Brushmen's works, including four pieces by Mr Absalom.

Council received $700,000 toward the project through the NSW Government's Fixing Country Truck Washes program and had been searching for a suitable site to build the facility.

The Heritage Festival gets underway on Thursday, with a huge list of events and activities scheduled for the coming two weeks. The Festival will begin with a heritage walking tour (10am, VIC) and art exhibition (6pm, 24 Bromide Street), before the official launch at 7pm behind the Town Hall Facade on Thursday night.