Representatives from Oberon Health Service, Bathurst Meals on Wheels and Oberon Council were at the meeting to answer questions from volunteer drivers and clients who use the service.

Acting Health Services Manager Chris Tabone outlined the current situation. 

Mr Tabone said Oberon Hospital has previously supplied meals for the Oberon Meals on Wheels Service. Under the agreement, the service had not reached the target

number of meals required so the funding for the service would be cut. Mr Tabone said Bathurst Meals on Wheels was an approved supplier and had an existing contract with the government. 

Bathurst Meals on Wheels manager Linda Roszkiewicz outlined the service they would provide at this stage. 

“All meals will be delivered frozen – but at the moment the frequency of deliveries is unknown. 

“At this stage meals will be delivered to a storage facility in an office under the Visitor Information Centre and distributed from there.

“We are working with Oberon council to assess a co-ordinator for two or more days a week – but weekend deliveries will definitely be out. 

“The menu we offer is quite large, with over 85 items to choose from. We supply tailored meals for all types of diets, including medical conditions such as diabetics and heart conditions.”

A spokesperson at the meeting said the current service provides a meal as well as human contact “which is vital, it’s important and cannot be under-estimated”.

Community members also expressed concern that the meeting had been advertised as consultation, however, what was presented seemed to be already determined without consultation.

The speed of the change was also of great concern as there is not enough time for a smooth transition as the new provider is to start on August 3.

Oberon Meals on Wheels co-ordinator Marie Fitzpatrick said she knew the system had to change, “but if we could have continued through to October this would have given us time to organise clients and drivers – nothing has been put into place and everything is still up in the air”.

Existing and potential volunteer drivers are asked to attend another meeting tomorrow, Friday July 31 at 3pm at the Oberon RSL Club to ascertain the level of commitment from current and future volunteers.