It was certainly a big year for the town in terms of developments with the opening of the new Parkes Hospital, demolition of the old Parkes Hospital, the major transformation of the PAC Park waterway, the opening of the new Parkes Airport terminal with more funding for upgrades announced, a new vibrancy plan for Parkes’ CBD gets the tick of approval and the concept design of the route of the proposed Parkes bypass is released.

There were some milestone moments too with two Parkes people making their debuts at the Rio Olympics, records broken at the Parkes Elvis and ABBA festivals, Parkes Elvis Festival claims some major awards, Parkes named most progressive rural council in the state and a Parkes scientist awarded an OAM.

And then there was that storm, all that winter rain and the Forbes floods.

Here are just some of the major stories this year.