Forbes Shire Council will continue its trial of fees for holiday activities with children missing out on the fun due to no-shows.
The council has been offering free holiday activities to Forbes families for many years - and these regularly book out - but there have been ongoing issues with people not showing up on the day, a report to the latest council meeting says.
There's a waiting list for most activities but when organisers don't receive any notice someone isn't coming, those other children miss out.
"Some of these larger-scale activities - such as silent discos, pool parties, excursions and workshops - do require significant investment in staffing, equipment, financial resources and the use of external facilitators and contractors," the report said.
"Despite strong registration numbers, there have been ongoing issues with no-shows, leading to wasted resources and limited opportunities for those who could have attended if spots had not been reserved by non-attendees."
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Only 19 of 30 registrations attended a free circus workshop in the July school holidays, 15 of 40 registrations came along to a free drop-in day at the Youth and Community Centre.
In contrast, everyone who registered and paid $20 for a trip to Dubbo to play mini golf attended on the day.
About 50 children did attend a free novelty sports day that didn't require registration.
Importantly, the council will continue to offer free family fun for council-run events.
In the September / October school holidays, the council will trial the following fees:
$15 per person for events held off-site with contractors employed for the activity (eg the trip to Dubbo Putt Putt);
$10 per person for events at a council facility run by contractors;
No cost for council-run events or events with contractors that do not require registration and generally have high attendance in public places.
