Dunoon and District Gazette

The Rous County Council decision to remove the proposed Dunoon Dam from our region's water security options has again sparked controversy, as you will see from some of the articles and letters to the editor in this edition. It is perhaps unfortunate that we may have lost an opportunity for many social, environmental and community benefits that could have been developed alongside the dam project. It is quite possible to ‘do dams well’, with a vision for 21st-century water security that mitigates or compensates for any losses experienced.

Lismore Theatre Company is pleased to announce its next show, Running Up a Dress will be on stage September 10-19. Written in 1986, Running up a Dress, is a play about mothers and daughters, a relationship that shapes young women. The play, written by Suzanne Spunner, originally intended to be performed by two actors, will feature an ensemble cast.

A koala joey has been given a second chance after being rescued from the side of the road with his blind mother. The koala mother was rescued with her pouch joey on May 28 after being found disorientated on the ground by a member of the public in Woodenbong in northern New South Wales. The koalas were taken to the Friends of the Koala hospital in East Lismore where the International Fund for Animal Welfare sponsored vet team conducted thorough health checks on both koalas.

Nan Nicholson. The Dunoon Dam koalas are even more important than first thought. They can help other koala populations to recover robust genetics. New information has been revealed about the local population of koalas which would be impacted by the proposed 15ML dam at Dunoon.

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin has called on NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who leads the Nationals in Government, to reverse the NSW Government's policy of 'gifting' private power poles to farmers and rural landholders. Ms Saffin has moved a motion in Parliament condemning the policy where the corporatised Essential Energy shifts the legal and cost burden of fixing faulty private poles and overhead lines to thousands of country people across NSW.

Denis Mathews. On 17 June 1871 Duncan Currie made his first selection in what became the land parish of Dunoon. On the same day his brother Archibald also made a selection, a few miles to the south. Archibald was already operating his store near the entrance to the Lismore race course. Currie Park is across the tiny creek which made the site so important to the budding merchant. The park is not actually on that very early selection. It is simply on the “wrong side” of the creek. Merchants were not simply selling supplies but they were buying logs floated down from the Big Scrub. The RRHS Museum has a wonderful display on our early timber industry.

A new campaign is set to make a big difference in helping to reduce waste and provide more food security for our region. NE Waste in collaboration with Councils, Northern Rivers Food, Northern Rivers Area Health Service, NSW Environment Protection Authority and the Love Food Hate Waste Program, have been working to address issues around food waste, nutrition, food security and sustainability.

Northern Rivers' musicians and artists are invited to put their talents and imagination to the test in a new initiative set to deliver a lot of fun and some truly original works ... Northern Rivers Conservatorium’s Resident Creative Artist, Sean O’Boyle AM said he wanted to create an annual event that tapped into the wealth of artistic talent in the Northern Rivers and inspired creativity. “The Iron Creative will encourage ingenuity, originality, innovation, teamwork and artistry,” he said.