Rodney Stevens, Clarence Valley Independent

In an innovative initiative to boost business, created by the Yamba Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Clarence Valley Council, both Hot Rodders and the public are invited to participate in the inaugural Hot Rod Trail this weekend with more than $2000 in prizes to be won.

A Nymboida resident who was in the middle of the Glen’s Creek Road firestorm last Wednesday says calls for council to slash about 80 acres of land adjoining his and two other properties have resulted in a limited response that placed lives in jeopardy … “Council would be having a go at anyone else whose property is putting people at risk, but council can get away with it because they’re council…it’s not good enough.”

As more than 200 timber industry workers and supporters watched, Clarence Valley Councillors voted 7-2 at the October 24 meeting not to pursue a motion brought to council by its Biodiversity Advisory Committee calling for native forest logging on publicly owned land to be phased out.

A NSW Parliamentary inquiry into the Planning System and the Impacts of Climate Change on the Environment and Communities is calling for public submissions and the Yamba Community Action Network Yamba CAN Inc is encouraging locals to show their concerns about what is happening on the Yamba floodplain.

In the fifth year of the Waveski Australian Open being held at Yamba the standard of surfing reached new heights in 2023, with several divisions coming down to the last wave of the final before the champion could be crowned ... “Rees Duncan, multiple world champion was a standout in the Open division...": Organiser and competitor, Dave Andrews.

An important step to rebuilding essential health services across regional and rural NSW has been taken by the state government with the establishment of a Regional Health Ministerial Advisory Panel, but there are no local representatives advocating for the Northern Rivers region ... panel is to focus on building the regional health workforce, strengthening community engagement, and improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Clarence Valley beaches now feature a splash of pink after the Far North Coast Surf Lifesaving Nippers season began and children don their pink rash shirts. Nippers at Yamba is open to children between the ages of six and fourteen, and the surf skills program teaches lifesaving techniques, surf safety, CPR, and rescue experience, while completing fun activities in the surf.

Yamba chef Marley Van Den Boom has brought invaluable food knowledge and skills back to his hometown after completing a three-month internship at the restaurant that has been named the world’s best multiple times, Japan’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma. The 22-year-old told the CV Independent he started working in a Yamba café aged 14 as a dish washer while in high school...

New blood has been selected to steer Clarence Valley Council for the next 12 months with Cr Peter Johnstone elected Mayor and Jeff Smith Deputy Mayor, both candidates securing their positions by a single vote. In a surprise move, both incumbents, former Mayor Ian Tiley, and his Deputy Mayor Greg Clancy, did not nominate for election at the September 26 council meeting at the Grafton chambers.

Three Palmers Island prawn farms at the centre of the White Spot outbreak in the Clarence River have entered the final stage of decontamination as part of the NSW Department of Primary Industries DPI eradication response ... The extension of the Control Order was a devastating blow for the Clarence prawn trawl industry and trawler operators like Dean Opalniuk, who received no income from prawns this year, where he would usually average $3000 a week in season, leaving him with a business that was worth more than $200,000, now being worthless.