Business

A new lease of life has been injected into an historic local town with visitors raving about the beautification of Ulmarra after a $3.4 million makeover by Clarence Valley Council. The Ulmarra CBD revitalisation includes new footpaths, drainage, road sealing replacement on Coldstream Street, new landscaping and trees planted, new street furniture, a new pedestrian crossing, and a raised intersection at Coldstream Street and River Street.

Lestatt Hammond-Hurst from Glenreagh will represent NSW in the baking category at the WorldSkills Australia 2023 National Championships in Melbourne ... “In preparation for the competition, I’ve been working hard on my consistency, and making sure everything I take out of the oven looks perfect and has the same texture and colour."

ARR.News sought the response of FCNSW regarding recent protests against native forest logging, recent timber harvesting and plans for harvesting in the site of the proposed Great Koala National Park and measures to prevent injury to koalas and other wildlife.

Teams from 21 countries and 59 pilots will compete in the FAI F3A World Champions at the Warwick Aerodrome. The best in the world, with some right here in Queensland, will show their skills in this precision aerobatic sport performing a set of manoeuvres in front of the judges and the spectators.

John Williams. Digby Ian Harris OAM was Nhill ’s sturdy, warm-hearted family doctor for over 4 decades, a man of professional skill, enthusiasm, intelligence and humanity. He was known by everyone and had gained great respect, esteem and love. And he knew his people even better than they knew themselves.

New homes in key growth areas will be built quicker and approvals fast-tracked in the latest Malinauskas Government measure to tackle the housing crisis. South Australians building in greenfield areas will no longer require planning approval for new homes...

Farmers have rolled into Melbourne on tractors, prime movers and utes, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land throughout Victoria ... our food and fibre production is at risk, with thousands of kilometres of prime land set to be ripped up and replaced for wind turbines, towers and transmission lines.

New Yorke Peninsula arts festival GROUNDED kicked off in emphatic style with an official opening and awards night at the Brentwood Community Hall on Friday, August 11. People packed into the hall to begin nine days of open exhibitions, workshops, performances and interactive activities across the peninsula.

Some Wanneroo councillors want the city to revoke a decision made earlier this month to approve a glamping tent proposal for the old Quinns Rocks caravan park site ... The six councillors said they wanted to revoke the earlier decision as it did not accord with the clear wishes of the community who did not support the development proposal of Eco Tourism or any other entity ...

Joan Hayman. Sixteen years ago, two Kyogle Tidy Towns members had a dream. They realised there was a need for a place where local producers could sell the products of their labour. They wanted to the town to see what was produced locally and to decrease the food miles their food travels  and help the planet.

Whyalla City Council has released a new book showcasing its historic art collection to the public in its entirety for the first time. ‘City of Whyalla Art Collection ... the history of Whyalla’s Art Collection starting from the 19th Century to the more recent pieces created in the 2020s.

Even early removal of Chinese anti-dumping tariffs would not be enough to prevent Australia’s wine industry facing several years of oversupply, Rabobank says in its newly-released Wine Quarterly Q3 2023 report ... So large is the current oversupply, says Ms Piggott, that Australia has the equivalent of 859 olympic swimming pools worth of wine in storage.

With more growers opting to store grain for extended periods, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) is reminding growers of the benefits of gas-tight sealable storage in controlling and preventing insect pest infestations in stored grain.  

New state-of-the-art technology will be unveiled, helping first responders overcome dangerous communications black spots to keep them better connected during emergencies. Mobile Wi-Fi equipment has now been installed in over 1,300 Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW State Emergency Service (SES) vehicles, which will ensure 4G or satellite communication access during incident responses.

Powick’s Pantry’s potentially winning spicy tomato relish is languishing in a mail sorting facility in Sydney instead of being delivered to the Sydney Food Show for judging ... it has still not been delivered and is apparently sitting in the mail centre a week after it was posted.

Reaching Your Pinnacle - a mindset, not a destination. Leadership is not easy. It requires time, persistence, patience, and above all energy. This is especially true in regional and rural Australia, where the need for leadership can suddenly become foisted onto a person at any moment. The first test of leadership is your ability to lead yourself. If a leader is OK and in a good place, then they have an ability to help others.

Australian agricultural commodity prices experienced a mixed month in July, with wheat and cotton prices edging up, while dairy and barley prices eased, and cattle prices tracked sideways. The movements are reflected in the NAB Rural Commodities Index* which declined 2.1 per cent in July.

Regional Arts Australia (RAA) and Culture Counts have released new research findings on cultural tourism … The RAA Cultural Tourism Accelerator Program 2021-2022 Research Project indicates that arts and cultural activity in regional and remote Australia creates significant economic impact and community connection.

According to the most recent national inventory conducted in 2021, Australia has 13,287 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste, which by volume is more than five standard Olympic swimming pools ... The site of Australia’s only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights can safely store waste on site for some time, but we must ensure this waste has an appropriate disposal pathway.  

The largest and most ambitious trade initiative in Australian horticulture has been given the green light with a host of partners signing on to an historic $130 million program, the Fresh and Secure Trade Alliance (FASTA) ... As part of the program, FASTA will also boost biosecurity initiatives to solidify Australia’s strong reputation in pest-management and as a responsible trading partner for years to come.

Creativity comes naturally to Cassie Goodwin, who with the support of Centrecare FNQ, has taken her craft to a new level, capturing the attention of local therapists, and creating a market for hand-sewn, bright, and characterful, weighted cats ... "One of Cassie’s long-term goals was to establish a small stall of her arts and crafts so in 2019 she began sewing classes to hone her skills": Centrecare FNQ’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager Nathan Lee.