NSW

WATER Northern Rivers Alliance calls on Rous County Council and state water planners to respect the wishes of Widjabul Wia-bal people who have voiced their opposition to the proposed Dunoon Dam. The dam would obliterate important cultural heritage ancient burial sites. Yesterday John Roberts, a senior Elder of the Widjabul Wia-bal stated that when he and other traditional custodians were consulted about the dam in 2011 they made it clear that no level of disturbance was acceptable.

Kendall Jennings. Mawson's T20 Blast Cricket third round was held on Thursday, February 4. Wandella hosted Barham/ Koondrook at Riverside Park in Kerang. Entering round three, the two top teams on equal points on the ladder faced off. Playing conditions were challenging with storm clouds looming and northerly twenty-kilometre winds. The white playing ball was challenging to focus on in the sky, making way for on-field action with close runouts and dropped catches.

Are you a team player? Like helping your community? Want to increase your income? Then maybe you should join Fire Rescue NSW in Barham. From fires to road accidents, the team of dedicated retained fire rescue employees serve our community when people are at their most vulnerable. I recently spent an evening with the crew at Barham as they performed a simulated road accident.

Nathan Dawes is the new energetic publican at the Top Pub in Kyogle. Having lived between Coorabell and Sydney for two decades working in the corporate world, he has changed his lifestyle and taken on the Commercial Hotel. He lives upstairs at the pub.

All eyes are on Casino as the next region to become a job precinct. Called the Casino Industries Activation project, the aim is to establish a strong case for businesses to locate to the Richmond Valley and includes cutting red tape to lure manufacturing businesses to the area. Last Wednesday in Townsend near Maclean, Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow, council's general manager Vaughan Macdonald, Casino Food Co-op's Simon Stahl and State MP Chris Gulaptis were at an event where Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced Casino as the location for the next Regional Job Precinct.

A proposal to build a large battery to store excess energy from the grid prompted 80 residents to attend an information session at McKees Hill Hall on Wednesday evening. The mood in the hall was tense as Maoneng’s director for Australia Allison Hawke faced a torrent of questions from residents who said they had been kept in the dark about the proposal.

... By bringing Mr Priest to Townsend, they believe it will help raise the profile of the gym and hopefully showcase the long list of professional bodybuilders and athletes that have been raised through Bodyrock. “We’ve had one world champion out of our Townsend gym, we’ve had two ladies that have made it into the top five in the world. We’ve crowdfunded two athletes to Vegas, one who won the world title and one who came fifth in the world…not too bad for a little gym out of Townsend”, the proud gym owner says ...

Geoff Helisma. New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro has relaunched the government’s 20-Year Economic Vision for Regional NSW at Sanctus Brewing Company, Townsend ... The updated vision, the government says, “identifies emerging sectors and future industries for government investment, includes 50 new priorities to drive long-term stimulus impact, underpins investment in the regions from now until 2038, sets out a plan for jobs and population growth in regional NSW and leverages remote and altered working patterns that have emerged as a result of COVID-19”.

Rod Fuller. With four wins at the Port Macquarie circuit since November, Elusive Eagle maintained his outstanding strike rate to lead throughout for a comprehensive victory in the Mid North Coast Championship Preview on Sunday.

A $32 million hydro-powered battery project to be located near Albury will be Australia’s first, following approval by the NSW Government. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the hydro-powered battery will be charged by the nearby Hume Hydro Power Station that already provides power to 40,000 homes.

The scarcity of seasonal workers continues to impact growers as crop losses climb to over $45 million this week. The labour shortage is a result of Federal and state government decisions to restrict the movement of people through the Australian border in order to manage the human health impacts of COVID-19. Sixty-five separate crop losses from five states and territories have now reported on the National Crop Lost Crop Register.

A large, multi-agency search is continuing this morning for a 53-year-old spear fisherman who went missing at South West Rocks yesterday afternoon, 4 February. Surf Life Saving NSW assets, including four IRBs (rubber duckies), RWCs (jetskis), and UAVs (drones), are currently involved in the search for the missing man on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Rod Fuller. With an exemplary record of three wins from four previous outings under his belt, Elusive Eagle is poised to account for rivals in the Mid North Country Championship Preview at Port Macquarie on Sunday.

Explore close to home and be blown away. I am close to the sky. The breeze in the thick canopy that covers the hillsides makes the mountains look like they're moving. The landscape is more ocean than forest – even though I stand 110km from the sea. This is Pinnacle Lookout in the Border Ranges where the peak of Wollumbin-Mt Warning shouts its presence by protruding from the waves of green.

Kyogle's newest vet Simon Wake lives in an idyllic setting. He shares his 80ha property near the Border Ranges with his schoolteacher wife Sally, daughter Lucy, dogs Arthur and Millie, 10 chickens and 18 Speckled Park cattle. Sitting by a huge dam where koalas hide in the trees, Simon's Land Rover is parked under the gums nearby, ready for the next callout.

Geoff Helisma. For Derry Moroney, photography started as “just a little hobby”, but now that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other media outlets from around the world have contacted him, that ‘little hobby’ is growing into something much more. “My partner got me a camera a few weeks after we came here three years ago,” says Derry, “… it went from there. “I started going out every day; I went to every sunrise and every sunset and I’ve been doing it ever since.”