Council

Narrandera may be a future home to a critically important research centre for one of the nation’s most iconic species, the koala. A notice of motion was submitted by deputy mayor David Fahey to Narrandera Shire Council to lobby Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke, Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley and the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service to establish a Koala Research Centre in Narrandera. Cr Fahey said the centre would research and protect the koala population in the Shire, create a tourism opportunity and employment for the town, and protect the disease-free status of the local koala population.

Geoff Helisma. Clarence Valley Council [CVC] has restated its opposition to any diversion of the Clarence River or mining within its catchment. The council’s general manager, Ashley Lindsay, concludes in CVC’s submission to the draft North Coast Regional Water Strategy: “Council reiterates its position that any proposal to divert the Clarence cannot be justified from an economic, environmental or social perspective.”

The digital potential of regional economies, communities and industry will be the key focus of a trailblazing festival being held in Greater Hamilton. Tickets are now on sale for next month’s Digital Innovation and Smart Agriculture (DISA) 2021 Festival, with participants encouraged to take advantage of the earlybird 10% discount which ends May 11.

The Shire of Toodyay is one of the two WA towns to have achieved ‘wildflower-friendly’ status as a result of the 2020-21 Wildflower Friendliness Award Scheme. The scheme encourages local governments to protect WA’s valuable wildflowers and native vegetation along roads and in nature reserves for visitors and locals to enjoy. WA has one of the largest display of wildflowers with more than 12,000 species – which is a unique selling point for the State.

Western Cape communities have been urged to have their say on the Indigenous Voice process after workshops were held in the region last week. Prominent Indigenous leader Professor Marcia Langton was joined by Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews for talks in Napranum, Weipa and Aurukun. The sessions were to discuss the key points of the Indigenous Voice report, released in January, and to garner feedback to take to the federal government.

Rockhampton Airport has today welcomed one of Alliance Airlines new commercial aircraft with a special water cannon salute to mark its arrival. The Embraer E190 is one of 30 newly acquired aircraft Alliance is adding to its regional fleet with an exciting proposal on the cards to build a hangar and maintenance facility at Rockhampton Airport to help service the airlines entire fleet of over 70 aircraft.

The Coastal Fox Control Program will be underway again this autumn in an effort to protect our native wildlife from the predatory fox in coastal bushland areas from Maroochy River to Peregian Springs.

In the hope to improve native vegetation within the municipality, Greater Shepparton City Council are inviting schools and community groups to take part in the ‘One Tree Per Child’ project, a global project that aims to plant one native indigenous plant for every child under 18 years old between 2017 and 2021.

For 90 years paramedics have operated from the pale brick building on Centre St in Casino. Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow said he’d been to the station “a few times as a young boy to get stitched up.” All that is about to change after an announcement on Friday about a modern ambulance station to replace it ... Paramedic Hayley Hemmings said they had outgrown the station: “The new station will have a lot more infrastructure, new equipment and training spaces”.

Geoff Helisma. Damming the Clarence River has long been a controversial subject – and the draft regional water strategy for the north coast rules it out (for now) – but one Clarence Valley man hasn’t given up on the idea, although he’s not talking about diverting the river westwards. Lawrence resident John Ibbotson has spent considerable time and money developing his idea for a dam located downstream from where the Clarence and Mann rivers converge, despite the North Coast Regional Water Strategy discussing dam proposals under the heading “options not progressed”.

The Mildura Arts Centre (MAC) will host the premiere screening of a new documentary film inspired by the internationally recognised MAC Collection this month. An Improbable Collection is the work of renowned film director Bruce Beresford and photographer Cordelia Beresford and will been screened in the MAC Theatre at 7:30pm on Saturday 17 April. The film focuses on the colourful careers of artists Sir William Orpen and Sir Frank Brangwyn, whose works Bruce saw for the first time in London in the 1970s.

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.

Rous Water has released its revised Draft Plan outlining its future water strategies and community members have eight weeks to respond – amid calls for the Dunoon Dam option to be put back on the table. Rous Water has outlined the challenges it faces in securing water supply in our region, including: population growth forecasts indicate a 37 per cent increase in drinking water demand by 2060; climate forecasts predict a reduction in available surface water of 22 per cent by 2060; and, on current growth, water demand will exceed reliable supply by 2024.

A tourism strategy revolving around events in Cape York will be rolled out this year as part of a joint initiative from councils in the region. The Cape York and Torres Strait Regional Events Strategy is an initiative of the Torres and Cape Indigenous Councils Alliance (TCICA). The strategy aims to increase tourism on the Cape and in the Torres Strait by developing frameworks for regional event coordination and event growth.

Western Downs Regional Council is supporting the region’s local artists to take part in a new three-day regional arts forum by offering a brand-new bursary program and presenting opportunities.

Sports Expos are organised by local councils and at Mt. Isa we had over 1,000 people attending the excellent indoor facility with 66 sports, hobby and community groups displaying what they had on offer.

“Many of our tourism industry work hard to ensure they have their product listed across online travel agency platforms like Wotif, showcasing the region and all of the wonderful experiences we have in our backyard, like our easy access to the Southern Great Barrier Reef, our food and drink heroes, our parks and gardens. This increases visibility for the Bundaberg Region and supports all of the other businesses in the region that benefit indirectly from the visitor dollar," says Bundaberg Tourism CEO Katherine Reid.

Bendigo and region is Australia’s first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, so this is the perfect way to highlight all we have to offer and help people design the perfect day trip or weekend away.

The meeting started with a community conversation with attendees forming groups afterwards to brainstorm ideas which were collected and collated to be presented at another meeting to be held in the coming weeks. Speakers included Barkly MLA Steve Edgington, The Mob Aboriginal Corporation’s Josephine Bethel, local business owner Steve Baldwin and Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation’s Dr Geoff Evans. The meeting was a civilised affair with residents and interested stakeholders focused simply on solutions.

A bitter stoush has erupted over a proposed water tower mural at Yerong Creek with the community labelling the art work as garish and cartoonish. A deputation to Lockhart Shire Council’s March meeting pleaded for a replacement design, with their petition of 100 signatures and suggestions passed on to a selection committee and a decision was due to be made this week. Residents were “insulted and angry” over the short consultation time frame on a design already endorsed by Council.

Geoff Helisma. The NSW Government has granted $30.8 million in funding to Clarence Valley Council (CVC) to replace 31 timber bridges in the Clarence Valley. The council was successful with 31 of 32 applications to the Fixing Country Bridges (FCB) program. Staff wrote in the report to yesterday’s March 30 CVC meeting that it was “an unprecedented amount of funding for timber bridge replacements in the Clarence Valley over the next two years”.