Council

Gabrielle Duykers. Community radio station 5TCBFM has received a sizable cash injection to update its studio equipment and ensure broadcast continues. At its April meeting, Tatiara District Council voted to grant the station $80,000 to replace broadcast and studio equipment, and approved an additional $80,000 loan to help facilitate further infrastructure upgrades.  

Parts of Dewar and Edwards streets will need to be permanently closed prior to their inclusion into a consolidated caravan park reserve if the Shire of Gingin proceeds with an agenda item.

Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher is hoping a close federal election race in Leichhardt will be the catalyst for a major upgrade to the town’s disgraceful telecommunications network ... “We are not asking for 5G like the cities, we are simply asking for a reliable 4G service ... There is a lack of understanding in the capital cities about how bad we have it here.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce flew into Tennant Creek on Wednesday morning to deliver the good news for health in the region. Tennant Creek has been listed as a targeted General Practitioner (GP) recruitment location under the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS).

Electric truck maker Janus has debuted the first battery-powered prime mover in Australia and has plans to set up battery swap stations up and down the eastern seaboard within months. Narrandera Shire Council's EDM Peter Dale recently attended a showcase of Janus products. Mr Dale met with representatives for Janus to discuss the merits of the company establishing facilities in Narrandera.

“It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the Wakka Wakka People as the traditional, and now, legally recognised native titleholders of approximately 9,393 square kilometres of land covered by this determination”: South Burnett Regional Council Mayor Brett Otto.

“The social and economic fabric of the Northern Rivers region is slowly being unravelled as the days and weeks go by,” the Richmond Valley Flood 2022 Response document reads. That is a sad statement, but true. The expectation is that it will take at least three years for the valley to recover.

Fast becoming a Cape York icon, Lakeland’s Gateway to the Cape was officially opened on Friday ... Now complete, it boasts comprehensive visitor information, as well as a sculpture park that showcases each community in the region.

Utilising Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the trailer-mounted device features two solar-powered 3D movement sensors that capture, count and record pedestrian and vehicle numbers every hour. All data captured is publicly accessible via Council’s website.

Serena Kirby. Mark Parre is busy passing on his skills and knowledge to the next generation because, after nearly 30 years with the Shire of Denmark, retirement looms ... “The work is the greatest reward and when I revisit a site I planted up years before and see the diversity of flora and fauna it really makes my heart sing.”

Two public meetings will be held on April 12 and April 19 to discuss the implications of a mining exploration licence application ... Bart Lebbing said the Denmark shire relied on primary production, nature-based tourism, education, art and craft enterprises, viticulture and the service industry. “Mineral exploration and mining do not value-add to these sectors, but compromise their viability,” he said.

When the new emergency services centre was announced for Gingin last year it was expected to be finished by April this year but the project is running behind with some site works among the jobs still to be completed.

For the past three days, a high-tech team from Sunshine Coast Council, University of the Sunshine Coast and the Friends of Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens have worked together to uncover how many koalas live in the reserve and how healthy they are.

Plans for a Regional University Centre in Port Lincoln are gaining momentum, with the City of Port Lincoln supporting a proposal for a local university hub. Offering a range of tertiary education options, a university hub would fill a gap in the local and regional education market, providing options for residents to study locally.

The April school holidays are almost here, and with it brings the return of the Critter Trail on Chapman: an interactive experience for young detectives. Coordinated by the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery (GRAG), the Critter Trail is a series of art pieces along the CBD portion of Chapman Road depicting critters that have ‘borrowed’ art from the City’s Collection.

Narrandera Shire Council's plans to construct a skywalk at Lake Talbot may literally be ‘up in the air’ following Tuesday night’s public meeting at which some members of the community voiced their disapproval of the project ... “We’ll take what has happened at this meeting on board and it will give us something to think about": Mayor Kschenka.

A second influx of little red flying foxes has arrived in McAuliffe Park  in Casino. Little reds are highly nomadic and will move on again before too long but with a lot of habitat destroyed by recent floodwater, the flying foxes may make their way into residents’ yards.

Geoff Helisma. An initiative to incorporate population growth as a primary factor when deciding the annual rate peg for NSW councils has been rejected before its implementation. In early 2021, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) began a review that would include population growth in its calculation of the rate peg, and, upon its adoption, set the rate peg at 0.7 per cent for 2022-23 financial year ... attendees at the Local Government NSW Special Conference disagreed with the IPART, the OLG and the former minister.

Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch believes he will be able to soon cut the ribbon to open the CAPS animal welfare facility after discussions about the centre were fast-tracked. Last week’s Cape York Weekly was the most read edition since publishing began and the front page story about the future of the $2 million facility generated plenty of discussion in the community.