Property

Serena Kirby. It was a mix of tall tales and tears at the Denmark Surf Life Saving Club recently as past and present members gathered to mark the pending demolition of their 73-year-old patrol room. Built in 1960, the patrol room, featuring its porthole windows, has long been a much-loved icon of Ocean Beach.

After 100 years of growing Australian food and fibre, and enhancing their farm’s environmental assets, the Ettershanks now face their biggest challenge, power lines. Under the recent release of Transgrid’s proposed route for the VNI West Interconnector, Simon and Carly Ettershank’s 2,000-hectare property now has twenty 75-80-metre-tall towers across their home. 

The Grafton Ngerrie Local Aboriginal Land Council is set to take over about half of the historic Grafton Gaol site after a landmark agreement with the NSW Government ... “This site will be used to serve the wider community and provide much-needed job and training opportunities for local Aboriginal people and the broader Clarence Valley community”: Grafton Ngerrie LALC Chairperson Roslyn Kennedy.

Supporters advocating for the protection of Lots 512 and 513, DP727686, identified as part of Kariong Sacred Lands along Woy Woy Road, express shock and dismay over the lack of transparency and fairness during the Community Consultation Phase for the contentious rezoning proposal ... "We estimate over 3,000 public submissions opposing this unpopular planning proposal. It is impossible to contact every person to resubmit their views": Lisa Bellamy.

The Reckless Renewables Rally brought to together 116 regional community groups with a message for Federal politicians to suspend their reckless rollout ... ‘People living in our cities are being deceived. Rural and regional communities are being socially fractured, divided up and hollowed out by our own government and their energy corporation’s working in unison with home grown renewables zealots and foreign renewable energy company carpetbaggers’: Chairman of PRA Jim Willmott.

Wilya Ajjul Janta Aboriginal Corporation held an exhibition last Friday at Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Cultural Centre to unveil its housing model that is more environmentally and culturally appropriate for Warumungu country. CEO Simon Quilty was ecstatic with the turnout and the community’s interest in changing the Territory’s housing models to suit its searing heat, especially in light of climate change.

As Australians were stocking fridges and checking gas bottles before Australia Day, local farmers were receiving word that the towering transmission lines would carve through their properties. One farmer said it was the first contact they had from the company, stating “no personal contact” before receiving the news that left them feeling “side swiped.”

After an incredible almost 100 years in the same family, the historic Gunbower Estate has been sold ... The Gunbower run of 180,000 acres was originally taken up by James Rowan in 1845...

Many will have heard of the popular memoir, A Fortunate Life, which follows the story of Albert B. Facey (1894 -1982), and his experiences growing up and farming in the Wheatbelt, a book that has sold over half a million copies ... As an Australian history buff, I’m always on the lookout for stories of our farming pioneers, unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Recent heavy rain has impacted the treatment of fire ants in and around Murwillumbah ... treatment program will resume in Murwillumbah when the ground dries out ... treatment can only be applied with the written consent of the property owner.

The NSW Valuer General has published land values for the Murray Region. The land values reflect the value of land only, as at July 1, 2023 ... The new land values will be used by Revenue NSW to calculate land tax for the 2024 land tax year for landowners that are subject to land tax.

If the property market is any indicator, our local area is among many in regional Queensland becoming more popular with people looking for a better quality of life. The latest data from the PropTrack Home Price Index, released last week, shows the property market in regional Queensland is booming.

A Gulmarrad wildlife corridor that is one of the last remnants of habitat for the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo in the Clarence Valley which is at risk due to a nine-lot subdivision determined in 2007 has seen a new approach, bringing together the landholder and conservationists to attempt to preserve the habitat and wildlife.

In 1894 the Monbulla School was opened 7km West of Penola on Clay Wells Rd ... Monbulla Hall was built as an addition to the site in the 1950s and would become the primary meeting place for the Monbulla community.

A Charles Sturt University legal academic has successfully represented First Nations people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia before a United Nations tribunal ... “The decision concerns the Wunna Nyiyaparli people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, an area rich in minerals such as iron ore, and basically concerns a miscarriage of justice in the Federal Court in determining their native title rights": Dr Scott Calnan.

The Australian Government signed the “30 x 30” target at COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022, with a commitment to ensure that 30 per cent of the earth’s land and sea is protected through the establishment of Protected Areas (PAs) and Other Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) ... The WWF has urged the Australian Government to set up a $5B Green Fund to acquire forests, productive land and reforest wheat fields.  The land needed to meet the 30:30 objective has to be “high biodiversity value” land in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Bill Moore. As you walk along the verandah of the 1960s brick building that was the former Shire of Maldon offices, have you noticed the two round metal plaques attached to the wall near the main door? These plaques are a part of Maldon’s recent history...

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is concerned not enough is being done to protect the rights of landholders when it comes to the development and operation of transmission lines across farmland … newly released Land Access Code of Practice falls short of offering farmers the protections they need.

Relocation, demolition and site rectification works are powering ahead on Lockyer Valley properties purchased under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back (VHBB) program ... 21 contracts of sale have now been settled in the Lockyer Valley, with more to come, allowing families to move on with their lives out of high-risk flood zones.