AROUND THE SCHOOLS
Plenty of fun to be had at Giggly Friends Playgroup MARIA GIRGENTI GIGGLY Friends Playgroup, a community playgroup hosted by Silkwood State School which caters for children from birth to five years of age is back up and running in a dedicated air-conditioned classroom every Monday from 8.30am - 11.00am. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a maximum of 10 adults can attend and must maintain social distancing amongst themselves only. The group offers fun play-based learning in a happy and safe environment and qualified teacher aide Belinda Santarossa conducts activities such as painting, messy play, reading, numeracy, music, dancing, arts, crafts and outdoor play (weather permitting). It is a great opportunity for parents to socialise with other parents and share experiences while enjoying a morning out watching their children play. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers are all welcome and tea and coffee is provided. Silkwood State School will cover the membership fee to Playgroup Queensland for all families that attend which is an amazing saving of $40 per family. Bring along a hat, water bottle and morning tea for your child. For further information, contact 4065 1333 or check out Giggly Friends Playgroup Facebook page to see a number of fun activities and the fantastic play space available. Parents chat while Angus is busy with play dough.
Anita McFarlane assists her daughter Isabelle with a craft activity
COMMUNITY NEWS
Out of Commission PETER MCCULLAGH
Collectively they cover west to Mt Isa, north to Torres Strait islands and east to Willis Island.
SPEND any day on the Cairns Esplanade and you will be amazed by the number of tourists and local you see utilising this great public space.
The QG Air service provides an exception level of support and service to our emergency services here in Far North Queensland.
You will also see regular aerial visits to the Cairns Hospital by the Cairns Rescue helicopter.
Kestrel Aviation, currently have a planning application before Council, seeking approval for a Material Change of Use on a property located in Mission Beach.
QG Air operates and maintains the service based in Cairns as well as other major centres throughout Queensland. Recently the QG Air Cairns Rotary aircraft (rescue helicopter) was out of commission for almost 24 hours. Grounded at the Cairns Hospital helipad with an electrical fault, requiring parts to be freighted from south. An electrical fault can and will occur with a well maintained aircraft. It’s important to understand this will happen, and when it does emergency services need to swing to ‘Plan B’ as a backup. The Cairns based operations for QG Air covers a large area here in Far North Queensland. The rescue chopper is regularly sighted within the Cassowary Coast as well as over the Tablelands and Daintree and further north towards Thursday Island. The Cairns Rescue Helicopter is a critical and well utilised service in Far North Queensland. This one aircraft can be called north of Cairns to attend an emergency patient transfer and then within the hour be required to fly south to our region to attend traffic accidents. Last month, a 76-year-old woman was flown to the Townsville Hospital by the QG Air rescue helicopter after a quad-bike accident near Innisfail.
This application if successful allow Kestrel Aviation to establish a helicopter services business in Mission Beach eventually offering to the community and government a mixture of emergency services. The Mission Beach location selected by Kestrel is strategic, located half-way between Cairns and Townsville, potentially providing support during bushfire season, maritime search and rescue as well as emergency service support to QG Air as and when required. Ray Cronin, founder and Managing Director, Kestrel Aviation believes this development will provide significant value to the community in the region. “Last summer, Australia suffered an unprecedented level of bushfire extreme events. Our crews down south worked alongside all government agencies to battle these fires. “Having a base here in Mission Beach makes sense. The Cassowary Coast region for the past few years has experienced regular fires during summer, whilst not to the extent of some communities south, but we do have a need here.
What are the options when the QG Air helicopter is unavailable due to mechanical or electrical faults, or even on call to an emergency north of Cairns?
“When we are fully established our goal is to provide an important hub for emergency services here in the region. Facilities will be available for QG Air to refuel, our engineers available as well as our aircraft to ensure the region is covered from an emergency services perspective as and when required.”
Covering a massive geographical area, QG Air has two Rotary Wing Aircrafts in Townsville (one primary and one backup), as well as one aircraft in Cairns.
Currently the planning application is before Council and will be dealt with either later this month our during July’s meetings.
QG Air rescue chopper grounded in Cairns.
Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, June 11, 2020 Page 9
