Tweed Valley Weekly, December 8, 2022

Great yarn for Christmas!

By Jo Kennett

CABA CREATIVE have been hard at work for months creating a beautiful Christmas present for the community, which they unveiled on Sunday, Decem ber 4.

Chair of the group, Suzi Bourke, said they had been working since September on their annual Christmas yarn bombing.

“It’s been fabulous this year because we have about 25 people involved,” Suzi said.

“Mostly it’s senior, but the Girls Space youth group from Cabarita Youth Services did the trees outside The Adventure Play ground and 16-year-old Rosie Parsons and her grandma did the ones outside Woolies. There were also men involved in the knitting and crocheting.

“Everybody in town is so excited about it,” Suzi said.

“People say the decorations are beautiful and really make them feel festive.

“When we were putting them up the cars honked and people yelled out, ‘Good on you’.”

Suzi said they already have new people wanting to be involved next year.

“Some are experts and some of us are knitting with holes in the middle, but it’s all a part of the creative side which really came out during COVID,” she said.

feelings.

Final cattle sale for 2022

By Jonathon Howard

CATTLE PRICES eased slightly at the final Murwillumbah Store cattle sales of the year on Saturday, November 26.

George and Fuhrmann cattle sales auc tioneer Brent Casey has provided The Weekly readers with a report on the sales, which he said saw 350 head of cattle go under the hammer.

“The market was all slightly cheaper, but considering the market situation ev erywhere, we had a great sale,” he said.

“In the last couple of weeks we have seen a downward trend across all markets due to few different factors.

“It has got a little dry in some places which has put a few more cattle on the market.

“The floods in the south have also caused difficulties for trucks to get cattle into properties so that has limited some buyers on where their cattle can be trans ported.”

There were 30 feeder/backgrounder steers that sold very well, topping at $6.68 per kilogram (/kg) to average out at $5.05/kg.

A total of 130 weaner steers sold to a top of $7.26/kg to average out at $6/kg.

Weaner heifers numbered 150 and sold extremely well, topping out at $6.10/kg to average out at $5.15/kg

Mr Casey said there were only 25 cows and calves sold, selling to a top of $3,280 each to average out at $2,100 per head.

“That was the last sale for Murwillum bah for the year. On behalf of myself and

George & Fuhrmann, I would like to thank everybody for their support through out the year and I look forward to catch ing up in the new year. I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.”

The next Murwillumbah cattle sale will be conducted on Monday, January 9. For all inquiries please phone Brent Casey on: 0428 530 422.

FINAL 2022 SALE: Cattle prices reached record highs in 2022, only to ease this month

“It’s that sense of purpose and doing something beyond yourself, and everyone has got so much back from it in good

“It’s really amazing how something so little can be so beneficial to so many.”

YARN BOMBING: Cabarita has been transformed thanks to Caba Creative this Christmas

Why You Need Solar & Batteries Now!

Power Prices Rise by 18%

Australian electricity prices have risen by up to 18.3 per cent under a decision by the Australian Energy Regulator due to increased cost of generation due to global rises in coal and gas prices. The increases, which came into effect from July, amount to more than $250 a year based on ACCC figures putting the average residential electricity bill at $1,434.

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Tweed politics changed forever

It is worth highlighting how much the Tweed is benefitting from the co operation between Tweed MP Geoff Provest and Tweed Shire Council Mayor Chris Cherry.

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, who represents the Murwillumbah-Uki part of the Tweed, has also been constructive.

These people are not best mates, they aren’t in the same political party, but they are united in their iron will to do the right thing for the Tweed in what has been a horror couple of years with Queensland Labor’s Covid border closure and this year’s floods nightmare.

The images of our premier, our state MPs and our mayor and councillors standing together in the face of these challenges have changed politics in the Tweed forever.

I get to write OAM after my name for services to local government, al though I don’t usually bother. Mayor Cherry has just won a well-deserved Minister’s Award for Women in Lo cal Government.

None of us do this for the medals, of course. The recognition actually reflects the incredible support we get from our families and staff.

The thing is that when we all work together, the Tweed wins and that is the reason we do this stuff.

Warren Polglase OAM, Burringbar Wild dogs are a pest

Just because dingoes were intro duced supposedly 6,000 years ago does not mean they belong here. How many koalas have they killed in that time?

Cane toads were also introduced here but in thousands of years they will still not belong here.

Christine Samuels, Casuarina US empire strikes again

The media narrative would have us believe that the war in Ukraine is

simply a result of Russia’s aggression on a non-compliant neighbour want ing to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Actually, the narrative is simpler than that. It’s one large expansionist country invading a smaller one.

Of course, reality is much more complex than this and has more to do with the USA expanding NATO.

Countries near Russia such as North Macedonia, Finland and Swe den have recently joined the alliance.

Ukraine joining, with its Russian regions and strategic position, was unacceptable to Russia. Of course, this does not justify an invasion, but it also does not warrant the USA passing a bill in congress to fund the “defence” of Ukraine to the tune of $40 billion.

This is a war that is reminiscent of other US wars like Vietnam, Afghan istan and Iraq.

This time no US troops are in volved. As usual it is the arms in dustry who benefits from the conflict. This time the perceived enemy has a considerable nuclear capability, and we could all lose.

The US should withdraw its involve ment in Ukraine. Ukraine would be forced to come to some agreement with Russia.

We Australians should be putting pressure on our politicians to ques tion our alliance with the USA.

We need to use the influence we have with the USA to stop its involve ment in conflicts around the globe.

It is time that we call for an end to war no matter who is waging it.

Stephen Collins-Haynes, Kunghur

A price cap ay?

As a pensioner my diesel fuel bills are not all that high compared to workers, but the US has thrown us all a lifeline.

They have capped Russian crude at US $60 a barrel. In my back-of-en velope arithmetic that is cheaper by AUD $30 than what we are currently

getting.

My HiLux is Japanese but I’m sure will guzzle quite happily on Russian crude as Arabian or even Bass Strait crude. But the possibilities now the US has shown the way!

What about a price cap on bread? Milk? Rents? CEO wages? Hey, what about parliamentarian’s wages! Bil lion-dollar-plus US submarines? Nah, sorry mate, got a price cap on that. One hundred mil and not a cent high er. It’s a cap, ya see?

Personally, I would relish a cap on lobsters and prawns and other seafood.

Please address all ‘cap’ enquiries to the US Embassy, Canberra. State your preference.

Bill Collins, Murwillumbah Poets and writers take note

Poets & Writers on the Tweed are celebrating a dual event on Tuesday, December 20.

We are celebrating 25 years of weekly meetings, plus Christmas of course.

We are inviting past and present members to join us for lunch at the South Tweed Sports Club from 11.30am.

The courtesy of this wonderful club has enabled us to meet every Tuesday 1.30pm to 4pm since the library has been unavailable.

For more information please phone: (07) 5524 8035.

Lorraine Pascoe, poet of Tweed Heads

Who is responsible?

Who is responsible for the short supply of gas now needed in NSW to back up intermittent energy sources?

After issuing numerous gas explo ration licences, Labor later joined the Greens’ lock-the-gate campaign. Remember those weekly full-page ads accusing the Nationals of pro moting coal seam gas?

After a relentless barrage, the NSW

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Coalition government buckled and bought back Labor’s licences. So now Putin is somehow responsible for our soaring power prices!

Some think battery storage can replace gas, but the 2,800MWh planned for NSW will cost billions and provide power for a matter of minutes on a windless winter eve ning.

Blackouts will be inevitable. And forget about charging your EV over night.

The Greens did a deal with How ard in 1998 to legislate a ban on the safest emissions-free reliable energy source.

Labor’s Chris Bowen reckons the nuclear option is too expensive, but small modular nuclear reactors can compete with unsubsidised renew ables and require no costly batteries, pumped-hydro, long transmission lines or sophisticated switching.

Some say the climate crisis is too close for any delay, but what differ ence could a fraction of one percent of global emissions possibly make? Who will be responsible for failing to properly power Australia?

D Weston Allen, Cudgen

Viva la resistance!

I will not even bother to try to re spond to Mr Clitheroe’s letter in the The Weekly, December 1.

Suffice to say that I hope all letter readers noted that he deliberately re fused to answer my question. I would make the point though that we acted with the utmost honesty and integrity regarding both surveys and petitions (rail trail). I take great offence at his intentions to imply otherwise!

But this poses a deeper question. Supposing we had a Trump-style coup here, trying to take over our democratic system. Which type of person are you? Would you submit, and say, there’s nothing we can do. Or would you join the resistance and fight? I know where I would stand — but what about you?

Mr Clitheroe says who cares? We won, it is okay to take sides if it gets you what you want.

As he tried to say, there is nothing we can do.

He is wrong, there is something the resistance can do.

Let me put it this way. Many years ago there were two comedians, Lau rel and Hardy. They made a comedy film called The Flying Deuces.

Many old timers would remember it, perhaps you can find it on your iPad?

Anyway, Stan and Ollie joined The French Foreign Legion and marched off across the Sahara and got sepa rated from their platoon.

They got to the fort that they had been sent to relieve to find all dead. Then, the native hoards returned to bump them off. But they saw a means of capturing all of the villains just before the lost platoon arrived.

Now when you find out just how they did this, no not with machine guns or land mines in fact no vio lence at all, it was so simple and so effective.

They offer us resistance fighters the very same means to close the rail trail down permanently.

There was a clear avoidance by pre vious governments to ignore “due procedural process” within the Office of Infrastructural Assets.

So my point is why should we, the people, be expected to try to clean up a local, state and federal mess at our expense if they have no intention of listening to us.

Hence it leaves us with the only option: Viva la resistance.

Mike Yarrow, Byangum

Please note the views on the letters page are that of the letter writer and not of the Tweed Valley Weekly. Letters must include a suburb and contact number for verification. Letters may be edited for length or legal reasons. Send your letters to editor@theweekly. net.au.

Tweed Shire Council’s director of plan ning and regulation, Vince Connell, said the large quantity of undetermined de velopment applications (DAs) stood at about 480.

“The best analogy of increased activity since COVID is a tsunami that struck, without the waters receding,” Mr Con nell said.

“Essentially this influx of applications — both large and small — is roughly a doubling of the quantity of applications that would be considered to be manage able, relative to staffing allocations that are able to be sourced in a competitive labour market.

“(This is) coupled with state-regulated and fixed fees and charges that council is able to charge for the provision of the service.”

Mr Connell said, not unexpectedly, these high numbers of applications had resulted in a corresponding increase in council’s average determination times.

The Tweed’s longest-serving councillor Warren Polglase told The Weekly he had never before seen such agitation brought about by DA delays.

“The biggest issue is that council just hasn’t got sufficient resources to process them,” he said.

“I’ve never seen this position ever before. I’ve never seen so much agitation. It’s brought about by frustration.”

Cr Polglase said in the months it took for council to determine a DA, the price of

building or renovations would rise much higher for the applicant.

“People are getting extremely agitated about that process,” he said.

Cr Polglase suggested one solution to speed up the process would be for coun cil to consider the merits of each DA proposal, instead of sticking rigidly to development control plans (DCPs), some of which were quite old.

DCPs provide the standards for devel opment in the Tweed.

“The DCP is not set in stone. It’s a guide of what people are expected to do,” Cr Polglase said.

Mayor Chris Cherry told The Weekly the council’s assessment teams were work ing incredibly hard to try to get through the applications.

“In the last 12 months we have had around 1000 DAs submitted and around 920 determined, so they are pumping out at the same rate as they come in, but we are not getting through the backlog of 400 or so that built up during COVID closures and COVID stimulus,” Cr Cherry said.

“Hand on heart, every single staff mem ber is working above and beyond at the moment.

“Council has been advertising for more staff for quite a while now. They simply aren’t out there.

“We have even tried getting in people from overseas. Every council in NSW has the same issues so we can’t even borrow any from another council.

“We have now been successful in getting some help from the state government, so have sent some DAs to them for assess ment, although of course council will do the determination.

“As the interest rates go up, we are like ly to see a slowing of applications being submitted so will have an opportunity to

catch up, but the best thing anyone can do right now is not to try to push the envelope — submit DAs that conform to the development standards and everything will go much faster for everyone.”

Mr Connell said it was important to consider Tweed Council’s assessment per formance in the context of other NSW councils.

“The current most accurate source of comparative performance statistics for NSW councils is through the NSW Plan ning Portal,” he said.

“As these statistics indicate, whilst Tweed Council is not up in the top-per forming councils, it is currently far from being the worst.”

To reduce the DA backlog, Tweed Shire Council has introduced a range of mea sures, including asking applicants to pro vide complete details which thoroughly address all policy controls and lodgement requirements on their website.

A detailed report on the issue of DA delays has been prepared for the council meeting on December 15.

Special report by Yvonne Gardiner

Tweed Shire Council's director of planning and regulation, Vince Connell

Leda Manorstead Pty Ltd Convicted of Contravening Project Approval and Ordered to Pay $95,000

Leda Manorstead Pty Ltd (“Leda”) has been convicted and been ordered to pay a fine in the sum of $95,000 by the Land and Environment Court of NSW (“Court”) for three offenses against s 125(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (“EPAA”) of carrying out development on land otherwise than in accordance with a project approval issued by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (“Department”), contrary to s 75D of the EPAA.

The development consent was a project approval in respect of works at the Cobaki Estate, Piggabean Road, Cobaki Lakes, New South Wales. The project approval included a condition authorising Leda to conduct bulk earthworks for the site only to a maximum disturbed area not exceeding 5.59 ha across the whole site. The offenses committed by Leda included breaching that condition. The Court found that between 31 July 2015 and 7 March 2017, there was a breach of between 40.3 ha to 55.4 ha of combined exposed area across the site, and that Leda was in breach of the 5.59 ha limit during this period.

On 26 March 2021, the Court convicted Leda for the three offenses and ordered it to pay:

(1) pay fines totalling $95,000;

(2) pay the Department’s legal costs;

(3) place a notice in various news publications notifying the commission of the offenses, and to pay for the placement of those notices; and

Telstra tower approved

By Yvonne Gardiner

MOBILE PHONE reception around Kingscliff, Salt and Casuarina is expected to improve af ter Tweed Shire Councillors approved a new Telstra-owned phone tower on Faulks Street.

The approval will allow for existing Telstra, Optus and Vodafone telecommunication equip ment attached to two water reservoirs to be relocated to a new 31-metre-high monopole facility adjacent to the tanks.

Councillors had previously delayed a decision on the DA to explore options for the proposal in a workshop.

While only a handful of submissions were received by council against the tower, its loca tion, height, visual impact and Aboriginal site significance were issues under review.

The closest residential dwelling is about 25 metres north of the proposed tower.

Aurecon Australasia first lodged an applica tion on behalf of Telstra in August last year, estimating the cost of the tower at $654,500.

Council officers noted that, given the loss of telecommunications during the 2022 flood event, service coverage was critical not only to meet the day-to-day needs of residents and local businesses but to also enable access to emergency services when most needed.

Mayor Chris Cherry and Councillor Mere dith Dennis voted against the approval at last Thursday’s, December 1, Council meeting.

Cr Cherry said she could not support the application because of the impact on a nearby house and Aboriginal heritage on the site.

Cr James Owen said Kingscliff needed this facility.

work from home and community organisations.

“In addition, Health Infrastructure has also advised that reliable mobile communications are important for the operation of the new Tweed Valley Hospital.

“Doctors, nurses, other hospital staff, patients and their families will benefit from reliable phone reception in and around the hospital.”

Cr Owen told The Weekly that many areas around Kingscliff and Salt were disadvantaged by very poor phone reception, for example on the beach at Salt.

“My concern here is, if there is an incident on a beach that is not patrolled, such as the fatal shark attack that occurred a couple of years ago, it is harder for members of the community to raise the alarm and contact emergency services if there is little to no phone reception,” he said.

“In this day and age, we should insure that we are able to utilise the best technology available where possible.”

In its application to council, Aurecon said Telstra had provided a solution to ensure on going and improved (mobile phone) coverage to the Kingscliff area in response to council’s request to relocate equipment from the existing water reservoirs.

“The proposal is not considered to have a detrimental impact on the local environment; but rather beneficial to the area including im proved depth of coverage to the local area,” the applicant said.

A suggestion that the tower be located at the new Tweed Valley Hospital site in Cudgen was dismissed.

88993

(4) place a notice on the home page of the Leda Holdings Pty Ltd’s website publicising Leda’s commission of the offense. Leda 18007

“This is for the good and benefit of the broader community,” he said.

“There will be a number of benefits once a new telecommunications tower has been con structed which will include improved connec tivity and communications for school children and their parents, businesses, and people who

“The natural topography makes the hospital an unsuitable site. Any facility on top of the seven-storey hospital building would require to be a minimum of 38.6m to reach the same height as the proposal at Kingscliff Hill,” coun cil officers advised.

“There are other considerations besides the height that may make the hospital site unsuit able for the telecommunication facilities.”

Tweed Link

Last

week we each used 187L a day

Waste tip

Waste tips for Christmas

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Great prizes for next week’s Cane Toad Challenge

Don’t forget to sign up for the cane toad challenge, starting next week.

The first week-long challenge starts on Monday 12 December. Log your catch and join the toad busting fun from your own home.

Find out more about how to get involved and what to do at tweed.nsw.gov.au/cane-toads. Here you will also find a video about how to correctly identify cane toads and humanely euthanise them. For more information contact canetoads@watergum.org

Have your say in Burringbar

Due to a previous date cancellation, the pop-up in the park for the Burringbar will now be held this Friday 9 December from 3 pm to 6 pm at Burringbar Memorial Reserve and Masterson Park Concept Plan.

The event will include kids’ activities (from 3pm to 5pm).

The community is invited to share their vision of the concept plan which is a key open space in the much-loved rural are with big village charm.

Rail Trail not yet open for public use

As anticipation builds for the region’s newest recreational asset, the community is being urged to wait until the Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail is safe for public use.

The warning comes after reports of people using the trail in recent weeks, despite it not yet being open for public use.

Construction crews are still hard at work along many sections of the 24 km trail and works are scheduled to continue into early 2023.

Project Director Iain Lonsdale explained that construction materials may cause risks to members of the public who access the trail prior to its opening early next year.

Construction materials and heavy machinery are still in use on many parts of the trail and signage has not yet been installed.

“It is great to see people so eager to use the trail. Many have waited a long time to see this project come to fruition and it is not long now until we will all have access to an incredible resource for locals and visitors to enjoy,” Mr Lonsdale said.

“But public safety is our first priority. Construction crews are still working across the length of the trail and there are a range of safety hazards that pose a risk to trail users trying to get a sneak peek ahead

of the opening.

“We ask the community to please be patient. We know with the holiday season nearly upon us, people are keen to check out the trail. We want to make sure everyone has a safe and positive experience, so we urge everyone to hold off until the trail opens early next year.”

Work is expected to be completed on the trail early next year, weather permitting, with a host of community activities in the planning to mark its official opening.

To stay updated and be alerted to when the opening date is scheduled, visit northernriversrailtrail.com.au and follow Northern Rivers Rail Trail on social media.

Murwillumbah’s 50 metre pool reopens

The community has waited more than 9 months and now there’s some good news for summer! The 50-metre outdoor swimming pool at the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre’s Murwillumbah complex is full of sparkling blue water, just in time for the busy season.

The 50-metre pool and kids' leisure pool are ready to welcome back swimmers, however the giant hill slide and barbecue areas remain closed until further notice.

Several school carnivals have booked the 50-metre pool during December and the community is encouraged to check the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre’s website for times when the pool may be unavailable.

The pool was full of storm water runoff and sustained damage from the massive downpour of 28 February 2022, which saw incredible volumes of storm water pour down Hospital Hill and into the pool.

To check availability for the 50 m pool, visit trac.tweed.nsw.gov.au/murwillumbah

For more information, including opening hours and charges, please visit trac.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Home, subscribe to TRAC’s newsletter or follow TRAC on Facebook at facebook.com/TweedRegionalAquaticCentre

Can’t make the event? Share your thoughts about the future of the park online at yoursaytweed.nsw.gov.ay/burringbar

The community is invited to share their vision of the Burringbar Memorial Reserve and Masterson Park Concept Plan, which is a key open space in village.

Community Building Partnership funds

The Tyalgum Community Hall Association and the Kunghur Rural Fire Brigade are among the beneficiaries of the NSW Government’s Community Building Partnership program 2022.

The program is aimed at improving lives and opportunities within local communities in the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands regions.

More than $52,200 is allocated for repainting the interior of Tyalgum Community Hall, which is a focal point for residents of the Tweed Valley village still severely impacted by road landslips.

Kunghur Rural Fire Brigade has received $7800 for a zero-turn mower to maintain two-acre block for brigade facility and training area in bushfire-prone area.

Applications for the 2023 CBP program open in May 2023.

For more information, visit www.nsw.gov.au/cbp

Tweed Shire Council wishes to recognise the generations of the local Aboriginal people of the Tweed Bundjalung Nation who have lived in and derived their physical and spiritual needs from the forests, rivers, lakes and streams of this beautiful valley over many thousands of years as the traditional custodians of these lands.

Workers constructing the slab to mark the old station at Dunbible. Work is continuing along the Tweed leg of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail, which is expected to be open to the public early next year.

The 50-metre pool at Murwillumbah is now full and ready for swimmers for the summer season!

Development Application determinations

Notification of Development Application Determinations for the purposes of Section 4.59 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (as amended).

Application details

Approved

DA22/0573 - Carport within the left-hand-side building line and awning

Lot 231 DP 829118, No. 35 Birkdale Court, Banora Point

DA22/0440 - Two storey dwelling with attached garage Lot 26DP 1266201, No. 18 Evergreen View, Bilambil Heights

DA21/1039 - Dwelling with attached carport and inground swimming pool Lot 20DP 1273771, No. 21 Kanooka Crescent, Bogangar

DA22/0592 - Use of above ground pool

Lot 7 DP 244787, No. 22 Towners Avenue, Bogangar

DA22/0646 - Alterations and additions and raising of existing dwelling Lot 4 DP 200162, No. 7 Waugh Street, Chinderah

DA22/0480 - In-ground swimming pool

Lot 6 Section 14DP 758571, No. 3 Surf Street, Kingscliff

DA22/0410 - Carport Lot 3 DP 1150940, No. 71 Tweed Valley Way, South Murwillumbah

DA22/0652 - In-ground swimming pool

Lot 67 DP 260472, No. 5 Sandpiper Avenue, Tweed Heads

DA22/0698 - Inground pool and retaining walls

Lot 112 DP 246488, No. 9 Compass Way, Tweed Heads

DA22/0228 - Alterations and additions to Unit 1 of an existing attached dual occupancy including 1.5m high front fence Lot 1 SP 46958, SP 46958, Unit 1/No. 3 Parkland Place, Banora Point

DA21/0902 - Construction of a detached dual occupancy, associated earthworks and strata subdivision

Lot 458 DP 31998, No. 162 Broadwater Esplanade, Bilambil Heights

DA21/0671 - Two (2) lot subdivision (boundary adjustment) and construction of a new deck attached to the existing dwelling Lot 1 DP 303307, Lot 2 DP 303307, No. 5 Chinderah Road, Chinderah DA21/0456 - Demolition of existing shed/outhouse, removal of existing pontoon and erection of new boat shed & boat launching ramp and driveway, and tree removal

Lot 15 DP 1176104, No. 11 Tweed Valley Way, Condong DA22/0017 - Dwelling and change of use of existing dwelling to a rural workers dwelling

Lot 10 DP 1229885, No. 7117 Tweed Valley Way, Fernvale DA21/0071 - Alterations and additions (including demolition) to an existing club (Cudgen Leagues Club refurbishment)

Lot 3 DP 591720, Lot 11 DP 830660, Lot 12 LP 1143311, No. 7 Bradshaw Place, Kingscliff

DA22/0325 - Change of use to dual use (Serviced Apartments and Shop Top Housing) of units 215 - 218, 333, 334, 335 & 338 SP 69243, Lot 32 SP 69243, Lot 33 SP 69243, Lot 34 SP 69243, Lot 37 SP 69243, Lot 17 SP 69243, Lot 16 SP 69243, Lot 15 SP 69243, Lot 14 SP 69243, No. 78-80 Marine Parade, Kingscliff

DA21/0391 - Change of use of tenancy 10 and 11 to artisan food and drink industry including new mezzanine, internal fitout, outdoor seating area, signage, ancillary events and use of existing storage container Lot 1DP 1267437, No. 141 Lundberg Drive, South Murwillumbah

DA22/0292 - Alterations and additions to existing dual occupancy comprising of extension to bed 3, addition of ensuite to bed 1 and second story verandah and rearrange stairs Lot 2 SP 82445, Unit 2/No. 30 Inlet Drive, Tweed Heads West

Refused

DA21/0777 -

Flood recovery update 7 December

Scenic Drive

Due to the weather the sealing of Scenic Drive, which was planned for last Thursday, is now planned for this Thursday, 8 December 2022.

With favourable conditions, motorists using Scenic Drive are advised that from Thursday, there will be a change in road conditions.

Contractor Australian Marine and Civil Pty Ltd (AMC), will be sealing the new restored section of road at site B, the major slip on Scenic Drive on Thursday morning.

Once completed, traffic will switch lanes on Thursday afternoon so that stormwater drainage work can be carried out on the northern side of the existing lane.

This work is expected to take about 2 weeks.

Traffic lights will still be functioning for this site as only one lane will be in use. Further work will involve kerb and guttering, batter works, guard rail instalment and line marking.

On the eastern slip, site A, foundation works have commenced. Boring of concrete support piles has commenced and this will be followed by building the retaining structure.

Once this is completed, work will begin on pavement works, kerb and guttering, batter works, lighting and the installation of guard rails.

The road is open with a temporary one lane access to all vehicles under traffic control. There is no footpath or pedestrian access.

Motorists are advised to expect extended delays between 9 am and 3 pm as contractors bring in material and equipment.

Traffic controllers will monitor flows and meet the needs of peak demand times so please be patient and allow extra time for travel.

AMC’s original time schedule is planned for all works to be completed by the end of March 2023.

Given good progress to date, work is highly likely to be finalised earlier (weather permitting).

For more information on these and other repairs, visit tweed.nsw.gov.au/flood-recovery-works

Private land clean-up requests

help clean up eligible large or hazardous man-made debris on private land.

This helps those landowners that do not have the skills, capacity, specialist equipment or financial means to remove large or hazardous man-made debris.

Safety is a primary focus for the program and applications will be accepted up until 31 December 2022. Any hazardous waste such as asbestos will be assessed and removed by qualified experts.

The EPA is working with Service NSW so that the community can apply for support under this program through the Service NSW website.

The EPA has appointed MRA Consulting Group to project manage the clean-up of flood debris on public land and eligible large or hazardous debris on private land.

MRA will assess private land clean-up requests submitted via the Service NSW website. For further information, call MRA Consulting Group on 0492 941 487, or email the program at floodwaste@mraconsulting.com.au

Fund to help flood-affected homeowners

Tweed homeowners devastated by this year’s floods, could be eligible to raise, repair, retrofit or have their home voluntarily bought back though the Northern Rivers Resilient Homes Fund package jointly funded by the Federal and NSW governments.

The Resilient Homes Program will begin reaching out to eligible residents from November 2022.

Residents already engaged in the Flood Property Assessment Program, delivered by NSW Public Works and Johns Lyng Group, will be contacted automatically.

Registrations are still open for the Flood Property Assessment Program.

Residents not yet engaged in the Flood Property Assessment Program are encouraged to submit their contact details to the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation via the following link: nsw.gov.au/regional-nsw/northern-rivers-reconstruction-corporation/ resilient-homes-fund/resilient-homes-program

For more detailed information about the program, including guidelines, eligibility and co-contributions, go to: nsw.gov.au/regionalnsw/northern-rivers-reconstruction-corporation/resilient-homes-fund

Road survey to test road conditions

One of the biggest road surveys in Regional NSW has commenced in the Northern Rivers to help build a picture of the current condition of road and transport infrastructure in the region.

The Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC), in partnership with Transport for NSW and the seven Northern Rivers local councils, is undertaking a whole of network road condition assessment across all sealed roads in the Ballina, Byron Bay, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed LGAs.

A week-long survey of rural roads in the Tweed has already been completed.

Urban roads in the Tweed will be tested using a Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) and will measure the road surface at a single pass.

The NSV will be on Tweed roads up until mid-December.

It will test roughness and texture via a multi laser profilometer, visual condition using high-resolution imagery, rutting and crack detection using a laser crack measurement system.

The whole-of-network assessment is being completed by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) and will continue across the region until the end of 2022.

The ARRB will test more than 5,500 kilometres of road surface in the Northern Rivers and the assessment will assist in building a picture around the $4.9 billion in infrastructure work, including a pipeline of

more than $1.7 billion to address road and transport infrastructure rebuilding across the region.

For more information about the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation and its Infrastructure Coordination Office, go to www.nsw.gov.au/NRRC

Re-notification of integrated development application

whereby, on request, any submission including identifying particulars will be made public. Council will give consideration to the ‘Public Interest’ and requests for confidentiality by submitters in determining access to submission letters. However, the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 – GIPA may result in confidential submissions being released to an applicant.

Any submission objecting to the proposed developments must state the ground upon which such objection is made.

Please note: Requirements regarding Disclosure of Political Gifts and Donations

A disclosure is required to be made in a statement accompanying the relevant development or planning application by a person who makes the application. In addition, a person who makes a written submission either objecting to or supporting a relevant development or planning application must also make a disclosure if the person has made a reportable political donation.

Further information regarding Donations and Gift Disclosure are available on Council’s website at tweed.nsw.gov.au/development-applications

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority reminds landowners in disaster declared flood-affected areas to register now for the land-based flood debris clean-up program which is available to

Urban roads in the Tweed will be tested using a Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) and will measure the road surface at a single pass.

Schoolies success

By Jo Kennett

TWEED POLICE have commended the overall behaviour of 2022 Schoolies revellers in taking care of each other and making good choices, as the police operation across the Northern Rivers concluded on Sunday, December 4.

NSW Schoolies 2022 ran from Thursday, November 24, until Sunday, with many Tweed Shire school leavers joining other school leavers to party in Byron Bay and on the Gold Coast.

Local police officers conducted a high-visi bility operation across the Byron Bay region, assisted by specialist police from the Dog and Mounted Unit, Youth Command, Police Trans port Command, and Public Order and Riot Squad.

During the operation, police conducted more

than 1,300 random breath tests and more than 45 business inspections.

A total of nine people were issued move-on directions.

Tweed-Byron Police District Commander, Superintendent David Roptell, praised the overall behaviour of those who attended 2022 Schoolies.

“Schoolies is about enjoying yourself without regret, making good decisions and having fun safely with friends, and it is pleasing that this year’s attendees did just that,” Superintendent Roptell said.

“Our officers were impressed with the young people who attended and made sure their cele brations were memorable for the right reasons.

“We wish them all the best as they move into the next chapter of their lives.”

SCHOOLIES! Class of 2022 celebrations across the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast have wrapped up and the cops are happy with the results. Image by Schoolies.com

Tweed

drivers

‘every day’

By Jo Kennett

TWEED POLICE have been arresting drink drivers “every day” in the region with the worst drink driving record in the state, which is “of real concern” according to a local police boss.

Police have been running Operation Fume regularly throughout the year, with a focus on trying to keep impaired drivers off the road.

“Drink driving will be a major focus of ours over the coming weeks,” Tweed-Byron Police District Detective Chief Inspector Brendon Cullen said.

“It’s a real concern how many people in the Tweed-Byron area are drinking and driving.

“We are arresting people every day for driving while intoxicated on our roads.”

Operation Fume aims “to reduce serious inju

ry collisions involving alcohol and drug-affected drivers” with officers from around the state coming to the Tweed-Byron Police District, conducting breath and drug testing at multiple points in the Tweed Shire.

Last week as part of the latest Operation Fume campaign, which ran from Friday, November 25, to Sunday, November 27, around 1,400 random breath tests were performed by police in the district.

“We detected around 30 to 40 positives which is similar to what we get every time we run the operation ,” Det Ch Insp Cullen told The Weekly.

“That’s really disappointing and concerning and what we will be targeting over the coming weeks.”

Tweed Valley Way crash

A DRIVER was lucky to escape serious injury after the car they were travelling in left the road and overturned just south of Murwillumbah on Thursday, December 1.

The accident happened at around 4pm ac cording to operational officer at Murwillumbah Rural Fire Brigade, Adam Watherston.

“Murwillumbah RFS, Fire and Rescue Mur willumbah, police and ambulance all attended,” he said.

“The accident happened just north of the railway bridge.

“The report we received was that the car had rolled and was on its roof but the driver was out and okay.

“We got there and helped Fire and Rescue render the scene safe.”

There was another rollover on Tweed Valley Way in the area a week earlier, with a utility driver lucky to walk away without serious injury in that one as well.

Mr Watherston said with summer starting, he wanted to get the message out to the public to check the new fire index rating via: rfs.nsw.gov. au/news-and-media/newfdr which has changed.

OUTRAGEOUS! 1,400 local drivers were breath tested last week and too many were over the limit

Murwillumbah Rural Fire Brigade attended a Tweed Valley Way rollover

Recreation Street development refused

By Yvonne Gardiner

A DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION

for 28 units at 26 Recreation Street, Tweed Heads, has been refused by Tweed Shire Council, at a time when residential accommodation is sorely needed.

Over-development of the site was the main reason for refusal of the $8 million project, together with several matters of deficiency and non-com pliance.

Zone Planning Group, for Recre ation 26 Pty Ltd, applied to demolish two existing houses at the corner of Brett and Recreation streets and to build a six-storey unit block.

Mayor Chris Cherry and Councillor Warren Polglase sought to defer the decision at last Thursday’s council meeting to enable council officers to conduct a fuller review of the issues raised. When that vote was lost, they voted against refusal of the DA.

Mayor Cherry told The Weekly she wanted to defer this item to receive clarification on a number of items.

“During the public forum the pro ponent advised that the required documentation to satisfy Essential Energy’s concerns was able to be pre sented the following day, and that a number of changes could be made to address the points raised in the report,” she said.

The applicant can now submit a new DA addressing all of the issues and non-compliances raised during the assessment and determination.

“The way proponents keep sub mitting DAs that do not conform to our development standards, or have

a very convincing reason why it is a better outcome, is incredibly frustrat ing,” Cr Cherry said.

“Previously it has slowed the whole assessment process down for every one as our staff try to work with de velopers to reach a point where the development is appropriate. Council has made a conscious choice that we can’t keep doing that.

“We might have an approval rat ing for DAs of 97 per cent but we have heard loud and clear from the community that they would rather we concentrate on improving assessment times instead, so we have determined that we will no longer do all the back and forth negotiating that has gone on to date.

“From now on, we are receiving the information, issuing one request for further information if there are issues that need clarification or changes, and then assessing the application on what we get back.

“It will make it much faster to assess DAs and we recognise how much we need to get through them. It also puts all the planning consultants on notice to either submit an application that conforms to our development stan dards and controls or risk a refusal.

“It is a fairer system as it means those that submit DAs, where they have done all the hard yards before hand and have their application com pliant, will no longer be held up by those who are just kicking tyres.”

Recreation 26 director Peter Ross told The Weekly it was regrettable that council had chosen to refuse his company’s application after the signif icant consultation and co-ordination

with council officers to respond to is sues since the application was lodged in January 2021.

“We have pointed out that there are errors of fact in the council’s as sessment of the application and we do not believe that councillors fully appreciated those prior to making the decision,” Mr Ross said.

“Having reviewed the specific issues raised by council officers, those can be addressed relatively simply in our view.”

Mr Ross said there did not appear to be any consistency in council’s ap proach to various issues in the Tweed Heads locality.

“We reminded council of its approv al of a development at 20 Recreation Street in November last year which is very similar in design, layout and potential impacts,” he said.

“We now have dozens of first-home buyers and investors who have ex pressed strong interest in the project who are in limbo because there is nothing else available to them in the locality at the pricing and standard we offer.

“We will be reaching out to council in an effort to find a solution.”

Cr Cherry said the development standards were put in place to pro tect the living quality both of neigh bours and future residents of the new homes.

“Every time we compromise on those, we are potentially making it harder to live there, for example, not having enough car parking or enough sunlight, or making a unit that will always need to have an air condition er on because it has not been well

designed.

“That doesn’t help anyone in the long run. We desperately need more housing, but we can’t just abandon our basic controls and standards to achieve that.

“We just need developers to rec

ognise the constraints of a site and stop trying to fit a square block into a round hole. I know it is difficult with skyrocketing development costs at the moment and I believe our new approach will give people more cer tainty more quickly.”

REFUSED: Plans to redevelop the corner of Brett and Recreation streets have hit a snag this month after a majority of councillors voted against the DA

Geoff Provest is WORKING to make life more affordable.

Tweed

WORKING Liberal & Nationals NSW with the Government to expand the Container Deposit Scheme. From next year you will also get a 10 cent refund on wine and spirit bottles.

Tweed residents have returned more than 132 million containers, making us regional NSW’s leading recyclers and pumping more than $13 million back into the Tweed economy, as direct payments, supermarket vouchers or gifts to local charities.

WORKING Liberal & Nationals NSW with the Government to introduce great new savings initiatives like 3 x $50 Back to School vouchers for each of your kids. Available this from this month. Tweed Small Business strongly encouraged to apply to Service NSW to become a provider.

WORKING Liberal & Nationals NSW with the Government to build the largest ever hospital outside Sydney, so that 5,000 fewer Tweed residents face the expense and inconvenience of leaving the area for medical treatment

WORKING with State and Local Government representatives from other parties like Independent Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry Labor MP and the for the Murwillumbah-Uki part of the Tweed, , Janelle Saffin so that crucial issues like flood recovery and Queensland border red tape are less of a financial burden on local residents and small businesses.

Geoff PROVEST TWEED

BACK TO SCHOOL

Authorised by Geoff Provest. Funded using parliamentary entitlements.

Possums needs help

By Jonathon Howard

POSSUMS COMMUNITY Preschool at Con dong was devastated by the February flood this year and was forced to relocate to the former South Murwillumbah Infants School site.

The preschool is in need of a boost this Christ mas and is appealing to the community to take part in a special Monster Raffle to aid in its recovery.

Children and staff are already busy selling tickets for the raffle, which includes more than 80 prizes from local business valued at $9,000.

“Money raised from this raffle will be used to help purchase and replace lost play equipment and learning materials for our children and educators,” Possums committee president Lana Jordan told The Weekly.

“This is more than a standard raffle for Pos

sums this year.

“Due to the fact we lost everything from our Condong premises, we want to get the kids back to the familiar environment and need the funds to achieve this.

“We’re asking for families, local businesses and individuals to purchase a ticket or two and help give Possums a boost.”

The draw takes place on Wednesday, De cember 14, and ticket sales close on Monday, December 12.

Tickets are priced at $5 each, three tickets for $12, five tickets for $20, eight tickets for $30 and 15 tickets for $50.

Anyone wanting to purchase the tickets direct ly from the school can phone 0418 493 733.

Tickets can also be purchased online via: raf flelink.com.au/possums2022

Huge year for Budjerah

By Madeleine Murray

On Wednesday, November 23, the 20-year-old won Breakthrough Musician of the Year at GQ magazine’s Men of the Year Awards. (GQ is Vogue for men,)

Other winners at the GQ awards for differ ent categories included actor Murray Bartlett, ‘Global Icon’ Russell Crowe, and Anthony Albanese.

According to GQ magazine, “Bundjalung singer-songwriter Budjerah is a true talent, weaving a distinctly breezy Australianness into his soft, organic brand of pop.”

The next night, Budjerah was at the ARIA awards where his EP Conversations won Best Soul/R&B release.

The Australian music industry’s energy was palpable at the first live and in-person ARIA Awards since 2019.

Budjerah joined Thelma Plum and Jess Mau boy on stage to perform One Song in memory of the great Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder and singer, Archie Roach.

Budjerah was nominated for best solo artist, but was beaten by Baker Boy, who scooped up five ARIAs.

Budjerah Slabb, whose parents are licensed pastors, grew up singing gospel music.

“I grew up singing Sam Cooke and listening to gospel singers like The Clark Sisters. That’s the kind of music that has been around since I was little,” Budjerah told NME.

The 20-year-old has just finished performing as special guest for Vance Joy on his global run.

For the forthcoming tour dates, Budjerah will perform at Beyond the Valley in Victoria over the New Year period, and he will also perform as special guest for Ed Sheeran nationally in February and March.

The singer-songwriter is a Coodjinburra man

from

The awesomely talented extended family is involved in surfing, art, conservation, design, writing, traditional canoe-making, and more.

Father Joel Slabb wrote Juraki, the Saltwater Hero book about a boy’s changes as he be comes a young man, hunting and gathering for the tribe.

Young Jalaan Slabb designs and shapes her own surfboards. Sixteen-year-old Namaala is a pro surfer. Cousins and uncles work with the conservation group Green Heroes to study and save Jungarra Ngarrian (Cook Island Aquatic Reserve).

Budjerah’s parents Mary and Joel Slabb start ed Juraki Surf Culture in 2016.

“Juraki is an Indigenous not-for-profit com munity entity committed to creating, support ing and partnering in community activities, programs and sporting events that give Indig enous yet culturally sensitive opportunities to mainstream people,” Mary said.

The documentary film Saltwater Story follows canoemaker Kyle Slabb, veteran paddler Mark Matthews, and local Indigenous communities as they make traditional canoes from huge trees, and paddle them from the heart of the Gold Coast to North Stradbroke Island, a journey not made for over 100 years.

The Saltwater Story plays at The Regent at 5pm, Saturday, December 10.

FINGAL HEAD musician Budjerah spent the last week of November accepting prestigious awards.

the Bundjalung nation. Budjerah is one of four children of Mary and Joel Slabb.

MONSTER RAFFLE: Possums Preschool needs a helping hand with funds to recover from the flood

Budjerah wins an ARIA for best Soul/R&B

Tweed sun danger zone Cops roll up their sleeves

By Jonathon Howard

A RECENTLY released melanoma hotspot map has put the Tweed Shire in the state’s top 10 danger zones for overexposure to harmful UV radiation from the sun.

Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said with summer now upon us, the map serves as a timely reminder to take simple protective measures when outdoors.

“Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, yet many of us are still not doing enough to reduce our skin cancer risk,” Ms Taylor said.

“The melanoma hotspot map shows Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley and Byron local government areas (LGAs) in northern NSW have the state’s highest burden of melanoma.”

Ms Taylor said Coffs Harbour, Sutherland Shire, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Tweed and Bathurst LGAs, are in the state’s top 10.

“This should be a real reminder to our region al communities, if you step outside, whether it’s at the beach or for a walk to the shops or along the river, apply sunscreen, wear a hat and sunglasses, cover up and seek shade,” she said.

Melanoma is the most common cancer among young Australians and the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in all Australians.

Ninety-five per cent of melanoma and 99 per cent of non-melanoma skin cancers are caused by overexposure to UV radiation from the sun and can be prevented with proper sun protection.

Professor Tracey O’Brien, Chief Cancer Offi cer for NSW and CEO of the Cancer Institute NSW, said everyone is at risk of developing melanoma, regardless of where they live.

“Whether you live in Ballina or Bondi, if you step outside without taking skin protection measures, you run the risk of developing mel anoma,” Professor O’Brien said.

“Melanoma can be lethal and we need to do

everything possible to protect our skin.”

Michael Knight, 52, from Lismore was first diagnosed with melanoma at the age of 24. He has had seven surgeries to remove melanomas, lymph nodes and adrenal glands, with the most recent surgery earlier this year.

“My initial melanoma was quite small, not raised at all. My sister-in-law noticed it before I did. My message to everyone is protect yourself, and also, get regular skin checks.”

The most effective defence against UV radi ation is to follow five key steps before leaving the house: slip on protective clothing, slop on SPF 50 sunscreen, slap on a wide brimmed hat, seek shade, and slide on sunglasses. Sunscreen should always be reapplied every two hours.

The Tweed Shire is fortunate to have some out standing local skin clinics including Tweed Skin Cancer Clinic at Boyd Street, Tweed Heads, and On Point Skin Cancer Clinic at Wharf Street, Tweed Heads.

By Jo Kennett

TWEED POLICE are rolling up their sleeves to help save lives by donating blood as part of a nationwide police competition and they hope it will inspire the community to donate too.

Inspired by the stabbing of a colleague, the fifth annual NSW Police Bleed4Blue blood drive began on Thursday, December 1.

In partnership with the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, the NSW Police Force will again strive to beat their previous record in donations.

Tweed-Byron Police District Detective Chief Inspector Brendon Cullen said the campaign runs every summer from December until Feb ruary 28.

“The blood drive is run as a competition be tween forces across Australia to see which state donates the most plasma,” Det Ch Insp Cullen told The Weekly.

“So NSW Police put the challenge out to our (interstate) colleagues and we use it as an op portunity to increase the blood supply.

“It had its genesis in the stabbing of Detec tive Sergeant John Breda on Australia Day in 2018 (by a suspected child sex offender in Maroubra).”

Det Sgt Breda needed more than 100 bags of blood, over 12 litres, to save his life.

“So Bleed4Blue is really giving back to the community for the donations given to him,” Det Ch Insp Cullen said.

“We challenge Queensland (police) to roll their sleeves up and try and beat us.

“I am booked in to give blood on December 20.

“Giving blood is one of the easiest ways you will ever have to save someone’s life.”

Each week, at least 31,000 donations are needed nationwide to meet demand as hos pitals manage presentations in areas such as emergency, obstetrics, and surgery.

Deputy Commissioner Metropolitan Field Operations, Mal Lanyon, who will be rolling

up his sleeves along with police officers across the Sydney Metropolitan area to help the drive, highlighted the significance of blood drives as the summer holiday period approaches.

“Our roads are going to become busier as people take advantage of the holiday travelling across NSW and, unfortunately, police know all too well how important blood donations are for people who have been injured as a result of crime, crashes or accidents,” Deputy Commis sioner Lanyon said.

“Helping save lives is part of an officer’s job and the Bleed4Blue campaign reinforces how strong the policing family is when it comes together to support each other and the entire community.”

During the three-month campaign, the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command will be con ducting a week-long campaign from Monday, December 12, which includes a major team donation day on Wednesday, December 14. Since its inception, the Bleed4Blue campaign has generated more than 8,600 blood donations and helped save at least 25,000 lives.

NASA PHOTO: We are fortunate to have some outstanding skin clinics in the Tweed Shire

Det Sgt Breda giving blood after the stabbing. Photo: NSW Police

DMP celebrates 50 years

By Madeleine Murray

DOWLING METAL Products (DMP) of Murwillumbah is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Founded by Chris Dowling, DMP operated out of Penrith before moving to Murwillum bah in 1972, where it expand ed its operation under his son, general manager Michael Dow ling.

DMP boasts 25 years of op eration in Murwillumbah and proudly employs 40 local staff. Starting as a small producer

of agricultural implements,

DMP expanded to a high-vol ume production facility with customers Australia wide.

The sheet metal manufac turer produces engineered components that service the construction, agricultural, min ing, food processing and waste management industries.

DMP provides component manufacturing both locally

materials.

DMP embraces innovative carbon-offsetting measures, using state-of-the-art energy saving production equipment and its own onsite nitrogen plant for laser cutting. DMP was the first to employ the lat ter in NSW.

“We would like to see more local manufacturers share the same milestones as ours,” oper

“Australia has a proud histo ry of onshore production. If used more, the country could support a greater skilled work force and provide more career opportunities.

“Australia needs to support local production and grow the potential for the next genera tion in manufacturing.”

DMP’s manufacturing capa bilities range from single parts

turret punch and CNC press brake service mean DMP can meet most engineering and fabrication requirements.

“I am very proud of our team, and the challenges and changes they have overcome in the last three years,” Andrew said.

“Their dedication reflects the tenacity of the broader com munity.

“People would be surprised willumbah. Most households will contain something we have

2022.

The DMP team are proud to celebrate 50 years of producing Australian steel products

Twilight Shopping time

By Madeleine Murray

THE ART DECO town of Murwillumbah and the art hub of M|Arts is set to come alive from 5pm to 9pm, on Friday, December 9.

M|Arts, the funky area of arts, crafts and shops in shipping containers and groovy spaces will celebrate the year with its final Art After Dark event, in collaboration with Murwillum bah Twilight Shopping.

Come sunset, the M|Arts Precinct will come alive. Doors to studios and unique boutiques will be open, showcasing handmade crafts and art.

But it’s not just shopping. A range of dining options includes casual Mexican eats by Car avana Events and 2020 barbecue’s authentic smoked meats.

For a more intimate affair, award-winning Bistro Livi is offering a special share plate menu and celebratory drinks on the terrace.

For drinks, check out the Spangled Drongo pop-up bar.

Enjoy the smooth tunes of JB Patterson and Rebecca Cunningham, and dance into the eve ning to a vinyl session from DJ Nicholas Ching.

“Enjoy good vibes, great food and cold drinks with family and friends — see you at Art After Dark,” project manager Lee Harvey-Walker told The Weekly.

Art After Dark is on from 5pm to 9pm, on Friday, December 9. Gold coin donation for entry.

Meanwhile, many shops in the Murwillumbah CBD will be open late as well.

This is Murwillumbah at its best.

Rod

peaceful life at Feros Care’s Wommin Bay Village at Kingscliff.

There is one thing Rod misses about his life in the Tweed Valley and that’s his regular church service by his good friend the tattooed, gui tar-playing pastor, Chris Jenkins.

“I’m 94 and I always tell people I’m the happi est and luckiest old man that I know,” Rod said.

“I sat on a tractor most of my life and I didn’t meet many people at all; my church was my community and I’d go to (Church of Christ) Murwillumbah every Sunday.

“We would have lovely services and then cof fee or lunch afterwards.

“When I first came here to Wommin Bay, a mate would pick me up each week so I could still go to church, because I don’t drive any more.

“But then he got too unwell to drive and I had to stop going, which was a bit sad for me.

“So, I decided to ring up my minister — he’s got tattoos and he plays the guitar, which I really love — and he agreed to come and do a service here for us once a month. It’s so wonderful.”

Having that spiritual connection once again has been the icing on the cake for Rod.

He came to Wommin Bay about a year ago, but it wasn’t easy for his family to convince him to make the move.

“About 20 years ago, I went to a nursing home to visit someone. And when I left that place, I said to myself, ‘I will never go into a nursing home, no matter what happens’,” he said.

“When my wife passed away, I found out I wasn’t a good cook.

“I got Meals on Wheels to bring food to me, and I was doing okay, except I was falling over and hurting myself all the time. My son suggest ed coming here to have a look and I agreed.

“As soon as I looked at the rooms I thought, ‘oh my goodness, this isn’t like anything I imag ined’. I knew it was a wonderful place to spend the rest of my years, and now I don’t want to be anywhere else. I can’t be shifted.”

The fun, community spirit which Rod has come to love at Wommin Bay is a far cry from his life on the land.

He grew up on a dairy farm and left school when he was 14 to help his dad and brothers.

“Us young blokes got tired of milking cows every day, so we suggested to Dad that we get into sugar cane, and he actually took our ad vice,” Rod said.

“Before we could start planting the cane, we had to dig out these huge oak trees — and that was in the days before tractors. It was very hard work. But we ploughed our 60 acres and started to become cane farmers.

“Unfortunately, it was a very bad time to start. The 1954 flood hit and it was enormous. Our land stayed wet for a long time; it basically be came a swamp. We almost failed in sugar cane.”

However, the brothers persisted and soon developed their land into fertile ground for cane and acquired and worked on nearby farms, ending up with more than 200 acres of land to look after.

Rod said it was around this time they started using machinery.

“We’d finally started making a little bit of money, so we bought these lovely big tractors and suddenly life on the farm was a lot easier,” he said.

“By the time I was 60, I sold my farm and retired. I’ve had a good retirement. My wife and I hooked up the caravan and went around Australia — that was a wonderful experience.

“I’ve been so fortunate to have had a lovely wife, and three lovely daughters and a won derful son.”

CHURCH CONNECTION: Retired cane farmer Rod Bartrim with his good friend and rock 'n' roll Pastor Chris Jenkins from Church of Christ

After

By Jonathon Howard

STAMP AND Grind have teamed up with Hub 2484 to host the official After the Flood Christmas Party at Condong Bowls Club on Wednesday, December 14, from 4.30pm.

The event is a chance for flood-impacted res idents, helpers and the wider community to return to Condong, where the devastating flood ripped through in February this year.

The event was created when Geoff Newham from Stamp and Grind contacted Diane Bauer from Hub 2484 to talk about how he could create a gifting tree for flood-impacted kids. Geoff was affected by the floods himself and felt ready to give something to the community.

“Together we decided to throw a Christmas party to create some good cheer, bring us to gether and celebrate the warmth and generosity we have all shared over this last year,” Geoff and Diane said in a joint statement.

Shani Forrester will play music on the day and along with a small choir.

There are volunteers doing face painting and Condong Bowls Club, which was virtually un derwater, is eager to welcome the community.

“We are aiming to have a gift for all the flood-affected kids that come on the day and are gathering donations at the Hub and Con dong Post Office. New toys, money or vouchers would be gratefully accepted,” the duo said.

“Please contact the Hub 2484 on 0403 488 817 to let us know if your child will be there on the day so we can get an idea of numbers.

“We will be putting on a barbecue, if anyone is interested in helping with the catering, please let us know.

“We are so excited to be celebrating and con necting with you all at the end of a difficult year.

“Please contact Diane at Hub 2484 on 0403 488 817 if you want to know more or contribute to this event.”

Christmas is coming!

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to get ready for the joyous family get togethers. There’s nothing more to bring the family closer than home style cooked meals. Gourmet Meals have a huge variety of traditional and non-traditional mouth-watering Christmas delights.

You simply can’t go past our succulent sliced oven roasted Turkey Breast with apple and sultana stuffing,

roast potatoes, green beans and carrots. Or our famously delicious glazed Ham and Turkey served with gravy, pumpkin and potato bake, Brussels sprouts and carrots. For something a bit more exotic why not try our Cajun Barramundi with Prawns served with a creamy tomato sauce, rice and a medley of asparagus, green beans and broccoli. For the traditional Christmas pork lovers, succulent pork fillet with prunes, rich gravy,

braised potatoes, carrots, cabbage and green beans Now it’s time for dessert, oh how lovely… our berry trifle, a summer favourite, comes with mixed berries, biscuit and crème brûlée. Or for the cheesecake connoisseur a classic zingy lemon dessert with a crumbly biscuit base. And for our lovers of all things Christmas our Christmas Cake is packed with fruit and is served with a delicious custard.

POST FLOOD PARTY: Residents are invited to bring on Christmas at a special event next week

By

MEMBERS OF the Hub Baptist Church are answering the call for help this Christmas by packing 50 special hampers for local families.

The Weekly dropped by The Hub church in Murwillumbah to meet with two extra special members, Edith Lofts and Mary Townsend.

The dynamic duo was eager to assist their church and community and were busy wrap ping and packing the hampers to spread some Christmas cheer.

The Hub Pastor Jason Harris said it was an important part of the year for local churches, where sharing and caring is at the core of the Christmas spirit.

“There are a lot of local families doing it tough

this Christmas,” he said.

“We want those families to know that someone is thinking of them and we are here to help.”

The Hub wanted to extend a big thank you to Tweed Valley IGA for providing hundreds of dollars’ worth of gift vouchers.

“The gift vouchers are a great way for fami lies to shop for essentials and some Christmas goodies, and are hugely appreciated this year,” Pastor Harris said.

The Hub Baptist Church is now appealing for people who need the special hampers this Christmas.

Anyone who needs some help this Christmas is encouraged to contact The Hub Baptist via: (07) 5523 1122.

MEMBER FOR Lismore Janelle Saffin said she is pleased to name the Murwillumbah Showgrounds, Tyalgum Community Hall and Kunghur Rural Fire Brigade as major grant win ners in the government’s Community Building Partnership (CBP) program 2022.

Ms Saffin congratulated the three Tweed-based organisations from a total pool of nine in her electorate, where the funds are expected to improve lives and opportunities within local communities.

“One after another, the challenges of drought, bushfires, flooding and COVID -19 have been thrown at us in recent years, and we have pre vailed by pulling together and staying positive,” she said.

“There were so many worthy projects in the running this year so I encourage those who missed out to apply for CBP program funding next year.

“I like to say that all good ideas eventually

find their time.”

Tyalgum Community Hall Association In corporated will receive $52,230 to repaint the interior of the iconic hall, a focal point for res idents of the Tweed Valley village still severely impacted by landslips.

Murwillumbah Showground Land Manager will receive $20,000 to construct hardfill pad areas for campers and farmers’ markets at the flood-impacted showground.

Kunghur Rural Fire Brigade will use its grant of $7,800 for a zero-turn mower to maintain a two-acre block for a brigade facility and training area in a bushfire-prone area.

The Community Building Partnership pro gram has funded more than 18,000 community projects since it was established by Labor in 2009.

Applications for the 2023 CBP program open in May 2023.

For more information, visit www.nsw.gov.au/ cbp

Jonathon Howard

By Jonathon Howard

GIFT OF GIVING: The Hub Baptist Church members Edith Lofts (left) and Mary Townsend with

Pastor Jason Harris are eager to spread some Christmas cheer

Local battler never says die

By Jonathon Howard & Teresa Mullan

A HEART-BREAKING story of a Tweed man’s struggle against a moun tain of adversity has emerged this week and is testament to the impor tance of staying positive in the face of extreme adversity.

Sam, who preferred to use an alias for this story, has lived in the Tweed Valley for the past 15 years and has just come through one of the most challenging times of his life.

The trouble started for Sam when he had an industrial accident out in the mines in 2015.

“I was in a truck where the air con ditioner had failed and the heat in the truck was estimated to be in ex cess of 65 degrees. I was told to keep working, despite the fact that I told them I was feeling crook and getting lightheaded and almost passing out,” he said.

“They told me to ‘keep hauling coal’. About an hour later I did pass out from the extreme heat exhaustion and went down though a drain and overturned the vehicle. I was wedged in the truck and had a fractured skull.

“The force of the impact split my skull though the roof of my mouth. That’s how bad the impact was. I had around about 100 stitches in my face and head, almost severed an ear right off. They came looking for me and found me.”

Sam said the local ambulance would not touch him.

“They reckoned I was too badly knocked around, they ordered a he

licopter rescue from a nearby town and I was transported to the local hospital,” he said.

“The normal ambulance arrived within about an hour. The helicopter took about another hour and a half. I was in surgery that evening.

“My bosses organised for me to be driven home from the hospital the next day. I was on workers compen sation for close on 18 months.”

Sam’s run of bad luck did not end there.

“In 2018, I was overseas visiting a friend and noticed abnormalities in my stomach, a really deep pain that I’d never had before, so when I got back to Australia I went straight to a doctor and within a week I was diag nosed with pancreatic cancer, with a not very positive prognosis,” he said.

“I had nearly 18 months of extreme chemotherapy and then a more than 12-hour operation, what they call a ‘Whipple’ procedure or pancreati coduodenectomy.

“It’s an operation to remove the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine or duodenum, the gallbladder and the bile duct.

“After the operation I was put back on chemo for another six months and in the end I got that sick I stopped having it just before it was due to finish.

“It made me so sick and I didn’t have much fight left in me anymore. I had lost more than 40 per cent of my body weight. It took me another 18 months to recover to a reasonable level.”

Then came the big flood early this

year when Sam lost almost everything including all his belongings.

“All that was left was a shell of my home,” he said.

“I had to move in with a friend for about three months until I could make enough repairs to return, with the help of a lot of good friends and community support.

“Less than a couple of weeks after the flood, I got a phone call from Gold Coast University Hospital ask ing would I be available to have a procedure done.

“They said I needed an aortic valve repair and they wanted to do it that afternoon.

“I was in there within a matter of hours and had open heart surgery the next day. I was in hospital for nearly two weeks.”

Sam said he was blessed with the friendship of special people who kept his spirits up and encouraged him to remain positive and stay focussed on survival.

“I felt I still had too much to do in this life,” he said.

“I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.

“Your whole system is upset and everything is a challenge.

“Your intestines are less effective at digesting food, so you have to focus on eating the right amount of good food.

“There were days when I couldn’t get off the couch to walk to the bath room.

“I was just too exhausted and sick. You just have to deal with it. It would have been very easy to say I’ve had enough.

“But I thought I would be letting down a lot of people who had belief in me.

“I also had a really good friend who was going through a similar battle and I wanted to be strong for him as well. He was a great mate but he’s since passed away.

“You’ve got to have a sick sense of humour because it’s a very trying battle when you’re so sick, day after day after day. You’ve got to be able to accept the cards you’ve been dealt and play them the best way you can.”

Sam was in his late 60s during his

fight with pancreatic cancer and he now has a clear bill of health.

He said you have got to take the positives every day and “work with what you’ve got”.

“Don’t give up, keep fighting and try and keep your sense of humour,” he said.

“Be kind to people. What you put out is what you get back.”

If you, or someone you know, re quires help, please reach out to Life line’s 24-hour telephone crisis line on: 13 11 14.

Compassionate care for you and your family

We take pride in arranging funerals with genuine care, compassion and understanding.

Tweed Heads | whiteladyfunerals.com.au

A dramatic image of flood waters taken by local Pamela Farmer from Murwillumbah Bridge on February 28 which had devastating consequences

North Star is state’s best caravan and holiday park

By Jo Kennett

IT’S OFFICIAL! The Hastings Point-based North Star Holiday Park is officially the best caravan and holiday park in the state, according to the 2022 NSW Tourism Awards announced recently in Sydney.

North Star is an icon of the Tweed Coast and remains a private, family-owned business which has operated for the past 42 years.

Proud owner Diana Beadel said she was thrilled with the news and she, along with the North Star team, now look forward to the Aus tralian Tourism Awards in Sydney in March 2023.

“It’s a great achievement for a park in the far north of the state of NSW to win an award of this significance,” she said.

“This raises the profile of the entire area and helps put Hastings Point on the map.

“It will be a real honour to represent the state at the Australian Tourism Awards next year.”

Diana credits the award to her team of staff, many of whom have been with North Star for more than 10 years.

“Without them, we wouldn’t be winning awards of this calibre,” she said.

“Our team has remained tight and steadfast

over the past few years despite the enormous challenges we have had to deal with.

“We’re still here, going strong, and we’ve emerged at the end of it all with a major award.

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate our team for their determination, resilience, passion, and commitment to North Star.

“We are excited to embrace a brighter future for our industry.”

North Star proudly employs 84 local people in various capacities who welcome more than 100,000 visitors to the Tweed Shire each year.

North Star CEO Susan Flaherty says the face of the caravan and holiday park industry has evolved dramatically over the past decade and these days, park visitors demand better facilities and a wider range of accommodation than ever before.

Susan said she believes North Star’s Marine Discovery Centre, which recently underwent a massive one-million-dollar transformation, has raised the bar for caravan and holiday parks.

“Our one-of-a-kind centre is an educational and research facility, focused on protecting our precious aquatic environment for future generations,” she said.

To find out more about North Star Hasting Point please phone: 1800 645 790.

Saffin backs secure jobs

MEMBER FOR Lismore Janelle Saffin will throw her support behind NSW Labor’s plan to deliver more job security and funding certainty for the community services sector, by introduc ing longer term five-year funding arrangements for key community service providers.

“This is something I know is sorely need ed to support our communities through our hard-working community service workers,” Ms Saffin said.

“I have many services come to me saying that they have funding up until a certain date, the date being really close and no information on whether services that are essential will be continued.

“I see so many good staff leave because of it

and the current situation of short-term funding and short-term employment contracts works against good planning.”

NSW Labor’s plan will benefit more than 7,800 non-government organisations that oper ate in the sector; the more than 240,000 workers they employ; and the over one million people they support.

These essential frontline workers — predom inantly women — have been vital in support ing some of the most vulnerable people in our community throughout the pandemic, fires, droughts and floods, working in the areas of homelessness, domestic and family violence, and child protection.

BEST IN THE BUSINESS: The proud North Star Holiday Resort team are delighted with the win

Delightful preschool open for enrolments

during NSW school terms.

By Madeleine Murray

THE

Mt Warning Community Preschool is taking enrolments for next year

there’s plenty of reasons to sign up at this charming small school.

The school, set on a beautiful bush block off Glenock Road in Dum Dum, has a cottage with toys and activities, a sandpit, swings, slide, bike track and outdoor craft area.

About 12 children from age three to five were all having great fun on the morning The Weekly visited.

In the lovely house, two siblings were making 3D paintings at a table with teacher Sharnah Bowen. Sam held his up proudly.

At an outdoor table, four children were deep in concentration doing coloured pencil drawings with teacher Greg Arthur, who has worked there for 20 years,

A couple of boys rode bikes on the paved path outside under the huge trees.

There was an atmosphere of happiness, fun and camaraderie.

The preschool, which takes children from ages three to five, is run by a parent committee. It is open from 8am to 3.30pm, five days a week,

“We do have set routines, but it is always based on what the kids’ interests are,” director Ness Bryant told The Weekly.

“It’s play-based, but ‘intentional’ teaching. They’re having fun, but learning at the same time.

“Children’s voices are heard here. If they want a certain activity, we’ll do it, providing it’s safe.

“We have a diverse range of educators, but our one common trait is that we all love children, and we love seeing them thrive.

“We all approach education from the heart and the mind.

“To me, play is learning. When the children made up a play, they developed their language, communication and social skills.

“The boys on the bikes are getting strong and gross motor skills.”

Beyond the fence a huge tree towers over a creek. Next year, the school will implement a proper bush care program. The children will be able to go down to the creek, to learn about indigenous plants, birds and other wildlife.

To find out more please visit: mtwarningpre school.com — call (02) 6679 5313, or email: mtwarningpreschool@bigpond.com

Just a reminder ...

that the team from Helloworld Main Street Murwillumbah are still operating and indeed are in town every Monday to meet with clients.

While we have permanently re the premises of our Palm Beach Travel location, we continue to meet with our Murwillumbah Clients each week by appointment. We are happy to catch up with you to discuss your holiday plans. You can call us at any time to schedule your appointment.

Our Palm Beach Travel office is a member of the Helloworld Business Travel franchise group.

CRAFTING: Delilah, Lilimay, Jayliah and Darcy Ariella having fun in the sandpit

Spinners go electric

By Jonathon Howard

SPINNERS AUTOMOTIVE in South

Murwillumbah has teamed up with rental car giant Sixth to offer a range of new Tesla electric vehicles for hire.

The Tesla Model 3 is fresh off the pro duction line and will allow drivers a new way to experience the open road with an advanced electric vehicle (EV).

Spinners Auto owner Peter Clarke said it was time to embrace the future of the automotive industry and give locals a firsthand experience of driving an EV.

“Although I do believe petrol vehicles will be around for some time, the future is certainly going to be more about electric vehicles,” he said.

“You can see the shift in the market already, albeit small.

“There’s still a lot of popular petrol models out there and the electric vehicles need to overcome a few more hurdles in Australia.

“They still have a lot of areas to work out, including charging times, charging locations as well as distances, but the technology is moving fast and Teslas are leading the charge.

“The Tesla is just one example of what these electric vehicles will be like, with an amazing array of technology at your fingertips and advanced safety features.”

The Weekly was invited to take one of the Teslas for a spin recently with sur prising results.

Editor Jonathon Howard took the Tesla Model 3 for a cruise around the South Murwillumbah industrial estate.

The first most notable part of the vehicle

is the lack of any displays.

You only really have the screen in the middle of the console to reference your speed and distance.

But the automation is amazing, the vehi cle detects almost everything in its path, and you have the option in some Teslas to go completely automatic driving.

It was the Tesla’s responsiveness and acceleration that was most impressive.

It was a surprising amount of power and some of the features are really advanced.

I can see a bright future for electric ve hicles, especially considering the lower running costs. However, I would like to see a display on the dashboard, call me old fashioned, but the driver needs a little more information than a screen in the centre console.

I was also impressed with the inte rior and exterior of the vehicle. It’s a nice build, with comfortable front and back seats, plenty of storage in the boot and under the hood, plus it has a nice futuristic feel, as you would imagine from Tesla.

Mr Clarke said he was eager to give residents a try of the new Teslas for hire on request.

“We are offering four Teslas for hire right now,” he said.

“I wanted to add that Pedders also ser vice and can update Tesla suspension systems.

“There are some great rates and it’s a perfect way to cruise around the Tweed, or get to the Gold Coast Airport, or just experience the EV drive for yourself.”

To find out more, or to hire a Tesla, phone Spinners Auto on (02) 6672 2301, or visit the

Phil Bostock navigational

By Jonathon Howard

THE PHIL Bostock Navigational Fun Run will take place at the Murwillumbah Showgrounds on Sunday, December 11, from 8am.

This exciting annual event is hosted by the Murwillumbah Sporting Car Club Inc (MSCC) and is a fun-filled day of racing and auto appreciation.

MSCC event coordinator Barry Wearing said the event was cancelled in October, which is when Phil passed away

“We’re starting at the Murwillumbah Showground and finishing the cruise at the Showground,” he said.

“We will kick off the cruise from 8am for sign on at the Show ground and should be driving by 8.30am.

“We finish at the Showgrounds around 12.30pm for lunch and a Show ‘n’ Shine, with prizes.”

Mr Wearing said he wanted to invite everyone to join in the fun and take a great cruise around the beautiful Tweed Shire.

“This run is another amazing cruise and is again a surprise,” he said.

“We will have coffee vans at three points throughout the drive with free assorted biscuits.”

Mr Wearing said Phil Bostock was born and bred in Murwil lumbah and became a well-known local mechanic and later truck driver.

“He has twin boys, with one of the sons a local mechanic now,” he said.

“This is a great tribute to an outstanding local who was pas sionate about the automotive industry and racing.”

Anyone wanting to find out more, or to get involved with MSCC, please contact 0407 120 113, or visit the website: mscc.org.au

shop at 36 Durrington Street, South Murwillumbah.

LEGEND: The late Phil Bostock

ELECTRIC: Never one to shy away from the future, Spinners Auto owner Peter Clarke is gearing up for the electric vehicle wave and he's eager to get involved

MOTORING IN THE TWEED

Navigating an EV future

By Madeleine Murray

“I’M SPENDING $200 a week on petrol,” a mother-of-three recently told The Weekly.

The woman, who prefers not to be named, lives out at Byrrill Creek with her husband. They have three children aged 10 to 14, and a business in Murwillumbah.

The children have activities such as music and sport all over the shire. The couple often have to drive to Tweed Heads for business supplies, or to Varsity Lakes to collect family from Brisbane.

“I look forward to buying an electric car,” the woman said, “but the state of the roads and other things prevents us.

“We’re on solar, so charging would be hard.”

According to the Tweed Shire Council website, solar charging is possible.

“For home charging, a 10 amp or 15 amp plug and use of your own solar power can be the cheapest, lowest carbon option to fuel an EV.

“Referred to as ‘level 1’ or trickle charge, charging from a household electrical power point adds around 12km of range per hour of charge (depending on the EV model).

“At least 5kW of rooftop solar would be need ed to meet the charger’s energy demand.”

A very enthusiastic Tesla owner who preferred not to be named told The Weekly, “I charge it at home, with solar power, and off-peak rates.

“As a Tesla owner, I have the Tesla super charge network, which is free and well distrib uted around the country.”

According to the plugshare website map, there are only about 16 charging stations in Tweed Shire. Most charge around $.30/kWh. The Tesla ones are generally free.

Most are around Tweed Heads, with three around Murwillumbah, a few along the coast, and one near Uki. Several are linked to accom modation, which means you can charge your car if you stay there.

The closest one west of Uki is at the Rainbow Power Company in Nimbin.

“We have a solar award EV charger which charges three times faster than a normal plug and uses the excess charge from your solar,” so lar system designer Max Pike told The Weekly.

“We have 2x22kWh chargers free here in Nimbin.”

For more information please visit: plugshare. com or tweed.nsw.gov.au/council/news-updates/ latest-news/general-news/ev-home-charging-op tions (see right for EV charging map)

Free EV charging is available at Rainbow Power Company in Nimbin

By

known as Tweed For Speed 2022. The event is $10 per person to enter and starts from 9am with VIP parking available.

Tweed For Speed will feature a dyno shootout, trophies for best in category, food and drinks, Bad Ideas apparel and trade stalls.

The event organiser said the event does not

“There

“We’re

“Travel

Jonathon Howard

SHOW

By Jonathon Howard

SEVERAL LOCAL photographers have recently been named winners or highly commended in a photography competition sponsored by ABC Friends — Northern Rivers.

Entrants were asked to take a photo including the number 90 in recognition of the ABC’s 90th anniversary as the national broadcaster.

Winner of the general category was Murwillumbah photographer Adam Suttie, who took a great photo of his grandmother in front of her television.

Second prize winner in that open category was Beth Cavallari of Wardrop Valley and third prize winner was Leonora Marges of Ocean Shores.

First prize winner of the Junior category was Joli Hall

of Uki.

Adam is a local painter and photographer who completed a Bachelor of Arts degree through Southern Cross University. He is a member of the Murwillumbah Camera Club.

Beth is a U3A tutor in creative writing who also won some photography prizes at the recent Murwillumbah Show.

Joli is a primary student at Sathya Sai school.

Happy Anniversary (Joli Hall)

Towards an ABC Century (Leonora Marges)

Sparkler 1 (Beth Cavallari)

Nanna With 90 Years Of The ABC (Adam Suttie)

The winning photographers

By Madeleine Murray

UKI WILL come alive under the full moon on Thursday, December 8.

Visitors can eat and drink at Picnic in the Park, shop, and wander over to the Uki Post Office to see a new show.

Local artisans including Illusive Wood De signs, A Tinker’s Cuss, Fair Trade, and The Buttery will be open late, as will the charming Little Gallery.

Art Post, at the Uki Post Office, is having two exhibitions in one, celebrating the art of the very young and not so very old.

A Christmas Medley is a group show of paint ings and ceramics by Art Post artists.

Children’s Postcards of the Caldera depicts the spectacular caldera through the eyes of young local budding artists.

“It’s been an extraordinary year,” Postmaster Gary Wall told The Weekly. “We started the year with terrible floods and then it just rained

and rained. People have been displaced, cost of living has gone up, and then there is the tragedy and global impact of the war in Ukraine.

“Community has never been so important to help us feel we belong and have a small secure place where we can flourish.

“A Christmas Medley and Children’s Post cards of the Caldera is a way to bring young and old together to show us that our world of the Northern Rivers is indeed beautiful.”

All are welcome at the exhibition, which opens at 6pm. Picnic in the Park starts at 4pm with food from Gunter’s Pizza, Lotus food truck, and gelato from Tweed Valley Whey Farmhouse Cheese.

For the children, Santa is arriving on the fire truck. Musician Loren Jemahli will be per forming.

The exhibition is on every day at the Uki Post Office: 7am-5pm weekdays, 7.30am-12.30pm Saturday and 8am-12.30pm Sunday.

UKI UP LATE is on tonight (Thursday, December 8) and it's going to be a blast

HERE WE ARE in the home stretch of the year! Just over a fortnight ‘til Christmas, and in the blink of an eye, just like Keyser Soze, the old year will be gone! Goodbye! Personally, and, indeed for the whole community, 2022 has been savage, ravaging us on all levels, and testing the limits of our mettle. But we have overcome obstacles never imagined, and though the recovery is still ongoing almost a year later, we now know the extent of our strength to unite as a community to help each other in crisis times. It seems Biblical, all we’ve been through over the past 3 years, starting with the fires in 2019, ending (we hope!) with the floods, and with some strange virus interrupting our lives irrevocably in the middle. I have heard more than one person joking about apocalyptic locusts, and I’m half waiting for the four horsemen to ride on in, announcing Armageddon! Anything’s possible at this point! Maybe the rider’s reference is really about aliens. The Area 51 files were released in May 2020, though that news got somewhat lost amongst the continual updates of Covid

deaths worldwide, and reports on everchanging rules. What is it about imagining an interplanetary race, or alternative lifeforms, that keeps humans coming back for more? It’s interesting that the characters portrayed are inevitably either completely monstrous (bring on the killing-spree scenes inert of empathy) or fairly human-like.... or some mish-mash of creatures already known on Earth. Basically, to relate to the alien, it has to anthropomorphize, and have some endearing features. The very first extraordinarily-popular alien character in a film, of course, was E.T. It’s small wonder, as ET’s facial features were based on the exaggerated face of a newborn baby. We are hardwired to love that look of big-eyed naivety, also exploited in Anime characters, and so many purposefully-cute icons (Baby Yoda comes to mind!) More fantasy forms the planet, Pandora, as imagined in Avatar’s sequel, expanded to underwater worlds, and creatures conjured from blending known into fantastical, in a watery world I’m looking forward to totally immersing myself in!

Country Witches on the way

THE CWA is coming to town! No, not the little old ladies selling baked goods and lovingly hand-knitted wonders, although the original spirit of this subtle women’s liberation movement did provide inspiration for Mandy Nolan and Áine Tyrrell to form this modern spin-off, heralding the same acronym as an homage, all the while harking back to even older traditions, brewed in Celtic Paganism long ago, before Christianity usurped the midsummer holiday for our continual Christmas cheer, at the wrong time of year for us in the Southern Hemisphere!

Part spiritual history lesson, part political piece, and assuredly fabulously funny

throughout, this dynamic duo will be holding their Summer Solstice meeting on the very auspicious date of Thursday, December 22, starting at 8pm – don’t be late! Dinner will be available for early arrivals. Broomstick optional. Covens from our neighbouring shire will be brought by Magic Bus, so reach out to your witchy women, brew a crew, and come along for a truly magical way to celebrate the apex of summer season, honouring the longest day of the year.

Existing members and curious cats are most welcome, along with men who dare to join in the festivities. You can be sure bras will be thrown! With visual projections by Arianna Bosi, this will be a fully immersive experience — a magical night not to be missed. Book now.

Lots of brass at Tweed

By Madeleine Murray

THE RIOTOUS Tweed Coast Band will be performing at the South Tweed Sports Club on Tuesday, December 13.

The 24-piece band plays a variety of instru ments, with lots of brass!

Flutes, clarinets and saxophones raise the rafters with horns, trumpets, trombones, tubas, lead guitar, bass guitar and percussion.

“We’re looking forward to sharing some Christmas music, and having a lot of fun with people at the South Tweed Sports Club,” band secretary Sallyanne Kibble told The Weekly.

The band is made up of adults with a variety of experience in music.

Some have taken up music in their later years while a few others are professional musicians.

Conductor David Underwood is a highly ex perienced multi-instrumentalist and conductor. One of the clarinet players doubles as the

singer to lead the carol singing.

There will be opportunities for sing-a-longs of well-known carols.

Santa, aka Peter O’Loghlin, will drop in to say hello and share some sweets with the audience.

Admission is free and guests can take advan tage of the club’s dining facilities.

The Tweed Coast Band plays at 6pm, Tuesday, December 13, at the South Tweed Sports Club, 4 Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South.

NEW FILM: SHE SAID

This Saturday 10th The Tweed Regional Gallery extends their current exhibition to our screen, with a single screening of SALTWATER STORY, followed by a panel discussion with the creators of this epic journey documentary. Starting at 5pm, it’s perfectly timed to see the exhibition at the Gallery prior. Enjoy the soothing sounds of SALI BRACEWELL on our Balcony over Saturday night dinner, then head into the cinema to see THE LAND, the debut feature film by Swedish-born photographer Ingvar Kenne. Sunday 3-5PM MEL SCARLETT debuts on the Balcony

NEXT WEEK: AVATAR 2 begins its blockbuster domination of our screen, with a special preview on Wednesday 14th @ 6PM for those who can’t wait a moment longer!

THE LAST LIST OF VIVIEN WALKER has been postponed til early next year, date TBC – stay tuned. Get the girls together for a final-hoorah, pre-Xmas madness, to celebrate Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, with raucous comedy from Mandy Nolan + Áine Tyrrell, founders of the Country Witches Association. Conjure your Byron Shire Covens to come along too, no broomsticks needed, as The Regent has booked the Magic Bus to bring Byronite Witches across the ranges, riding home after the show with magical ease. Book your ticket from your preferred stop when you buy your tickets for the show online.

Armageddon Time 10:00AM

Avatar: The Way of Water 12:25PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 4:05PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 7:45PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 10:00AM

She Said 1:40PM

The Velvet Queen 4:20PM

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris 6:20PM

Waiting for Bojangles 8:40PM

Strange World 10:00AM

Avatar: The Way of Water 12:15PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 3:55PM

Balcony Sessions (LIVE MUSIC)

MOHINI COX 6-8PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 7:35PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 10:00AM

Strange World 1:40PM

Balcony Sessions (LIVE MUSIC)

M.E. BAIRD 3-5PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 3:50PM

The Land 7:30PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 10:00AM

Avatar: The Way of Water 1:40PM

Strange World 5:20PM

Avatar: The Way of Water 7:35PM

The Regent Spotlight

WICKED WITCHES: Áine Tyrrell and Mandy Nolan are casting their funny spells

Big brass band is coming to town!

Worshipper (6)

Told a story (8)

Lewd (7)

The Green Fairy (8)

Train track (8)

Made notes (9)

Political campaigner (8)

Walking poles (6)

Feels pleasing (8)

Chicken action (7)

Source of light (7) 33 Act of making larger (13) 37 Forest canopy (8) 41 More secure (5) 42 Zodiac sign (5) 43 Frog eggs (5) 44 Cautionary traffic light (5) 45 Common aquarium pet (8) 48 Phone dings (13) 51 Capital of Wales (7) 54 Fibrous, like a leek (7) 56 2005 sci-fi film, V for - (8) 57 Cue (6) 58 Capital of Australia (8)

59 Containers for letters (9) 63 Heart-shaped chili pepper (8) 65 Outlook (8) 68 Flammable gas (7) 69 Elliptical pasta (8) 70 Motor fuel (6) 71 Rolled tortilla (9) 72 Conservatively dressed (8) 73 Restore; re-enact (8) 74 Open-hearted (7)

DOWN

23 Requiring little effort (4) 26 Bland (8) 28 Herb for spiritual cleansing (4) 30 Card game (7) 32 Tightened (6) 34 Cover (5) 35 Style (7) 36 Linked metal rings (5) 38 Wooer, crooner (8) 39 Rotated (6) 40 Has - fulfilled my expectations (14)

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Yvette on 0421 831

CABARITA BUSINESS Seaside Interiors

& Upholstery has been servicing the Tweed Coast for more than three years and bring a fresh new approach to upholstery.

Owner/upholster Phil Cox and his team members Danielle Loxton, social media/ interiors, and Lisa Young, sales and inhome stylist, work together to create their customer’s visions.

With more than 40-years’ experience in upholstery, Phil focuses on repairing and recovering furniture from daybeds, statement chairs, dining chairs, ottomans, cushions, window seats, caravan cushions and custom upholstery.

“We have a range of fabrics in store to choose from or we can source what you are looking for from our Australian fabric houses or overseas,” he said.

“We believe quality furniture has a far

greater life span than cheap imports.”

Phil said investing in a quality piece of furniture will serve you better including family heirlooms.

“They don’t make furniture like they used to,” he said.

“Lisa is our home stylist and is in store, or she can visit clients to help create their visions with more than 20 years’ experience

in the fashion and interior styling industries.”

Seaside Interiors & Upholstery offer a free pick-up and delivery service from within the Gold Coast and Tweed Coast areas.

Visit the friendly team at 2/84 Hastings Road, Cabarita, call 0435 116 897 for a free quote or visit the website: www. Seasideinteriors.com.au to make an appointment.

RAINWATER

RHINO BOAT LOADER AND ROOF RACK Rear ender, excellent condition, fitting kits available. $750 ono, phone 0755 232 862

Joey’s Pouch Early Years Centre seeks passionate educators to join our team.

Be supported to make a big impact on the lives and learning of our little people.

In working with us you will:

• Work with a passionate team to deliver an innovative program that values diversity and is centred around play, exploration, and investigation

YAMAHA BOLT 2017 949 xx (Not suitable for learner) 3,000 kms NSW 9 months rego Excellent condition, like new $11,500 no time wasters. Ph: 0439 157 298

MOVING BOXES from $1.50. Phone Glen. 0428 003 055 Free

• Develop collaborative and supportive relationships with families and colleagues

• Holistically integrate Aboriginal perspectives and nurture a connection to country, self, and others

• Foster strong relationships with children in a safe, nurturing environment that feels like a home away from home

• Be part of a small, community-based, not-for-profit service where all fees and fundraising are reinvested into the service

At Joey’s Pouch we offer:

• Full time and part time positions

• Childcare discount for all permanent employees

• Pay above the award rates

Sing

For

Fun 9:30-11am NSW time Mondays, at South Tweed Sports Club Phone Margaret: 0438 819 809

Garage Sale

COMBINED GARAGE SALE New- ladies bike, port BBQ, Christmas tree, clothing, household items, TV unit, Books- CD- DVD, Bric a Brac and more. New or good cond, Christmas bargains, Sat 10th Dec, 20 Balmoral Street Pottsville Waters9am till 3pm

GARAGE SALE, Sat 10th Dec, 8am NSW time till 4pm NSW time. Bric and brac, Fishing gear, handbags, clothing, household items. something for everyone, Unit 3 – 122 Kennedy Drive, West Tweed Heads

MASSIVE HOUSE CONTENTS SALE. Furniture, Bric and Brac, new and secondhand goods. Kitchen ware, Cd’s, DVD’s, Records, books, art, antiques and much more. Non-Flood Affected - Sunday 11th December from 9am. 391 Tweed Valley Way Murwillumbah

Massage

Tweed Heads South Wed-Thurs, Sat, Sun Ph 0473 512 021

• Additional hourly rate for educators while in the role of the responsible person on duty

• Generous resources budgets

• Generous professional development budgets

• Paid First Aid and CPR, WWCC, and Child Protection

• An inclusive workplace culture that values wellbeing

To be considered for the role, you must meet the selection criteria:

• Diploma of Early Childhood

• Experience developing and implementing and evaluating programs using the EYLF and National Quality Framework

• Demonstrated knowledge of theories of early childhood development

• Experience building positive and professional relationships with children, families and colleagues

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

• Current First Aid and Asthma & Anaphylaxis certificates

• Current Child Protection certificate

Please address the selection criteria and submit your CV to the Director: director@joeyspouch.com.au.

Positions Vacant

FARMER

Snake Relocation

Social Group

Positions Vacant

FARM WORK CASUAL LABOUR needed for farm work. P/time casual. Weeding, mulching, general farm labouring. Own transport. Ph: Pamela 9am-1pm Mon-Fri:

DELIVERY

Death Notices

CALOMERIS Sylvia “Lou” 01/12/2022

McGuiness Funerals 0266 722 144

CAMERON John Alfred 1/12/2022

White Lady Funerals 07 5536 5300

SOUTHAM Gary Ian 29/11/2022

White Lady Funerals 07 5536 5300

LAMBERT-CRITTLE

Jack Paris Kingdom 25/11/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

CHOAT Jay Robert 29/11/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

POWELL Helen Leslie 30/11/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

VAN DER LINDEN

Susan Elizabeth Maxwell 30/11/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

HADSON Margaret Isabel 01/12/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

THOMPSON Olive 03/12/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

MARCOT Susanne Elisabeth 05/12/2022

Dolphin Funerals 0427 743 817

Jennifer June Hall

Late of Kunghur.

Passed away peacefully on Saturday 3rd December 2022.

Aged 83 Years.

Dearly loved Wife of Jack (dec’d).

Loved Mother of Richard (dec’d), Mark (dec’d), Lindy & Peter and Kim & Steven.

Cherished Grandmother of Twelve.

Loving Great-grandmother of Many.

Loved Sister of Joan (dec’d), Peggy, Jerry, Judy, Suzie, Butch (dec’d) and Jill.

Family and friends are warmly invited to attend Jennifer’s Funeral Service to be held at

All Saints Anglican Church, Byangum Road Murwillumbah on Friday 9th of December 2022 at 11:00am (NSW time).

A er the service, the cortege will leave for the Murwillumbah Lawn Cemetery, Tree Street Murwillumbah.

McGuiness Funerals

Ph: (02) 6672 2144 Murwillumbah

Return Thanks

Fay Gleave OAM

01.10.34 - 28.10.22

Desmond Gleave and family would like to thank our family, friends, neighbours and the community for their visits, calls, cards and owers.

Fay’s celebration of her life played out exactly to her wishes and she would have loved all the a ention.

Our gratitude goes out to Libby and sta at McGuinness Funerals for your support and compassion.

Our heartfelt appreciation to everyone’s kindness and sympathy

Francis James Walsh (Frank) 01.01.1937 - 04.11.2022

Francis James Walsh (Frank)

01.01.1937 - 04.11.2022

Franks family would like to sincerely thank everyone for their kind words, messages and to those who a ended the celebration of Franks life at Tweed Valley Chapel, Duranbah.

Franks family would like to sincerely thank everyone for their kind words, messages and to those who a ended the celebration of Franks life at Tweed Valley Chapel, Duranbah.

A special thanks to Nurses and Carers of Bupa Banora Point who have cared for Frank for the last two years.

A special thanks to Nurses and Carers of Bupa Banora Point who have cared for Frank for the last two years.

A special thanks to Chad from Heritage Funerals for all his help.

A special thanks to Chad from Heritage Funerals for all his help.

Please accept this as our personal thanks.

Please accept this as our personal thanks.

William BRYANT (Bill) 9/4/1936 - 21/11/2022

Francis James Walsh (Frank) 01.01.1937 - 04.11.2022

Franks family would like to sincerely thank everyone for their kind words, messages and to those who a ended the celebration of Franks life at Tweed Valley Chapel, Duranbah.

Partner to Jean

Your life was a blessing Your memory a treasure

A special thanks to Nurses and Carers of Bupa Banora Point who have cared for Frank for the last two years.

A special thanks to Chad from Heritage Funerals for all his help.

Please accept this as our personal thanks.

You were loved beyond words And missed beyond measure. RIP beautiful man William was privately cremated.

Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.

Madison Fitzpatrick selected for Hockeyroos

By Jonathon Howard

AN INITIAL 17 athletes have been named in next year’s Hockeyroos squad which includes Cabarita golden girl Madison Fitzpatrick.

Hockeyroos head coach Katrina Powell said she’s looking to utilise and make the most of the increasing pool of Australian women’s hockey talent.

All 17 athletes selected were a core part of this year’s Hockeyroos squad that won a silver medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the Women’s World Cup.

A further 20 players have been se lected to attend a Visiting Athlete Agreement Selection Camp in Sydney in January 2023.

The remaining five spots for the final Hockeyroos squad of 22 play

ers will be announced following the selection camp.

“We will be selecting a wide range of athletes to play for the Hockeyroos in 2023, which could be from outside the senior squad and include play ers from the National Development Squad,” Powell said.

“In this initial selection we want ed to firm up those positions in the squad that we know are part of our direction in 2023.”

“Obviously a squad of 22 is a small number to work with so we need to make sure the remaining five selec tions we make are the right ones, but we will also use a greater number of athletes next year.”

“We have a lot of matches in 2023 and want to expose a number of athletes to make sure we are picking the best team for the Oceania Cup in August and then the right squad for

Paris the following year.”

Powell said the Hockeyroos (cur rently third in the world rankings) enter 2023 buoyed by the progress they have made in the last 12 months.

This optimism is coupled with the realisation and understanding they have only set a foundation of what they know they are capable of.

“I was really pleased with our year because we showed we are in the mix,” said Powell.

“It also confirmed that we are not where we want to be yet. It’s a starting point but we know we have teams ahead of us and we know we are in a mix of countries who are also looking to improve and chase down the top countries.

“We need to keep improving and developing our game to make sure we are on the podium in Paris.”

Champion surf life saving teacher

By Jo Kennett

A TERRANORA teacher has won a gold and bronze medal at the World Life Saving Masters Championships in Italy and she is passing on her knowledge to her young charges to help keep them safe at the beach.

Terranora Public School teacher Susie Harker was part of a team of ten athletes from Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club that brought home a total of 23 medals from the world titles.

“I got the bronze medal with two other ladies in the swim team event, then we won gold in the beach relay and I don’t even run,” Mrs Harker said.

“Mind you, we were very sore the next day.”

The patrolling surf lifesaving volun teer enjoys combining her two loves of teaching and the ocean and does a beach unit with her Kindergarten class every year.

It goes across the curriculum and includes literacy, numeracy, art, ge ography even surf safety for young students

This year, the kindergarten kids have been paying very close attention as they know their teacher is a genu ine surf lifesaving world champion.

“I brought my medals in and I had news about my little trip to explain why I wasn’t there,” Mrs Harker said.

Mrs Harker said the highlight of studying all things beach-related is getting out of the classroom and get ting the sand under everyone’s feet on a special excursion.

“I dress up and get my patrol team to come and we bring our gear; a rescue tube, and rescue board, and we show them the flags and danger signs,” Mrs Harker said.

Non-swimmers also undertake two weeks of intensive swimming lessons at the local pool.

“It’s vital,” she said.

“There’s no excuse for children to not be able to swim particularly when they live so close to the coast,” she said.

Even after 30 years in charge of our littlest learners, Mrs Harker is still full of enthusiasm for her work.

“It’s about making them happy and safe and just loving learning,” she said. “I come to school and I feel loved every day.”

Ziebell making his mark in Qld

By Jo Kennett

WELL IT’S been a long time be tween drinks so here is an attempt to catch up with what is happening in our local cricket competitions, a task not made easier by the change to the scoring system and app.

Coming into Round 5 of the LJ Hooker League, Goonellabah Work ers Sports 1 is on top of the ladder, Tweed Banora Colts 1 are in second, third is Tintenbar East Ballina 1, Marist Brothers are in fourth, with Cudgen in fifth, Pottsville is in sev enth spot, and Murwillumbah is ninth of the eleven teams.

Suzie Ziebell said Cudgen has a younger side now with Sam Weir at school and playing cricket in Sydney while Caleb Ziebell is playing for the Gold Coast Dolphins.

In September the Dolphins won the inaugural KFC T20 Max competition with Ziebell producing “a nerveless all-round game,” according to Qld Cricket.

“Ziebell, named in the NSW Coun try Cricket Team of the Decade in 2021, was recruited to the Dolphins from Cudgen on the recommendation of Brisbane Heat and Queensland Bulls batsman Max Bryant, another to hail from the Tweed coastal town,”

a Qld Cricket spokesperson said.

Ziebell finished 37 not out from 20 balls, took 1-13 from four overs, and was named the Andrew Symonds Medal winner as the Player of the Final.

He went on to score a century in his first grade debut for the Dolphins in the Gold Coast competition, scoring 136 off just 149 deliveries, with three first innings catches, and taking 1/29 in the same game; enough to make any selector stand up and take notice.

Cudgen lost both two dayers to Pottsville and Tintenbar but came back with Round 3 win against comp leaders Goonellabah. Last weekend Cudgen played the first innings of Round 4 against the Colts.

Caleb Ziebell was back and scored 101 not out, Corey Chantrill 52 not out in the first round of the next two day game while the Colts Tom Byrnes scored 92 not out.

In the T20 contenders for the semi finals on January 29 are Cudgen (1), the Colts (2), Pottsville (in third spot) and Goonellabah in fourth.

Coastal League

It’s round ten already and pardon my language but what’s bloody Tin tenbar East Ballina (with 60 points) doing on the top of the ladder? Seri ously they have seven wins and not

a loss so our local lads are going to need to step up if we are to have any hope of a Tweed Shire champion, though we all know if you live in the shire you are a winner anyway.

Still within striking distance are Cudgen Hornets and Terranora, both on 51 and the Tweed Banora Colts (45) all with five wins and two losses for the Hornets and the Lakes boys but three for the Colts.

Come on lads, you can do this.

Last week there were a few aban doned games but Murwillumbah (9/101) went down to Bangalow 2 (2/108).

Thirsty Thirds

The Tweed District Cricket Associa tion ladder leaders are the Casuarina Crocs, who have had five wins and two losses. Hot on their tails are the Cudgen Hornets, who are a game up on the Crocs and have six wins and two losses.

Cudgen has a new team, the Bum blebees, in the league, and they are currently sitting at third in the rank ings, also with six wins but three losses.

In fourth spot are the Thirsters while Terranora is in fifth, all with a chance to take down the Crocs for the title.

A shout out to young Murwillumbah

Apologies for having no clue what is going on and for a very lopsided

report as I tried to

Will do better

out the

I hope you are all enjoying your

and having fun mucking up with your teammates because as they say in the Hokey Pokey, that’s what it’s all about. Happy cricketing.

Cabarita Beach residents Madison Fitzpatrick has secured a place in 2023

Mrs Harker (left) with students from Terranora Public School

player Max Palmer from the Under 14s who recently scored 110 off 40 balls and to all the other young male and female players who have been making milestones this season.

figure

new website.

next time.

cricket

Caleb Ziebell scored 101 not out and Corey Chantrill 52 not out. Inset is Murwillumbah Under 16s with some great bowling Photo MCC.

Real Estate

FROM COAST TO COUNTRY

The heavenly hinterland of Tyalgum

By Jo Kennett

THE TWEED Shire is renowned for its beautiful coastline and scenic hinterland, but it’s the villages and the communities who inhabit them that are the heart of the rural landscape.

Nestled in the foothills of the Border Ranges and Wollumbin, Tyalgum was originally a timbercutters town.

It sits at the junction of Pumpenbil and Tyalgum creeks, which were used to transport the giant red cedar logs that the original settlers felled.

My mate grew up there and regularly regales us with tall tales and true about what the local characters used to get up to out there. They were wild old boys but it sounded like a lot of fun.

Potter and Tyalgum Theatre founder Les Peterkin and his mate Norm Ingram put together a video of the 1988 Tyalgum Village Bi-Centennial celebrations, with all the locals decked out in

1788 regalia.

Les said it, “Clearly shows the fun and camaraderie of this wonderful small village in the Tweed Valley where I spent 20 memorable years”.

The video also featured Peter Turgeon, who turned 90 earlier this year, and his legendary bullock team. Long after the cedar cutters were gone, Peter and his much-loved team were still making regular appearances at local shows.

The town has undergone quite the reno, with arty shops, boutiques and bars abounding, and yoga in the historical hall which would have some of the old boys turning in their graves.

The local pub has been closed temporarily but was bought by Gold Coast investors who no doubt will have big plans for the reopening.

Its beauty, character and historic buildings make Tyalgum a magnet for tourists.

For a little town — population

Open Homes

Saturday, December 10

First National Real Estate Murwillumbah

11 Bagoo Ave, Murwillumbah, 9-9:30am

105 Commercial Rd Murwillumbah 9am

7 Amethyst Place, Murwillumbah, 9:30-10am

257 Dulguigan Road, Dulguigan, 9:30-10am

9 Mooball St, Murwillumbah, 10-10:30am

5 Kintyre Crescent, Banora Point, 10-10:30am

2043 Kyogle Rd, Terragon, 10-10:30am

261 Tunnel Rd, Stokers Siding, 10-10:30am

2/14 Somerville Circuit, Murwillumbah, 10:30-11am

141 Glenock Road, Dum Dum, 10:30-11am

2/21 McPherson Crt, Murwillumbah, 10:45-11:15am

150 Midginbil Rd, Midginbil, 10:45-11:15am

32 Meadow Place, Uki, 11:15-11:45am

434 Hopkins Creek Rd, Hopkins Creek, 11:15-11:45am

4 Smiths Creek Rd, Uki, 11:30-12pm

541 in 2016 — it punches way above its weight when it comes to the arts, attracting international stars to the Tyalgum Music Festival and the Tyalgum Dance Spectacular.

I remember looking at houses in Tyalgum just before the pandemic for not much over the $200,000 mark.

They were smaller and older homes, but the bargains were there to be had and though that $250,000 home has probably doubled in price, compared to everywhere else in the shire; it’s still a great place to grab a bargain freestanding home.

Last month Tyalgum had one property available for rent and six properties for sale. Median sold prices over the last year is $737,500 for houses.

Based on five years of sales, Tyalgum has seen a compound growth rate of 15.6% for houses with prices starting to level out. There are some budget buys in Tyalgum at the moment and the

4 Ted Brown Close, Kunghur, 11:30-12:30pm

7 Kirbys Road, Limpinwood, 12-12:30pm

279 Smarts Rd, Wardrop Valley, 12:30-1pm

DJ Stringer

cheapest one is at 16 Wollumbin Street, a two-minute walk to the main street.

It’s an old A-frame on a 1012-square metre block with dual-lane access. The home needs work but at $549,000 who wouldn’t be happy to add their own look and character.

At the other end of the market, an absolutely gorgeous property has just gone under offer for $1.695 million, while a log cabin with five bedrooms, views and a pool at 1345 Tyalgum Road is up for grabs for a lucky buyer.

The village has been through a rough time with COVID and being

largely cut off in the aftermath of the floods, but the locals proved themselves a caring, close-knit and resilient community that will come through it all stronger than ever, especially once all those darned roads are fixed.

Artistic types and hipsters alike have been drawn to the area for a while now but the old school locals are still lurking in the back blocks and keeping things real.

If you love nature and are looking for somewhere to hang your hat where you can become a part of an amazing community, you cannot go past beautiful Tyalgum.

26/6-8 Thomson St, Tweed Heads ‘Price Guide $895K-$945K’ 2-2:30pm

5/42 Garrick St, Coolangatta ‘Price Guide $795K-$845K’ 2-2:30pm QLD Time

MANA Real Estate

1603/22 Kirkwood Rd, Tweed Heads South ‘Price Guide $1.295M-$1.350M’ 9:30-10am

3 Lakes Dr, Tweed Heads West ‘Price Guide $750K-$795K’ 10:30-11am

3/12 Marian St, Tweed Heads West ‘Price Guide $420K-$450K’ 10-10:30am

8 Castle Ct, Tugun ‘Interest Over $895,000’ 10:30-11am (Qld Time)

2/7 Albatross Circuit, Tweed Heads West ‘$740K-$760K’ 11-11:30am

12 Ocean Ave, Tweed Heads South “Price Guide $1M-$1.1M’ 11-11:30am

36/14 Jefferson Lane, Palm Beach ‘Interest Over $700K’ 11:30-12pm (Qld Time)

1054/14-22 Stuart St, Tweed Heads ‘Price Guide $770K-$790K’ 12-12:30pm

315/20 Binya Ave, Tweed Heads ‘Price Guide $595K-$630K’ 1-1:30pm

Dreams to reality

1D Short Street, New Brighton, 9-9.30am

1/3 Haylard Court, Ocean Shores, 9.30-10am

4/2 Nunyar Court, Ocean Shores, 9.30-10am

51 Garden Avenue, Nunderi, 10.45-11.30am

30 Nugget Street, Diggers Camp, 1.30-2pm

Tate Brownlee Real Estate

21 Piggabeen Road, Tweed Heads West, 8:30-9am (Auction 9am)

108 Ash Drive, Banora Point, 11-11:30am

17 Pulkara Court, Bilambil Heights, 11-11:30am

37 Australia Drive, Terranora, 12-12:30pm

1/85 Henry Lawson Drive, Terranora, 12-12:30pm

37 Illawong Cres, Terranora, 12:30-1pm (Auction 1pm)

20 Bosun Boulevard, Banora Point, 2:30-3:00pm

1345 Tyalgum Road is listed for $1.475 million and is a slice of hinterland heaven with Elders Real Estate Tweed Valley

Set on the 14th floor, unit 1440 + 1441 in Harbour Tower, Twin Towns Resort takes full advantage of the high position to showcase the expansive views on offer. From the Tweed Heads CBD to the Border Ranges & Wollumbin, around to Fingal Headland & Cook Island and back to the river and Jack Evans Boat Harbour, put simply, exceptional!

The dual key apartments, which feature a one bedroom unit plus an adjoining studio, provide two separate, self contained letting entities within the one property.

Being offered fully furnished and enjoying very high occupancy rates and strong rental income in Mantra’s onsite letting pool, the spotless unit should have keen appeal to astute investors seeking a much better return on capital than the banks are currently offering. Alternately, lock one up and use it as a weekender or holiday love nest and rent the other to cover the expenses.

• 24 hour reception and plenty of undercover parking

• Resort facilities include indoor + outdoor pools & spas, tennis courts, conference rooms, BBQ, games room, gym and mini golf.

• Fully furnished & equipped and income producing from day one!

• Direct, internal access to Twin Towns Services Club and all its dining and entertainment options.

• Easy stroll to popular Greenmount and Rainbow Bay beaches as well as the world famous Snapper Rocks surf break

• 5 minute cab ride from Gold Coast Airport.

• Short flat walk to Tweed Mall shopping centre and Coolangatta’s vibrant café and restaurant precinct.

• Rental income figures available.

kel@keljuddrealestate.com.au www.keljuddrealestate.com.au

At First National Murwillumbah, we love to give back to our community. We are hosting our own Christmas at the office on Saturday 10th Dec! We understand that Christmas can be quite overwhelming for some when it comes to buying gifts and we want to help. We have a range of gifts for ages between 0-13. Our aim is to help as many families in our community as possible that may be struggling after a tough year.

Build your dream home in the gated Panorama development

3 acre plot with mesmerising views to Mount Warning

Plenty of room for food gardens, farm pets and for the kids to roam safely

Located 10mins to Clarrie Hall

Dam for fishing and boating and 15mins to the village of Uki with superb cafes and weekly markets

Rare offering of approx 4.49Ha of vacant land amid the spectacular scenery of the Mt Warning Caldera

Property currently offers building pads and a shed

Peaceful mountain views and a tranquil flowing creek

Located 10 minutes from the quaint village of Tyalgum