Confidential items for consideration

from Tweed Valley Weekly, June 17, 2021

Reports from the Director Planning and Regulation

24 Local News Thursday, June 17, 2021 Vale Stan Dawson: A true local legend

By Jo Kennett BOGANGAR RESIDENTS are mourning the passing of Stan Dawson OAM, who recently passed away at the age of 94 on Thursday, May 27, after a lifetime spent serving others.

Stan joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a young man and was mentioned in dispatches to the high command for his “gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy” during the Korean War.

After his return, Stan became an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with Trans Australian Airlines (TAA) for 33 years, from 1956 to 1989, and co-founded the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association in 1961.

Among the numerous awards he received was the Premier of Queensland’s Inaugural Award, in recognition of his outstanding work for senior citizens.

He spent years in the Lions Club, becoming president at Nundah (Brisbane) and then at Bogangar.

He raised funds tirelessly for local community groups, schools and individuals, and was at the forefront of the push to get a skate park and the Norries Headland Walk at Cabarita Beach.

Stan also volunteered for Meals on Wheels and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his years of volunteer work.

Cabarita Beach Pottsville Beach Lions Club member Barb Cahill said Stan was always a gentleman.

“I know it sounds trite but he was; he was the sweetest person,” she said.

“He and Ivy (Stan’s wife) were inseparable and when she died a few years ago it was like him losing his right arm.

“I’ve known him since the early 1980s when we got involved with the Lions Club and he was completely peopleminded.

“He really cared about people and he was genuine with it all the time; I think that was the big thing with Stan.”

Stan was involved in getting the Leos – the junior student members in Lions – up and running.

“They learn about leadership and helping in the club,” Barb said.

“He worked hard to get the skate park and it was important when you had grandkids and kids growing up in the area and they needed something to do.

“Someone mentioned a skate park and he said, ‘Where can we put it?’ and then he got things organised.

“I think he was president of our club at the time; he threw himself into things when he got behind them.”

Stan rose to become the International Director of Lions Clubs International from 1992 to 1994.

“You don’t get to that level unless you are a genuine person and doing the right thing for everyone,” Barb said.

“It’s amazing what some of the people and clubs do; people don’t realise how much work the Lions Club members do in their community and around the world. It’s a big deal.”

Barb said Stan was “a beautiful person.”

“We’ve had a strong reaction to the post I put up about his passing,” she said.

‘Most locals know him because he was always out there selling tickets.

“He taught us how much you can do for yourself and your community.

“He worked volunteering his whole life until he couldn’t do it any longer. I just think it’s amazing.”

Bogangar resident Tim Smerd said he held Stan in the highest regard.

“Stan spent years as the Resos [Cabarita Beach/Bogangar Residents Association] President and devoted himself to many community projects,” Tim said.

“And, as a quiet man, he was easily underestimated.

“He spent many hours on our scheme of planting native trees in our coastal strip.

“Stan was the driving force behind getting our skate park.

“He worked tirelessly advocating for the youth of the village; he collected signatures, lobbied Council and state government.

“He never gave up and took every setback as a motivation to renew his eff orts.

“Stan: you deserve the title of true local legend and deserve to be etched in the memory of our village. Vale Stan Dawson.”

Vale Stan Dawson

Students caring for koalas

SENIOR STUDENTS from Mt Saint Patrick College in Murwillumbah have recently planted koala food trees at Pottsville to aid the endangered koala population.

During the planting, students also learned about Tweed Shire Council’s koala rehabilitation program.

The project was undertaken by the school’s Environment Group, along with the year 12 Geography and Earth and Environmental Science classes.

“Whilst on site, the students learnt about the koala rehabilitation program run by Tweed Shire Council, through the head of their bio-diversity department,” Mt St Patrick College media advisor Judith Finn said.

“The Council collaborates with Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, so students also learnt about their treatment and rehabilitation of sick koalas.

“This day, organised by teacher Mr Chris Core, proved to be an invaluable experience for the students. It will also assist in preserving our local koala population.”

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Tweed Valley Weekly Locals Supporting Locals Shark attack fears prompt calls for drumlines

By Jonathon Howard CONCERNS FOR another shark attack on the Tweed Coast are rising with the mullet run this month and according to the Tweed Shark Attack Mitigation Group (TSAMG), we need SMART drumlines in a bid to further protect swimmers and surfers.

But Tweed Coast drumlines have so far failed to spark the interest of the state government, who have already rolled out the lines across Ballina.

Drumlines have also faced stiff opposition from several Tweed Shire residents, who are concerned by the risks that drumlines can pose to marine life.

TSAMG founding member and Tweed Shire Councillor James Owen said the group was formed in response to the fatal shark attack on Rob Pedretti at Kingscliff ’s South Beach in June last year, along with others, including Nick Slater at Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta, in 2020, and to the growing community concern over the lack of shark mitigation measures on the Tweed Coast.

TSAMG is made up of representatives from local surf lifesaving clubs, boardriders clubs, commercial fi shermen and community members, with the shared goal of making Tweed’s beaches as safe as possible from shark attacks.

“The 2021 winter mullet run and whale migration is already underway and there is concern in the community that not enough is being done to keep the community safe from the possibility of shark attacks this winter,” Cr Owen said.

“There is a growing concern about the increased presence of great white sharks along our beaches, with a number of recent sightings and a ‘shark bump’ to a local surfer.”

Cr Owen said he is being contacted on a regular basis by residents asking what the NSW government is doing to mitigate the possibility of shark attacks in the Tweed Shire.

Currently, the measures in place on the Tweed Coast for shark mitigation are drones (UAVs), surf life saving patrols and a shark listening station off Kingscliff Beach.

“However, many in our community feel the issue is bigger than just surveillance,” Cr Owen said.

“One of these measures is SMART drumlines, which have proven eff ective in places such as Ballina, and have minimal negative impacts on marine life.”

However, requests for the SMART drumlines to be deployed along the Tweed Coast have so far been rejected, with Cr Reece Byrnes set to raise a motion in this week’s Council meeting to highlight the issue.

‘SMART’ stands for SharkManagement-Alert-In-Real-Time, and the drumlines consist of an anchor, two buoys and a satellitelinked GPS communications unit attached to a hook baited with one sea mullet.

A triggering magnet is attached to the communications unit and when a shark takes the bait and puts pressure on the line, the magnet is released, alerting the boat crew and Department of Primary Industries (DPI) scientists that there is an animal on the line.

Once alerted, the team responds immediately (within 30 minutes) to tag and release the shark or other marine animal. SMART drumlines are set every morning (weather dependent) approximately 500m off shore at a depth between eight to 15 metres of water. They are collected at the end of each day and are not left overnight.

A Northern NSW SMART Drumline Trial was conducted between December 2016 and June 2020. During the trial, SMART drumlines were used to intercept, tag and relocate 434 dangerous sharks, including 343 white sharks, 79 tiger sharks and nine bull sharks.

The trial was conducted at Ballina, Lennox Head and Evans Head, where there had been a cluster of shark attacks between 2014 and 2016.

“I am unaware of any shark attacks in that area since the SMART drumline trial was implemented,” Cr Owen said.

Kiri Henry, who represents the Kingscliff Boardriders Club on the TSMAG, believes that last year’s fatal shark attack on Mr Pedretti at South Beach Kingscliff , a popular surfi ng beach, has had long-reaching eff ects on the local community.

“Our boardriders club has lost at least half of the junior surfers who would normally compete at our monthly competitions, simply because they do not feel safe returning to the ocean. It has been a year since Rob Pedretti lost his life at our local break and nothing has been done,” Ms Henry said.

The TSAMG have written to the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Adam Marshall, requesting his assistance to fast track the community consultation process and implement a SMART drumline trial in the Tweed to minimise the risk of further loss of life due to a shark attack.