MARINE Rescue NSW volunteers across the Mid North Coast have experienced their busiest start to a boating season on record, with 33 search and rescue missions including 19 emergency responses during October. A total of 56 people were safely returned to shore last month across all nine Mid North Coast units – Woolgoolga, Coffs Harbour, […]

IN 2019 Sarah Eade was a busy wife and mum working in the aged care and disability support sector, until a workplace accident changed everything. Subsequent surgical treatment resulted in a permanent spinal cord injury, leaving her a full-time wheelchair user. At the time, her family was living in a house in Port Macquarie that […]

Supermoons are the closest to earth. Photo Greg Higgins. The moon was 30% brighter than normal. Photo: Sis Higgins. SKYWATCHERS across the Mid North Coast looked to the heavens on Tuesday night as the biggest and brightest moon of 2025 rose over the horizon. Dennis Hughes, one of the amateur astronomers at the Port Macquarie […]

John O’Callaghan has spent more than 50 years on the airwaves. JOHN O’Callaghan from Cruze FM (formerly Super Radio) has notched up over 50 years in radio, beginning work as a 15-year-old at 2UE in Sydney alongside his famous father Gary. He gained his first on-air role at 2KO in Newcastle and then worked in […]

MEMBER for Oxley Michael Kemp says the CSIRO’s National Koala Monitoring Program (NKMP) has revealed a staggering leap in koala numbers that “upends years of alarmism”. The 2025 report estimates the listed population across NSW, Qld and the ACT is between 398,000 and 569,000, a dramatic rise from the 2024 estimate of just 95,000 to […]

RENTAL vacancy rates across NSW remain critically low, deepening the housing crisis and leaving tenants competing for limited homes. New analysis from the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) shows that in September, many regions recorded vacancy rates below two percent. The Mid-North Coast sat at 1.6 percent, by comparison Coffs Harbour is at 1.5 […]

Emergency response group members attend search and rescue training. Photo: Olivia Katz/IFAW. Training with plush animals. Photo: Olivia Katz/IFAW. CRITICAL training is being rolled out to help wildlife groups better prepare for bushfire emergencies. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is launching its wildlife search and rescue training course in Port Macquarie in collaboration […]

PORT Macquarie-Hastings Council has responded at length to community complaints about the growing number of property eyesores, graffiti, and overgrown parks and reserves. It follows the release of the City Heart Master Plan for public exhibition, which has inadvertently drawn attention to the current state of the CBD and surrounding areas. Council’s Director of Community, […]

The training has provided accredited firefighting qualifications to members of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Aboriginal community. Photo: supplied. The training has provided accredited firefighting qualifications to members of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Aboriginal community. Photo: supplied. ABORIGINAL communities across the NSW North Coast are working with Forestry Corporation of NSW to integrate cultural burning into government bushfire […]

LAKE Cathie and Bonny Hills residents say they have been blindsided by a letter detailing plans for the development of 360 homes off Forest Parkway. The letter, addressed only “To The Resident”, was sent to a small group of neighbouring property-owners. It asked them to complete a 10-minute phone survey to identify potential impacts – […]