TV gardening personality Costa Georgiadis visited Douglas Vale Vineyard earlier this year. Photo: supplied. Curator Ian Cupit with the Mayor Adam Roberts. Photo: supplied. COMMUNITY action stepped in when neglect took hold of the historic Douglas Vale site in 1995. Following a series of newspaper reports, residents formed the Douglas Vale Conservation Group to save […]

HUNDREDS of people are seeking legal advice following widespread flooding on the Mid North Coast. Lawyers from the Legal Aid NSW Disaster Response Legal Service (DRLS), together with lawyers from Community Legal Centres, have been attending Recovery Centres established by the NSW Reconstruction Authority in flood-hit regions to help people deal with multiple issues. The […]

LIBERAL MLC Aileen MacDonald has called for the NSW Government to immediately reinstate three-month and six-month NSW TrainLink Discovery Passes, describing the removal as a “quiet cut” that disproportionately hurts regional communities. Speaking in the Legislative Council last week, Ms MacDonald moved a motion highlighting the significant impact of the removal of the passes on […]

LUKE Ramm has been recognised with the prestigious Road Safety Education (RSE) Facilitator Award for his outstanding contribution to road safety education in the Port Macquarie region. Presented by RSE Limited in partnership with BOC, Toyota, Bridgestone and Boral, the annual award celebrates individuals who go above and beyond in delivering the Ryda program – […]

Kerry Medway with his wife Julie: Photo: supplied. Kerry as a young man. Photo: supplied. KERRY Medway is celebrating 60 years since what he calls “the day that changed my life.” On 6 June 1965, at just 17-years-old, he said he experienced a spiritual awakening that would set him on a lifelong path of Christian […]

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have opened fire on a bill which could pay recreational hunters for killing invasive pests, describing the plan as enabling a “fringe minority of men” to let loose. A bill before NSW parliament aims to establish a Conservation Hunting Authority, with debate in the upper house taking place on Wednesday. It would better enable […]

THE archivist and oral historian who paved the way for Australia’s first and largest collection of recorded music and sound has been posthumously awarded an OAM in the King’s Birthday Honours. Peter Burgis died in March in Port Macquarie Base Hospital at the age of 88. He leaves a legacy that is now preserved at […]

A POWERFUL symbol of wartime sacrifice and family legacy now soars above shoppers at Gowings Port Central. Owner John Gowing has unveiled a suspended replica of a Sopwith Snipe aircraft in the centre’s atrium, honouring his late father, WWII Royal Air Force pilot Ted Gowing. John, 63, led the project to celebrate his father’s life […]

TRANSGRID will be deploying a helicopter across the Port Macquarie-Hastings region this month to inspect high-voltage electricity transmission lines for the network’s annual bushfire prevention program. The comprehensive inspections help identify any potential bushfire risks and assess the condition of towers and transmission lines to ensure the safe operation of the network in the lead-up […]

  Sunday’s space junk flying to the right of Watonga Rocks. Photo: Steve Phelps.   The magic of Aurora Australs from North Brother Mountain. Photo: Steve Phelps.   THE sky came alive on Sunday evening, 1 June, with Port Macquarie locals stopped in their tracks by colourful lights, flashes, and luminous glowing. Leaving a trail […]