THREE surfers and shark attack survivors are leading the call for the roll out of life-saving emergency response kits on beaches across Australia. One year after creating Community Shark Bite Kits, founder and Hastings local Danny Schouten has deployed more than 150 kits on beaches across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. “We’re not […]

THE Port Macquarie Hastings University of the Third Age (U3A) held its annual Seniors Variety Concert on Friday 21 November at the Tenison Woods Centre. Chris Taylor, the newly elected President of the U3A, welcomed the crowd of nearly 80 guests. Christine Battison, the coordinator of the concert, said, “The concert gave me such joy […]

The cast of Billy Elliott singing the opening number ‘The Stars Look Down’. Photo: supplied. Linked Community Services clients Judy Kirby and Valerie Wilson, and volunteer drivers John and Colin (behind) at the matinee of ‘Billy Elliot’. Photo: Pauline Cain. THE musical “Billy Elliot” had a packed house for its opening weekend at the Players […]

LAND values across coastal NSW have climbed two percent to a record $582 billion. The latest figures come from the NSW Valuer General following an analysis of almost 23,000 property sales. Valuer General Sally Dale said, “The coastal market has shown a slight overall increase over the last year across the residential, commercial and industrial […]

WAUCHOPE Country Women’s Association (CWA) is holding its Christmas Market on Saturday 6 December from 9am to 1pm. There will be more than 30 stalls in both the CWA rooms and Senior Citizens Hall behind the clock tower in High Street. Wauchope CWA Branch President Doreen Burns said, “We will be providing Devonshire Teas all […]

A map of Round 3 locations for Destination Charging Grants. The chargers will be high-powered at between 22kW and 100kW, which can fully charge a standard EV SUV in about an hour. ROAD-TRIPPERS will be able to charge their electric vehicles at tourism destinations, in what one state hopes will be a win for the […]

FARMERS in the North Coast Local Land Services (LLS) region are participating in a three-year project that is set to build farm productivity and resilience while protecting the region’s natural and cultural assets. The North LLS region extends from Tweed Shire Council in the north to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council in the south. The North Coast […]

BILL Fulton recalls counting 1162 dead birds during a four-and-a-half kilometre morning beach walk. That’s a rough average of one every four metres. But when he tells people about the work and its confronting reality, they’re curiously inclined to dismiss it as kind of normal. “We want people to know that this is different,” Mr […]

ADVANCED water-quality monitoring technology has been installed at Lake Innes to improve understanding of the lake’s condition. The new water quality buoy automatically records key water quality parameters, including temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and water level every 15 minutes. This live data is transmitted to the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory (MHL) website, where it […]

ENERGY retailers say they’ve been blindsided by reforms promising free electricity to hundreds of thousands of Australians during peak solar power hours. The Solar Sharer program, announced by the federal government last Tuesday, would give consumers free access to electricity for three hours each day as part of the default offer available. Households in NSW, […]