The Northern Rivers Echo Main News

From rail to road,it's the promised land

Story & photo: Terra Sword

Ballina councillor Allan Brown, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, Minister for Trade Mark Vaile and National Party candidate and sitting MP for Page Ian Causley in Ballina following Mr Anderson's announcement of funding for the Ballina bypass.

Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson doesn't believe in breaking promises - especially when you're the NSW Labor Government.

In a move reminiscent of the last federal election, when he promised $12 million to fund the Alstonville bypass, Mr Anderson made a flying visit to Ballina on Monday to announce the Coalition would contribute $115 million to the Ballina bypass, despite the road being a state responsibility.

"We entered into a binding agreement with the NSW Government that the bypass would be completed by 2006, but it hasn't happened," Mr Anderson said. "There's never any excuse for breaking a binding agreement." Without irony, he added, "Never, ever."

National Party candidate for Page, Ian Causley, who holds the seat by a 2.8 per cent margin, said the $115 million 'gift' was not to be sniffed at.

"We're offering them [the NSW Government] half the cost of the bypass and like Mr Anderson said, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Mr Causley said. "They should accept our offer and get on with construction."

To once again confuse voters, the announcement sparked the second slanging match between the federal Coalition and the NSW Government following last's month's battle over funding for local rail services.

It wasn't long before NSW Roads Minister Carl Scully weighed into the debate, saying the announcement was nothing more than a publicity stunt to boost support in a marginal seat.

Mr Scully claimed he had tried three times this year to set up a meeting with the Deputy PM, but had received a letter that day saying such a meeting would be inappropriate as the federal Government was now in 'caretaker' mode.

"His offer of funding for the Ballina bypass - a Pacific Highway project - is just an election-driven 'Save Ian Causley' stunt," Mr Scully said. "If you want to know where Mr Anderson will pop up next, have a look at the Coalition's marginal seat polling. I expect a similar stunt in Richmond or Paterson and my response will be the same. I will wait until after the election and negotiate with the Federal Transport Minister - whoever that may be - in the manner in which these agreements have always been developed and signed since Federation in 1901."

During his visit, Mr Anderson also took a swipe at the Greens - who captured 7.2% of the primary vote in the seat of Page at the 2001 federal election - labelling them as 'watermelons' because they were "green on the outside but red on the inside".

The Nationals leader said the Greens policies were "kooky" and that voters should be "very, very afraid" of them.

But the Greens candidate for Page, Mark Jackson, said it was the Nationals who had reason to be afraid, saying a 'reds under the bed' scare campaign showed they were stuck in the 1950s.

"It's not communist to think that we should give our senior citizens high quality aged care in familiar surroundings, that dental care is an important component of health and should be on Medicare, or that we all benefit from free tertiary education for qualified students," Mr Jackson said.

He said it was important that voters kept the seat marginal to ensure the attention of the major parties.

A home among the gumtrees

Gearing up for their respective open days this Saturday is SCU's Medicinal Gardens curator Geoff Callan and Friends of the Koala mascot, Lizzie.

See a koala, have a neck massage and tour a native food and medicine garden this Saturday, September 11, when the Southern Cross University's medicinal plant garden and the adjacent koala care centre open their doors to the public.

The medicinal garden was developed so students at the School of Natural and Complementary Medicine could see, feel and smell plants that are the basis of many natural medicines. You'll be able to explore the gardens at your leisure and learn all about medicinal herbs. Just down the road, find out what goes on at the koala hospital.

"By holding our events together we are offering something of interest for the entire family - from the gardener to the animal lover," said Friends of the Koala president Lorraine Vass. "Kids will love having the opportunity to see koalas up close and personal in our enclosures and we also invite families to join us for a fundraising sausage sizzle."

Both open days run from 10am to 4pm.

SCU is charging $5 to enter the medicinal garden as a fundraiser. Visiting the koala hospital is free.

Agents claim property drought

Land owner Paul Armour (third from right) with Lismore real estate agents (l-r) Gary Wells, Warwick MacDonald, Andrew Gordon, Paul Deegan and Athol Rogers overlook Lismore from the North Lismore plateau, which they want to see developed for housing.

The battle to develop the North Lismore plateau continues with proponents planning to send 12,000 copies of a two page flyer spelling out the benefits of the development to Lismore residents.

The flyer says the 200-hectare site could accommodate around 1500 residential lots, housing 4000 people and injecting $120 million annually into the local economy, as well as generating more than a quarter of a billion dollars in building work over 10 years.

The plan also has the support of local real estate agents, who claim the city had an "acute" land shortage.

Lismore Council has been grappling with a way to develop the area for more than a year, concerned about the impact of noise from the speedway.

Deputy mayor John Chant rejects the concerns claiming residents notice more noise from the weekly cattleyard sales than during the summer car races. In the last two months, Council has looked for ways around a ruling by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources (DIPNR) as part of its Urban Strategy.

The primary areas approved for development are Trinity and Daniel drives, and Council has tried to include North Lismore as part of a five-year development program.

But DIPNR does not believe that recent sales figures show there is sufficient demand for the additional land releases - although the figures are hotly disputed by North Lismore plateau proponent Bill Sexton, with support from the real estate agents.

Mr Sexton said that 40 blocks of land sold last month, and only 40 developed blocks remained.

"On the current demand, that's just one month's supply," he said.

Real estate agent Paul Deegan said 120 blocks of land had sold in Lismore in the first seven months of the year.

Another agent, Gary Wells, said the land in Lismore was "critical".

"We simply don't have stocks of good saleable land, and Lismore is subsequently being held back," he said.

Last month, Council considered the possibility of excluding Trinity Drive from the release strategy in favour of North Lismore, but the suggestion raised the ire of the Catholic Church, which owns the land and wrote to Council about it concerns. Legal advice on the plan also hinted that the Trinity Drive developers could launch a negligence claim against Council for any economic loss.

Council has also looked at introducing 'sunset clauses' for developers who do not lodge a DA for a site within two years of it being zoned for development. Council staff are planning to meet with the developers of land that has already been rezoned for residential development and push them on time-frames for the land to come onto the market. Councillors are even pushing for 'back-zoning' that would stop it being developed if it does not meet a five-year timeframe.

Last month, Council resolved to lobby NSW planning minister Craig Knowles to over-rule the DIPNR decision and reconsider including the North Lismore plateau, and have enlisted the support of Lismore MP Thomas George. They have written to the Minister, but are still waiting for a reply.

Council has also engaged an acoustics expert to look at ways to justify an increase in the cap of seven speedway meetings a season, which Cr Chant says in uneconomic for the operator.

Meanwhile, supporters of the North Lismore plateau have the Council firmly in their sights, believing that Council is not as supportive as it appears.

"The way Council assessed the land available was very curious indeed," he said.

The flyer supporting the plateau development calls on residents to lobby the Council in its favour, claiming Lismore is the only one of four major regional centres in Australia experiencing negative growth.

A wheelie good gift

Members of the local hot rod club Borderline Street Rodders (l-r) John Tooley, Cedric Wilson and Peter Nielsen with Lismore Base Hospital children's ward nurse unit manager Kerry Byrne, patient Rebecca Chivers and the new wheelchair the club donated.

Members of the local hot rod club Borderline Street Rodders recently presented Lismore Base Hospital children's ward with a new wheelchair.

The members, who raised the money for the chair through a car rally, couldn't help themselves - painting the wheelchair metallic blue before handing it over.

"It's just wonderful - many of our wheelchairs were 20 years old and this new one is easy to use and looks great," said children's ward nurse unit manager, Kerry Byrne.

Anyone interested in joining the Borderline Street Rodders should phone 6620 2975.

Low lake a worry for birds

Story & photo: Julian Ryan

Overlooking Lismore Lake from his home in Felicity Street, Dave Fryer is angry that Lismore Council has failed to top up the lake's water levels over the last four months.

Lismore resident Dave Fryer believes an environmental disaster is imminent unless Lismore Council refills Lismore Lake, home to a number of rare water birds.

The controversial lake - site of battles between recreational water users and bird lovers in recent years - has slowly evaporated during the current dry spell. Mr Fryer said the water level has dropped to an all-time low and Council has failed to fix the problem, despite working on plans to pump into the lake over the last year.

"I contacted the council in June to point out the situation and was told that a pump had been ordered to extract water from the river to refill the lake," he said. "Since then matters have worsened because now council says that the flow in the river is too low to begin pumping and consequently nothing has been done."

Mr Fryer said if something is not done soon the lake will become a smelly quagmire and animals will die.

"If the situation is not addressed immediately we will end up with a stinking mess on Lismore's doorstep," he said. "If this sort of thing was happening at Belongil Creek in Byron Bay there would be blood on the streets."

Council's recreation planner, Alex Wilford, said pumping from the river is simply not an option at this stage.

"We have been aware that the water level in the lake has been dropping for some time so we applied for a permit to pump water from the river," he said. "The permit arrived two weeks ago, but the problem is it is conditional on the water flow in the river being above 44.8 mega litres a day and at the moment it is not even up to half of this amount."

"Essentially because of the dry conditions we are unable to pump and are hoping for rain so the flow rate in the river will increase and the problem can be addressed," he said.

This week, both Mr Fryer and Mr Wilford had their prayers answered in part, although the rainfall was insufficient to make a noticeable difference to the lake.

National award for wildlife volunteers

Lance Ferris from Australian Seabird Rescue, which received another national accolade last week.

Ballina-based volunteer group Australian Seabird Rescue (ASR) received the inaugural national Coastcare Community Award in Canberra last week.

ASR founder Lance Ferris said that he was thrilled, after winning so many personal awards, to see the group recognised for their efforts.

In addition to rescuing seabirds and turtles, ASR also raises public awareness and education campaigns on the impact of pollution and careless fishing practices.

"Each and every volunteer who contributes to ASR's achievements behind the scenes deserves this national recognition," Lance said.

Since 1992, the group has also rescued and rehabilitated over 60 species of seabirds and waterbirds, 65 endangered sea turtles and 646 sick and injured pelicans.

Lance will be conducting a workshop on coastal wildlife rescue over the October 23-24 weekend in Ballina. Phone 6686 2852 to register, or email admin@seabirdrescue.org.

Teach your teachers well

Robyn Jay accepting her award from the Department of Education and Training director general Mr Andrew Cappie-Wood at the launch of Adult Learners Week in Sydney recently.

Wollongbar resident Robyn Jay was presented with the prestigious Outstanding Innovative Learner of the Year Award at the launch of Adult Learners Week in Sydney recently.

Robyn is a private education consultant advising local community colleges. She was nominated for her work in getting adult literacy and English language teachers to use digital technology.

"Many approaches to literacy teaching are out of date and do not reflect the broad range of basic skills required to communicate effectively across different cultures and contexts in the 21st century," Robyn said.

Rail workers face uncertain future

Story & photo: Julian Ryan

Lismore mayor Merv King, Ballina MP Don Page and Lismore MP Thomas George met with 10 Lismore rail workers who have been told they must either accept redundancies or face redeployment.

In a further twist to the reopening of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line, 13 Lismore rail workers have been told that they have until November 8 to accept redundancy packages or agree to a redeployment and training program.

The decision by Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC) effectively means that if the Lismore to Murwillumbah line is reopened the team of workers will not be allowed to apply for their old jobs for at least two years if they accept the redundancy package.

The rail-workers, who became 'displaced' workers on Friday, gathered at the Lismore Railway Station yesterday to raise their concerns with state MPs and Lismore mayor Merv King.

Cr King said with all the election promises being hurled around by both sides of politics, the news to retrench the workers is very disappointing.

"The politicians have really built up the expectations of the people surrounding the reopening of our rail line," he said. "I call on the NSW Minister for Transport and the Premier to reconsider the redundancy proposal because if we lose these people from Lismore, who will service and maintain the line once it's up and running again?"

Community has say on public health

Health Participation Council member Bob Swords (left) with chairpersons Wendy McCarthy and Ian Sinclair at yesterday's public meeting in Lismore.

Around 70 community members gave their views on the future of local health services in Lismore yesterday as the restructure of the merged area health service continues.

The new North Coast Area Heath Service takes in 20 hospitals from Tweed Heads to Port Macquarie, with the headquarters in Lismore. Under the new structure, the area health board will be replaced by a 'Health Advisory Council' of health experts and consumers. During Wednesday's meeting, there was a push to include complementary medicine expertise on the council, which will provide advice to the area CEO.

Lismore resident Beth Trevan was concerned about the 'advisory' role of the Council, fearing it would not have the teeth to influence local decisions.

Meeting co-chairperson Ian Sinclair said all views would be considered. He also said the Council should be less than 20 people or it would be "unworkable".

Co-chairperson Wendy McCarthy said many positives were generated during the forum.

"The most interesting point raised by the people at today's meeting is that the council members should have skills in communication and advocacy and ultimately have the big picture in mind," she said.

People can still have their say on the formation of the Health Advisory Council by writing to: Area Health Advisory Councils, Locked Bag 961, North Sydney, NSW 2059, or email participation@doh.health.nsw.gov.au.

Submissions must be received before Wednesday, September 29.

Bob's thoughts brought to book

Labor's federal candidate for Page, Kevin Bell, will be launching Bob Ellis's new book, Night Thoughts in Time of War (pictured), at Mumma Mia's (next door to the Civic Hotel) this Friday, September 10.

The launch will be followed by a conversation between political commentator Mungo MacCallum and the author, who wrote regularly in The Echo during last year's US-led invasion of Iraq.

The book itself is a rich compendium of Bob's writings and innermost thoughts following the events of the last 13 months. The collection details, quite literally, the things that kept Bob awake at night - from the Iraq war and world politics to the death of good friends and the torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib.

His musings on life make for compelling reading and tomorrow night will be one of the few opportunities people have to meet the man himself and learn a little bit more about what makes him tick.

The launch will kick off at 6.30pm.

Editor's book shows good taste

The 2005 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, launched in Sydney this week, and co-edited by Echo editor Simon Thomsen.

When Echo editor Simon Thomsen disappeared for three months earlier this year, many people assumed he'd gone on holidays. When he told them what he'd been doing - eating out at a restaurant almost every night of the week - they figured it was a great holiday.

But it was actually work - as co-editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2005, Simon ate at and reviewed more than 100 restaurants in Sydney and around the state. The results were revealed in a special launch of the best-selling annual Guide at the Sydney Opera House on Monday night.

The 310-page book features more than 400 restaurant reviews stretching from Byron Bay to Eden on the south coast and west to Dubbo. Using his local knowledge, it's no surprise to discover that Lismore, Ballina and Lennox Head also feature in the Guide.

The 20th anniversary edition of the Good Food Guide is bigger in size and contains more than 750 listings, from cafes to butchers and bakers, wineries and farmers' markets.

In Lismore, Paupiettes is once again a strong performer, scoring 14/20, and described as "one of the region's best restaurants".

Other local places featured include Fresca and Utopia in Bangalow, The Left Bank Café in Lismore, Pogel's Wood at Federal and Ruby's by the Sea at Lennox Head. Fins at Byron Bay once again received a coveted two chefs hats - one of just four such awards in regional NSW - while dish in Byron was awarded one hat.

Among other award winners announced on Monday night, Quay at Sydney's overseas passenger terminal was named restaurant of the year, while Waters Edge in Canberra was named best regional restaurant.

The 2005 Good Food Guide costs $24.95.

Shave for a cure generates wheels

Story & photo: Julian Ryan

Founding coordinators of the World's Greatest Shave for a Cure (back l-r) Loma Graydon and Cathy Mooney, with cancer patients Harry McKinnon and Anita Conte at Lismore Base Hospital's Cancer Unit.

Northern Rivers cancer patients will soon find it easier to get to and from medical appointments using a new courtesy car from the Leukaemia Foundation, thanks to the generosity of the local community.

An incredible $54,000 was raised during World's Greatest Shave for a Cure, and founding organiser, Loma Graydon, said people who sponsored someone should know the money is staying in Lismore and to provide a much-needed facility.

"We will soon have a vehicle that will be used to transport patients on short and long journeys whilst they are being treated," she said.

Cancer patient Harry McKinnon knows all too well how important that help will be.

He's been visiting hospital for the last three months to treat his lymphoma and relies on his family to transport him from his home in Ballina to Lismore.

"It would be great if my family could have some relief from the strain of driving back and fourth to hospital nearly everyday," he said.

Fellow patient Anita Conte's mum had to cut back on her work on the farm to drive her daughter to the Gold Coast for treatment. The new car will help the family get on top of things.

"I just want to say thanks," Anita said.

The transport program will begin in later this month and the Leukaemia Foundation is calling on volunteer drivers to become involved. Phone 1800 620 420 for details.

Generous donations a flying start

Crew at the Life Saver Rescue Helicopter give the thumbs up as a thank you to everyone who contributed to the recent Doorknock Day.

More than $108,000 has been raised from the recent Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Doorknock Day, thanks in part to the 1200 volunteers who helped on collection day.

"Whilst every attempt was made to get to everyone, we unfortunately missed knocking on some doors, and therefore we invite these people to give by calling 6627 4444, online at www.helirescue.com.au or at any Westpac bank," Doorknock co-ordinator Philip Gibson said.

Young stars of tomorrow

Northern Stars Under the Big Top musical director Virginia Johnston, director Robyn Ludeke, vocal coordinator Margaret Hatch and producer Michael Coleman with flutists Charlotte Pearce (left) and Jasmine Hopkins after Tuesday's audition.

More than 150 promising young performers and musicians from primary schools across the region gathered at Goonellabah Public School on Tuesday to audition for Northern Stars Under The Big Top's 2005 show, Sky's The Limit.

Producer Michael Coleman said he was very impressed with the youngsters who turned up to audition.

"It was absolutely fantastic to be a involved with a talented bunch of local children," he said. "We really had the cream of the crop here today so I am expecting a very professional show in April next year."

The biannual event is the world's biggest public school student-based production under a marquee.

The show will run from April 7-9 next year at the Lismore Showground.

Grounds for success

Story & photo: Julian Ryan

Woodlawn's long-time groundsman, Ted Davy, receives his Premier's Award from St John's College principal Glenn Roff (right) and Lismore MP Thomas George on Tuesday.

While his job is keeping the lawns mown and the playground clean, St John's College Woodlawn groundsman Ted Davy has made an even more valuable contribution to the school community.

Over the last 10 years Ted has assisted 162 Woodlawn students through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, without any fuss or fanfare. Until now.

On Tuesday the school gave Ted the surprise of his life, presenting him with a Premier's Community Service Award for his long and tireless efforts.

"I feel very embarrassed and quite humbled to receive this award," he said. "I'll continue helping the young people through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme."

Through the Scheme, Ted helps students develop leadership qualities and learn new skills through sport and community service projects.

Couldn't have planned it better

Summerland Credit Union financial planner Jason McFadden (pictured) has achieved the highest honour from the Personal Investor magazine, being named in the magazine's MasterClass for the second year running.

The MasterClass is a tough technical exam that tests financial planners knowledge and often requires a high level of ability in financial maths. Jason was named in the top 50 in the Australia-wide test and is the only financial planner from the North Coast to be included on the list.

"It's nice to be recognised by your peers - the magazine is well-read and well-respected in the industry so it's great to get a mention," Jason said. "It's also a good way for me to see where I'm up to in terms of technical knowledge."

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