Issue 644
Issue 644 |
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Coles heads up the hill Matt Keevers, 3, reckons the new Coles supermarket at the Goonellabah Village is great. It’s only a short walk from his home near Ballina Road and yesterday he took his mother Yvonne shopping there for the second time since the new complex opened on Sunday. As well as being able to buy lots of his favourite lollies, Matt is fascinated by the bare dirt and roadworks of the newly opened Gordon Blair Drive linking Ballina Road and Oliver Avenue near the Council Chambers. The newly opened supermarket is part of the First Stage of the Goonellabah Village project opened by Lismore Mayor Bob Gates. Work on Stage Two of the project is expected to begin next year. Ballina raid The occupant of the premises was absent at the time but police were confident of interviewing him yesterday.
Riverside development approved The development had been first approved at a council meeting in June but the decision was rescinded at a special meeting of council three weeks later when Cr Peter Moore crossed the chamber and voted against the proposal. In August, a new proposal, with a greatly increased commercial-to-residential ratio on the ground floor failed to get up despite attracting Mayor David Wright’s support. This was because Cr John Felsch voted against the project, claiming he was duty bound to uphold the rescission motion because the building’s ‘footprint’ was essentially the same. But Thursday’s meeting was told that the developers, Fawcett Park, had requested that the council review its previous determination as provided for under Section 82A of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Cr Wright told the meeting he would have liked to have seen a smaller building on the site but the developers had altered the plans to comply with the Development Control Plan and the council now had no option but to approve it. Councillors Wright, Kennedy, Silver, Dakin and Felsch supported the development.
70 years of Prattens smile To celebrate their 70th anniversary yesterday, Prattens Auto Centre in Lismore handed out the presents instead, handing Sam Rathmanner, a year six student at Rosebank Public School, a $2,000 computer for his school as winner of Prattens futuristic car competition. Sam also scored a $500 software voucher from Myra Computers. Local primary and secondary schools students were invited to create a car for the year 2070. Sam’s winning design is a UFO-look-a-like that hovers about Earth using a magnetic field and is fuelled by solar and wind-generated power. “I wasn’t expecting to win at all… it was a big surprise,” Sam said. “I was thinking about the idea for a couple of days. I decided to make an environmentally friendly car because I know there won’t be much fuel left in the world by 2070.” The computer will go to the school, but since Sam doesn’t own a computer, schoolmates plan to raise an extra $2,000 to buy Sam his own computer. Prattens general manager, Mark Pratten said that seven decades for the family-run business gave them a chance to reflect on the past, present and future. “This was something fun to celebrate 70 years in the business and a chance to look at where we might be headed with technology in the future.” Prattens also marked the 70-year milestone with a party for clients, staff, friends and family. Story & photo: Terra Sword Deadly advice for koori artists Copyright and equitable payment are among the issues being addressed by a federal Government program designed to promote local Aboriginal arts and craft on the Northern Rivers. The Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr Art Industry Marketing Plan is a project being administered through the Casino Business Enterprise Centre. The project aims to lay the groundwork for the creation of a centralised body to co-ordinate the Aboriginal art and craft industry in the Northern Rivers Region. Co-ordinator, Shane Rawson, said the long term goal of the project was to bridge the gap between Goori artisans and key players in the art and craft industry. As a practising Goori artist, Shane believes he is well aware of the lack of infrastructure within the current industry. He said it was evident in the millions of dollar which were generated by the sale of Aboriginal art and craft across the country but failed to reach the creators of the work. “Locally it is a sad fact that many Goori artists who could be supporting themselves through their artwork are unwilling to do so at the moment because they fear being intellectually and financially ripped off,” Mr Rawson said. “The program aims to address a range of issues, including ownership, copyright and price and come up with a management plan that documents what is available for sale, who is producing it and its true value.” Mr Rawson working closely with Casino BEC Aboriginal Enterprise Development Officer Robyn Ferguson and the pair are currently consulting with artists and local elders. Shane has already met with artists and community leaders at Casino, Kyogle and Lismore, and is in the process of visiting Baryulgil, Coraki, Wardell Woodenbong and Yamba. Other visits are planned for Grafton, Maclean, Corindi and the Tweed.
Lismore twins with Irish namesake Using Internet technology during Tuesday night’s Council meeting at Southern Cross University, Lismore City Council signed a Sister City Agreement with Lismore, Ireland, during a live tele-communication link. Lismore, Ireland, population 4,000, is a heritage-listed village, and major tourist attraction on the south east coast in Waterford County. Described as an historic occasion for the use of technology, the Waterford County Commissioner and Mayor Bob Gates simultaneously signed the sister city agreements while it was televised to opposite ends of the globe – at 9.30am in Ireland and 8.30pm here. Cr Gates said that the agreement came about after Lismore City Council was contacted earlier this year by representatives of our Irish counterpart, keen to develop a relationship. “While it is believed that our city gained its name from Lismore, Scotland, our development and history shows a strong Irish influence,” he said. “One of the first settlers was Fr J Doyle who instigated the construction of the first Catholic Church here in 1878 – St Carthage’s Cathedral. Lismore, Ireland, also has a St Carthage’s Cathedral and our city also had an Irish Mayor, J F O’Flynn in the 19th Century.” As the two Lismores explained a little more about each other, and screened videos of the equally beautiful countrysides, ideas to further the relationship, including student exchanges, were preferred. Cr Gates said another joint Council meeting by video conference will be held in six months time to further cement the relationship.
Evans Head high fliers revisit war base Some of the men and women who served at the Evans Head RAAF Base during World War II were recently treated to a special afternoon at the Evans Head Air Weapons Range under the watchful eye of Flight Lieutenant Matt Drummond, Officer-in-Charge of the Range. The RAAF staff put on a special lunch for the WW II veterans and arranged for a display of F1-11 bombing and air power. The demonstration was held south of the original WW II range, which was much closer to Evans Head. Many old recalled the windows and doors rattling, and crockery falling off the shelf at Evans Head in the 'old days' when larger bombs were used in practice. Even though they had not visited the site for almost 60 years, the memories of the former personnel were still vivid and detailed. Among the visitors was Jean Haughton-James, author of two books on the Evans Head RAAF Base. She is a patron of the recently formed Evans Head Aerodrome Committee Inc., which hopes to preserve the area as a heritage site of national significance. More than a thousand personnel who trained at Evans Head were killed during WW II.
Mary leads the way to reconciliation in schools Rosebank Public School’s principal, Mary Hughes, will be jetsetting to Vancouver and Hawaii next year after winning the Caltex Australia and Rotary Club of Sydney Awards for innovation in teaching. Mary received her award for an Aboriginal reconciliation program which teachers and parents have helped her implement over the last four years. The program for classes K-6 is designed to give children a better understanding of Aboriginal cultures, social and political issues and reconciliation. “We use practical environmental projects as a platform for the kids to learn about reconciliation,” Mary said. “For example one of the projects was to create a birdbath to attract more native birds to the school and then place the birdbath in a Sorry Garden, all the while explaining the significance of both activities. There are no indigenous students here, so it’s important to promote positive attitudes towards Aboriginal people and overcome some of the detrimental belief systems portrayed in the media.” As part of the award, Mary won a month-long trip to Vancouver. She will attend the University of British Columbia’s first nations indigenous studies program and lecture her own program. “We can learn lots from each other I think,” she said. “It will give me a better insight into reconciliation processes incorporated in overseas countries and hopefully I will get some new ideas and inspiration.” - Terra Sword
It’s worth a day at the YWCA When the Lismore branch of the YWCA went shopping for a district youth program at Woolworths recently they couldn’t believe the bargain they got. Woolworth’s head office offered the group the opportunity to trial a three-year pilot project for rural youth based on three successful programs operated by the YWCA in Sydney. In order to ensure the programs run successfully Woolworths has given the group $180,000 a year for the next three years to administer them. The programs are the Big Sister/Big Brother mentoring program, the Youth After School (YAS) program and the Family Support Program. The Big Sister/Big Brother program is a mentoring program that provides children and young people with adult friendship and support. The program provides a positive role model outside the family and gives volunteers the opportunity to receive training and develop leadership skills. The Youth After School program is an activity program that will be run at Kadina High School and provide after school activities to students from disadvantaged families four afternoons a week during term as well as other activities during school holidays. The Family Support Program is a part-time program which provides extra support for families of the young people in the BS/BB and AS programs. Program co-ordinator Shauna MacIntyre said the YWCA had spent the past few months setting up and launching the program from its Uralba Street headquarters. It is now seeking volunteers to take part in the program. If you are interested or seeking more information contact the YWCA on 6622 4277. Story & photo: Dave Fawkner
Money trees The seminar – New Forests as Carbon Sinks – will be presented by Mark Jackson, a pioneer of the Landcare movement and the former North Coast regional manager for Greening Australia. He is currently the director of The Carbon Store Pty Ltd., a specialist consultancy in the areas of Greenhouse response and Carbon Pool Management. The seminar will provide information on the enhanced greenhouse effect, domestic and international responses to greenhouse, the Kyoto protocol, measuring the rate of carbon absorption by trees and soils, and carbon pool management concepts. The evening will also include a presentation of work carried out by Southern Cross University on the measurement of carbon absorption, which has led to the development of measuring techniques specific to local species. The seminar begins at 7pm. Admission is free.
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Matt Keevers and his mother Yvonne walked home after shopping at the new Coles Supermarket in Goonellabah.
Prattens futuristic car competition winner, Sam Rathmanner, with Jim and Mark Pratten and the computer for his school. 
Project coordinator Shane Rawson and Casino BEC Aboriginal Enterprise Development Officer Robyn Ferguson discuss the project beneath the painting ‘Sharing the Waterhole’ by Woodenbong artist Duane Williams. 
Waterford County’s commissioners (the Irish version of councillors, look on while mayor Bob Gates addresses them via teleconferencing. 
Evans Head WWII RAAF base veterans recently held a reunion at the former base, watching a bombing display by F1-11s at the weapons range south of the town. The target area is behind the group. Photo: Richard Gates
A parade of personnel at the Evans Head RAAF Base, the largest training base in the southern hemisphere, during WW II. Photo: courtesy Maude Williams During WWII Maude served at Evans Head in the WAAAF.
Rosebank Public School’s principal, Mary Hughes, with her award for reconciliation.
Left to right: Tyren Laidlaw, BS/BB program case manager, Shauna MacIntyre, group co-ordinator, Clarrie Smith, Woolworths manager; Sue English YAS co-ordinator, and Helen Lieschke, family support worker.
