Six months out from the state election and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet adds a new dimension to the term 'city-centric'

 

The Daily Telegraph, 8 September 2022, p.5:

NSW will be a thriving economy of six cities with fast rail, ambitious affordable-housing targets, more apartments and townhouses, and more defence and space jobs under a bold new plan from Premier Dominic Perrottet.

The state government and the Greater Sydney Commission will today unveil a discussion paper on the six-city plan – which includes Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle City, Central Coast City, Illawarra-Shoalhaven City, Western Parkland City with the new Western Sydney International Airport at its centre, as well as the Central River City and Eastern Harbour City.

Map of the one and only newly created 'region' NSW Premier & Liberal MP for Epping Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Cities & Liberal MP for Pittwater Rob Stokes apparently care about.....

Six Cities Discussion Paper Mapping

NSW Greater Cities Commission, The Six Cities Region: Delivering global competitiveness and local liveability, September 2022, excerpts from the Discussion Paper's 68 pages:

• We are actively and effectively managing climate vulnerability, proactive climate proofing, urban heat and planning, and designing our built environments to withstand flooding, bushfires and coastal erosion.

• As we grow, we must ensure our region strengthens its resilience in the face of the increasing climate-related risks and natural hazards of drought, bushfire, floods, extreme heat and overexposure to UV radiation that are already impacting our communities. This is embodied in the objectives and priority actions set out in the NSW Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

• The 2019–2020 bushfires across eastern Australia caused loss of life, property, infrastructure and devastating impact on communities, vegetation, wildlife and ecosystems across our region. There were additional health and economic impacts from the thick smoke blanketing the region for months.

  In early 2020, major flooding impacted parts of Greater Sydney, the Central Coast City and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven City. Floods returned to parts of the region in late 2020, 2021 and 2022, causing more devastation, disruption and landslips.

  
  

One might be forgiven for thinking that the Perrottet Government has its sights squarely fixed on those zones where the bulk of the state population (therefore the bulk of registered voters) are to be found. That it is the issues, concerns and aspirations of voters living between the Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Newcastle-Upper Hunter which matter most when it comes to planning and implementing climate change mitigation, resilience measures and urban design & development. 

Seemingly wider regional New South Wales and its high climate risk communities will only get noticed between now and the March 2023 state election if the smaller number of regional voters outside of those "six cities" manage to transform themselves into very politically prickly problems for the government in Macquarie Street.

North East NSW tells it like it is to the Legislative Council Inquiry Into Health Outcomes And Access To Health And Hospital Services In Rural, Regional And Remote New South Wales in Lismore on 17 June 2021

 

Ryan Park MLC

Janelle Saffin MLC

NSW Shadow Minister For Health Ryan Park and Labor Member For Lismore Janelle Saffin deserve the region's thanks for both their efforts to spread the word that the state’s north-east would have a chance to speak directly to the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry Into Health Outcomes And Access To Health And Hospital Services In Rural, Regional And Remote New South WalesHealth Outcomes And Access To Health And Hospital Services In Rural, Regional And Remote New South Wales in Lismore on 17 June 2021, for lobbying to have a webcast of this public hearing and for their attendance on the day.

ABC North Coast, 17 June 2021:

A state parliamentary inquiry has heard some rural residents in northern New South Wales are being left "stranded" outside hospitals late at night with no way of getting home.

The NSW Upper House inquiry is examining the challenges people face in seeking medical care in remote, rural and regional areas.

Bonalbo pharmacist Sharon Bird told the inquiry some residents with chronic and complex illnesses are travelling more than 100 kilometres to access health services with virtually no public transport.

She said many residents "give up" on seeing a doctor because "it all gets too difficult".

"Many of my customers have had negative experiences when accessing healthcare in the referral centres," Mrs Bird said.

"Like being abandoned in Lismore in their pyjamas after an emergency ambulance trip with no way to get home again.

"[Many] are reluctant to seek help or call an ambulance again."

Northern NSW Local Health District chief executive Wayne Jones said steps had been taken to ensure such incidents did not happen again.

"Unfortunately we have failed in several of those occasions, but I can tell you it is not the standard of what we have tried to achieve," he told the inquiry.

"We have put memos out to staff reminding them we've increased our own patient transport vehicles locally, we have community transport contracts and we have a clear position that particularly after 8:00pm if people can't find a way home we need to find accommodation for them."

Residents need to 'schedule their accidents'

The inquiry heard the towns of Bonalbo and Coraki had struggled to attract general practitioners, often leaving residents with limited or no access to doctors.

Mrs Bird said Bonalbo had an X-ray machine but no staff to operate it and only one radiographer for two hours a fortnight, so residents would need to "schedule their accidents for that day".

The chair of the Ballina Cancer Advocacy Network Maureen Fletcher also gave evidence, talking about the dire need for increased funding for cancer care coordinators in the region.

She said many patients had "suffered needlessly" because they did not know what services were available before, during and after cancer treatment.

Ms Fletcher said there was one man who lost half his nose after melanoma surgery and felt socially isolated.

"He only found out that a prosthetic nose was available when a fellow patient in hospital asked why he didn't have it," she said.

Flow-on effects

The inquiry also heard from residents who spoke about the difficulties that arose from the region's reliance on south-east Queensland for specialist care.

Andre Othenin-Girard said he suffered on and off from atrial fibrillations and had been waiting almost three years to see a cardiologist on the Gold Coast, which was complicated by the Queensland border closure.

He said he had been hospitalised five times at Lismore Base Hospital while he waited.

The committee has been warned that the access to and availability of medical services could deter highly skilled people and businesses from moving to regional NSW.

Veterinarian Florian Roeber told the hearing he had to make at least 15 trips to the Gold Coast after being diagnosed with a neurological condition.

He said he moved to the state's north from Melbourne and believed he would have had better access to care if he had stayed in the city.

"I kind of regretted my decision to move to regional NSW because it led to a potentially worse outcome for me," Dr Roeber said…...

Problems are not confined to just the Northern NSW Local Health District. At Taree on the Mid-North Coast on 16 June the Inquiry heard the following.....

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 2021:

A NSW hospital serving nearly 100,000 people has been relying on cleaners to look after dementia patients due to severe staffing shortages, a parliamentary inquiry heard.

Doctors, nurses and patients lined up to vent their frustration and despair as the inquiry into regional health travelled to Taree and Lismore for public hearings on Wednesday.

The inquiry heard that at Tamworth, "ghost" operating theatres are being used for storage and for staff to make quiet phone calls because the hospital is struggling to find specialists to use them.

Tamworth has the busiest non-metropolitan emergency department in NSW.

Three senior doctors delivered a scathing assessment of the state of affairs in Taree on the state's mid-north coast, which is serviced by Manning Base Hospital.

"Houston we have got a problem and the problem I'd like to talk to you about is workforce," said Dr Simon Holliday, a rural GP with three decades' experience and a staff specialist at Manning Base Hospital.

He said less than 5 per cent of Australian-trained doctors were choosing to practise in rural areas which was a "disaster" for people living outside capital cities.

Dr Holliday said overseas-trained doctors from developing countries were stepping in to fill the void which was tantamount to "reverse foreign aid".

He said there was an epidemic of burnout among the foreign-trained doctors, who were having a "horrific time" as they were used as "cannon fodder" in understaffed facilities.

Dr Holliday was critical of the Australian Medical Association for refusing to endorse medical conscription, where doctors are made to serve in regional and rural areas.

"Australia needs to start providing Australian-trained workforce for rural areas," he told the upper house committee.

"Today you've heard about the pain and anguish in our community, as in many other regions' communities, and you have the weight of our expectations on your shoulders."

Dr Seshasayee Narasimhan said chronic underfunding had rendered Manning Base an “exhausted and severely downgraded hospital” that was “not appealing for new recruits”.

“No one wants to come here,” he said.

The Taree region has only one cardiologist serving a population of nearly 100,000 people and the worst cardiovascular outcomes of anywhere in regional Australia.....

President of the Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group Eddie Wood said the hospital's dementia ward had been shuttered without any consultation with the community.

"The cleaners on the ward have been asked to monitor and sit with the dementia patients," he said. "Dementia patients deserve the same level of care as anyone else ... it's horrendous."

Marion Hosking OAM later told the inquiry her son had been present at the hospital when the gardener was brought in to sit beside a troubled dementia patient.

But Mr Wood said assurances from the hospital administrators and local health district that there was no staffing problem further incensed the community.

“You say that to the ... first year graduate nurse who is put in charge of a ward,” Mr Wood said.

Mr Wood said only half of the 18 beds in the emergency department were funded and staffed......

“When you see your hospital and your staff demoralised and leaving, it’s atrocious,” he said.....

Regional community transport pilot program for seniors offering a NSW Government sponsored $250 Westpac Visa Card for personal travel costs commences 29 January 2020 - how to apply

Older residents in Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council, Kyogle Council, Lismore City Council, Richmond Valley Council and Tweed Shire Council and Clarence Valley Council areas in the Northern Rivers region may be eligible to participate in the NSW Government two-year trial of a new a community transport scheme, Regional Seniors Travel Card (RSTC).

The trial offers a $250 prepaid card to eligible seniors in regional, rural and remote areas to be used towards the purchase of fuel and transportation services, such as taxi services and NSW TrainLink train and coach services.

Applications will open on 29 January 2020 and cards will be distributed from mid-February 2020.

To be eligible for a Regional Seniors Travel Card, applicants must:

a) permanently reside in an Eligible Area within NSW; and

b) currently receive the Age Pension (applicants must have been receiving the age pension for at least one month); or

c) currently hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (applicants must have held their card for at least one month) (“Eligible Person”).

The RSTC is issued by Westpac as a Visa card and no user fees apply to this card.

The Card can only be used at selected retailers and service providers in Australia. Depending on the Merchant, the Card may be used in store, online or over the telephone. It is your responsibility to confirm that your Card can be used at the Merchant for Authorised Transport Expenses prior to use. If you are unsure, you should ask the Merchant before incurring a travel expense.

‘Card Services is available throughout the Pilot by calling 1800 569 070. Card Services will become available online at nswregionalseniors.cards at a later date. You can call us on 1800 569 070 for an update as to when Card Services will become available online.’

Applications for the 2020 RSTC will close on 30 November 2020.

The application period for the 2021 RSTCs is 1 December 2020 - 30 November 2021. 

The hidden costs for rural & regional older Australians when accessing Home Care packages

There are a number of people in the Clarence Valley who are hesitant to apply for Home Care packages - often because the houshold budget maths just don't add up when it comes to what is now essentially privatised and very expensive assistance for older people in their own home.

Here is yet another example......

The Daily Examiner, 21 October 2019, p.3:

Clarence Community Transport CEO Warwick Foster said there were misconceptions surrounding how government funding works with Commonwealth Home Support, NDIS and Home Care Package clients.

“People don’t have the correct information about how the system actually works, and that’s understandable because it’s a confusing system,” he said.

Mr Foster said Clarence Community Transport was primarily a home support program, designed to provide subsidised transport to eligible clients.

“When it comes to clients who transition to a Home Care Package, regardless of the level, then they technically become ineligible to access Commonwealth Home Support Programme services,” he said.

“I think where the problem comes in is that there’s not enough education for the clients about what it means when they accept a Home Care Package.

“Unfortunately clients who had been using community transport to get to appointments go from paying one fee then having to pay another fee because we’re no longer able to provide subsidised transport. That’s why it’s such a shock.

“Three days a week we transport clients to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and to get them up and back for a subsidised client is $80, but that fee goes up to $780 once someone accesses a Home Care Package.

“We get notified by the government, who tell us when a client is in receipt of a Home Care Package, that they’re no longer eligible for CHSP services.”.....

“We’re a not-for-profit but that doesn’t mean we’re here to provide free transport.

“We are required under our contracts to recoup some costs of the transport service from our clients.”

The bad news for NSW North Coast regional communities just never ends

According to the Berejiklian Coalition Government’s Transport for NSW  website: The Community Transport Program (CTP) assists individuals who are transport disadvantaged owing to physical, social, cultural and / or geographic factors.  Individuals who do not qualify for other support programs may be eligible for community transport. CTP is funded by the NSW Government and aims to address transport disadvantage at the local level via community transport organisations.

In the Clarence Valley medical specialist services are rather thin on the ground and residents are frequently referred to medical practices and hospital clinics hundreds of miles away.

For communities in the Lower Clarence where a high percentage of the population are elderly people on low incomes this can frequently present a transport problem, as often there is no family member living close by to assist or the person’s peer friendship group doesn’t include anyone capable of driving long distances.

Community transport has been the only option for a good many people.

Until now…..

The Daily Examiner, 8 January 2019, p.3:

The thought of paying $200 for a trip to see her specialist about her medical condition made Yamba pensioner Gloria George glad she was sitting down when she made the call.

The 80-year-old said when she contacted Clarence Community Transport and was told the price to be taken by car to the Gold Coast for a Wednesday appointment, it could have brought on a heart attack.

Mrs George said CCT told her there was a bus service to the Gold Coast that ran on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for $70.

“My appointment was on Tuesday and the clinic I was booked into was not available on the other days,” she said.

“They said they had made cutbacks and the price to be driven to the appointment was $200.

“I’ve got a bad heart problem and I nearly fell over when they told me.

“Who can afford $200 to go to an appointment?”

Mrs George said she still has a licence, but would not feel safe driving to her appointment.

“I think I’ll be able to get a friend to drive me there and take me home again. I hope so,” she said.

The manager of CCT, Warwick Foster, said the price rise for services had come in when the government cut $250,000 from CCT’s funding when the NDIS came in last year.

“We could no longer afford to operate the bus five days a week,” he said. “And we can’t afford to drive people to appointments for the same fee we charge for the bus service.”

Mr Foster said the government subsidy for transport of $31 a trip created a juggling act for CCT to afford its services.

“Each trip, no matter the distance, is subsidised at $31,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if the trip is across town or to Brisbane, the subsidy is the same....

This is what passes for community consultation at Clarence Valley Council in April 2015

Take a good look at this concept plan below.

There is no scale to accurately judge distance, eg. changes to road width.

There is no legend to decode symbols drawn on areas which are to be altered, eg. footpaths and outdoor dining areas.
There is no gradient given for the ramps on either side of the proposed change to the Coldstream Street pedestrian crossing.

There is no indication of how high the proposed roundabout will be above the road surface or its final design and visual impact, eg. potential to obscure a pedestrian’s view of oncoming traffic.

Without scale, legend, gradient and full description of the roundabout, Yamba residents have no way of judging whether it will be safe to step onto the new pedestrian crossing. 

Neither will they be able to calculate the stopping distance required by the Yamba to Grafton bus if it is negotiating the roundabout at the same time an elderly person is traversing this pedestrian crossing. Nor judge whether the traffic lane narrowing at one point accommodates the full width of a standard passenger bus.

It is also difficult to judge whether there will be a significant loss of the outdoor dining tables locals enjoy.

The small central business district in Yamba probably has the highest number of pedestrian movements within the town as it services not only local residents but also the many tourists who visit or holiday in the area.

So one wonders why Clarence Valley Council decided that this sketchy concept plan was the single document it would post online when exhibiting Proposed Roundabout Intersection Yamba Street/Coldstream Street, Yamba for comment.

Just as one may wonder why council appears to believe there is a compelling need for a roundabout in the centre of town when there appears to have been no call from the local community to install one there, no history of serious accidents and apparently no traffic movement study conducted on the intersection to determine if there are significant capacity/delay issues associated with it to date.

A roundabout and associated modifications which in council's March 2012 monthly meeting minutes was costed at an estimated $371,688 and will in all likelihood exceed that amount in 2015.

Click on image to enlarge

Family flying in for a visit? Keep track of where the plane is

Flight tracking. All you need is the airline name and flight number and you are up, up and away…..

http://www.flightradar24.com/

What NSW Northern Rivers social priorities are in 2010 for local community services

From Northern Rivers Social Priorities 2010 Report:

In early 2010 Northern Rivers Social Development Council (NRSDC) conducted a survey amongst the regions’ community service providers to gauge their views on social priorities. The results from the survey will be used to inform NRSDC in its advocacy role. It will also stand as a resource for other community services to gain an insight into the key social issues faced by the Northern Rivers community and community service system.

Since 2001, initially the Northern Rivers Interagency and now NRSDC have conducted research, consultations and surveys with service providers. The aim has been to identify common social priorities across the region, flag new issues as they arise and monitor the state of those priorities.

Responses from community services of the Northern Rivers to the 2010 Social Priorities survey has revealed that the region’s social priorities, as identified in 2002 and revisited in 2006 remain hot issues in the community.

Data from the survey may be considered in different ways. An indication of what responding services had the strongest feelings about can be found by looking at which issues had the most respondents rating them as 9 out of 9 ie the highest level of concern.

Ranking of the social priorities is as follows on a scale of 1 to 9:

1. Youth 7.72
   
2. Complex needs 7.64
   
3. Transport 7.58
   
4. Housing 7.08
   
5. Ageing 6.92
   
6. Community based management 6.52

As the road toll mounts we're still waiting, Kristina..........

As the annual road toll on the NSW North Coast leg of the Pacific Highway steadily mounts, local mayors and the media are still waiting for Premier Kristina Keneally or her designated ministerial representative to undertake an inspection by car along the worst of this route.

The invitation has been on the table since early February this year and the Premier appears to have committed her minister to a full inspection according to a March 2010 media report.

The inspection is overdue to say the least.

A short visit to Coffs Harbour in late March by Regional Development Minister Ian McDonald trying a snow job on the mayors and burbling on about "cost-benefit analysis" being needed before highway upgrades can occur just doesn't cut the political mustard - especially as scandal has since seen him go from office and parliament.

The NSW Government has been responding to these road deaths with sad shaking of heads for years now.

In 2005 Keneally's mentor, then Roads Minister Joe Tripodi, was telling ABC TV Stateline:

I am very conscious of the many tragic deaths on the Pacific Highway. One death on our roads is one death too many, and my heart goes to the families and friends who have suffered this terrible loss.

The NSW road toll for 2010 as of 16 June was 213 deaths. As in past years, too many of these were on the Pacific Highway.

In certain quarters local tempers are becoming rather frayed and we are still waiting, Kristina.........

Photograph of 2007 Coffs Harbour area fatality at The Sydney Morning Herald (top left ) and 2010 Tabbimobile area fatalities at The Daily Examiner (bottom right)

Saffin and Page stay on track

It's good to see two local politicians from opposite sides of the political spectrum come out in favour of public transport on the NSW North Coast.
Although one has to wonder if a wider regional rail service will ever come to pass given the lack of political will prevailing in the NSW Parliament.

The Northern Star on 24 April 2010:

A NEW train line linking Ballina with the Casino-Murwillumbah branch line will have to be built to help the Northern Rivers cope with its booming population, Ballina MP Don Page has said.
Mr Page said he would like to see a new train line running from Byron Bay to Ballina, taking in Lennox Head along the way, and then from Ballina to Lismore, taking in the plateau communities of Alstonville and Wollongbar, to help the region cope with massive growth expected between now and 2036.
The idea has won the support of Federal Page MP Janelle Saffin, who said she wanted itincluded in the integrated transport plan being developed for the region.
She said regular, affordable public transport, already a sore point in the region, was going to become critical as the region’s population grew and aged over the next 26 years.
“Transport is such a critical issue and I see it as becoming more important with the increasing of our population and of our senior population,” Ms Saffin said.
Government figures predict the Northern Rivers’ population will grow by about 70,000 between now and 2036, mostly between Ballina and the Tweed. At the same time, the population is expected to age dramatically, with the number of people aged 65 and over set to nearly treble in some areas, while the number of children aged 14 or under declines slightly.

Lack of public facilities such as transport in rural and regional Oz

Last year the local community of ***** (name removed) buried young ****** (name removed).


***** hanged himself out of despair. Centrelink hounded him.

In order to pacify Centrelink ***** drove everywhere to find work, often in an unregistered vehicle as he had not the means to pay for registration.

Individuals like ***** end up driving, often without a licence, and more often in unregistered vehicles. The seeds of criminality begin this way, from despair.

Truth is, this is not an isolated incident.

Over to you Mr Rudd et al.

Source: Read this

Cycling for a brighter sustainable future on the NSW North Coast?

Over the years I have heard many Yamba residents, who happen to enjoy cycling, express concerns over the fact that the only road between their town and Maclean is nigh on impassable for two-wheeled traffic and, that Yamba might as well be an island when it comes to bicycle travel.

People who enjoy a long brisk walk rarely proceed even as far as Yamba bridge due to the uncomfortable proximity of vehicular traffic.

If for no other reason than a collective lower carbon footprint, NSW North Coast local government should be actively pursuing linking its small towns via designated cycle lanes, when these same towns are within easy reach of the recreational cyclist.

The immediate spin-offs would possibly be first expressed as an increased exchange of disposable income between towns and higher tourists traffic (something Northern Rivers towns tirelessly work towards achieving).

Cycle track

IT'S time that a cycle track and walking path were constructed between Yamba and Maclean.

The Maclean to Yamba road is always busy throughout the year for work, school and other traffic - and especially at peak tourist times. Walkers and recreational cyclists in Yamba take their lives in their hands if they venture past the Oyster Channel bridge.

Increasing numbers of people cycle for recreation and fitness. We are urged to look after our health and fitness by walking.

Let's see Clarence Valley Council get on and provide this much needed infrastructure.

S SCHMOLKE, Yamba.

[The Daily Examiner, letter to the editor, 29 December 2009]

Cycling

FULL praise to Sue Schmolke for raising the issue of cycle paths in Yamba and Maclean.

Not that long ago I had to leave my car at Maclean for repairs, and because I had been a cyclist over many years I decided to take my bike with me and ride home to Yamba.

The trip back was a delight, but I am afraid to say there were parts of the road where I couldn't get off and I heard cars being slowed down as they inched their way past me.

Suffice to say, I won't be doing this again, but it seems such a shame in these days when most of us should be exercising more.

I am sure we have all seen small family groups arriving in Yamba with vans or trailers. More often than not there are bikes somewhere on the load.

This alone must give some credence to what Sue Schmolke is saying.

This comment is not intended as criticism of our council. In many ways their outlook has been marvellous with quite a few cycleways already in existence.

What is needed, however, are more ways of keeping cyclists of all ages, particularly children, out of harm's way.

More or better cycleways, plus attention to the verges on existing roads, can only add to the success that is Yamba and Maclean.

ALLAN TOWNSEND, Yamba.

[The Daily Examiner, letter to the editor,16 January 2010]