The 2023-24 Summer Fire Season arrived early and is now causing concern

 

By late yesterday afternoon the NSW Rural Fire Service had 115 incidents on its online interactive fire map.

All were bushfires or grassfires, with two listed as Emergency Warning - Out Of Control (Bega Valley & Cessnock).

Bushfires at Coolagolite on the NSW South Coast. CREDIT:JAMES BRICKWOOD. The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 October 2023

In the Northern Rivers region there were 7 fires in the Clarence Valley LGA, one in Richmond Valley LGA, one in Kyogle LGA and one in Tweed LGA.

Having burnt since Friday 29 September, the Richmond Valley bushfire at Northern Boundary Trail, Evans Head, had entered Bundjalung National Park and, by yesterday afternoon covered est. 1,235ha. 

Burning near to the unexploded bomb area of the RAAF air weapons range, it also came too close for comfort to houses in the small coastal village of Evans Head.

Flames lit up the night sky over the small coastal town of Evans Head on the NSW north coast.(Supplied: Allyson Cuskelly). ABC News, 3 October 2023

At 6pm, there are 86 fires burning, with 29 not yet contained. There are currently over 1300 firefighters and incident management specialists working to contain these fires. Extreme and high fire danger has been forecast tomorrow, with 3 TOBANs declared. https://t.co/SwFG8PzKTA pic.twitter.com/d6P3CcVSPT

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 3, 2023

Fire Danger Ratings and Total Fire Bans in NSW can be checked at:

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fdr-and-tobans

In the early hours of Wednesday 4 October the Coolgolite fire ground in the Bega Valley had grown to 4,529ha and fire had broken out on Goodwood Island in the lower reaches of the Clarence River in northern NSW. However the number of active bush or grass fires across the state had fallen to 85 by 1:20am.

$15m Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange has been vacant since early July when relations between the landlord council and local agents soured

 

Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange, Casino
IMAGE: queenslandcountrylife.com.au, 7 March 2023

The majority of cattle/store sheep saleyards in Australia are owned by local government councils.

The Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange, better known as the Casino saleyards, is owned by Richmond Valley Council and has been in business since 1916.

As the Northern River regional facility it had the third-largest cattle throughput in NSW in 2020-21 with 103,700 cattle.

In mid-2023 Richmond Valley Council implemented a new business plan which included the addition of two new agents, as well as significant changes to sale day and delivery operations. While vendor fees remain fixed for another three years, the business usage fee rose from $1 a head to 0.2 per cent of gross revenue and local graziers baulked.  

This is not the first time in its history that a fee dispute has closed the Casino saleyards, but it appears to be shaping up as the one which may see these saleyards gone for good given that the threat of widespread, possibly prolonged, drought appears to be growing which will affect the NSW cattle industry with north-east of the state likely to feel the full impact soonest.

Queensland Country Life, 28 September 2023:

The Casino saleyards in NSW will be offered to the private sector for long-term lease following an unresolved stand-off between the council and local livestock agents.

A unanimous vote from Richmond Valley councillors signalled a resolve to months of bickering between the council as landlord of the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange and five livestock agencies that used the facility.

There have been no cattle sales at NRLX since the start of the financial year, after local agents refused to sign-up to new conditions regarding increased costs and handling of livestock after the fall of the hammer.

Earlier this month a public meeting brought more than 700 people together in support of their selling agents, with few seeing things the council's way.

"Following the public meeting, a further attempt was made to reach consensus with the agents and re-open sales at the NRLX," council's general manager Vaughan Macdonald said in a written report to councillors.

"This meeting was unsuccessful, marking the seventh failed attempt at seeking details to achieve a resolution. In these circumstances, it would appear that the likelihood of reaching a consensus is minimal and further attempts at resolution will only prolong the impacts on cattle producers who use the NRLX. Council now finds itself at the point where a long-term solution is required, to ensure that cattle sales can resume as soon as possible, and the NRLX continues to play a pivotal role in the regional economy."

Mr Macdonald told councillors that the facility, with a $28.5m replacement cost, would be offered to the private sector with a lease arrangement drawn up within three months for a term from five to 30 years.

At the core of the motion was the concern that Richmond Valley ratepayers were currently footing $60 a year for every rateable property to prop-up a deficit of $647,303.

In the interim, the council will continue to explore avenues to reestablish sales at the facility, provided agents accept its current demands.

"The Voice" Referendum State of Play 2023: Lower Clarence Valley

 

In 2023 there have only been a handful of letters to the "Clarence Valley Independent" editor published online to date concerning the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Voice to Parliament.

Here are the two most recent......

Clarence Valley Independent online:

The quiet voice

September 27, 2023 -

Ed,

In the lead up to the referendum, we’re hearing a lot of controversy. The quieter voices get less airplay. Yet these are the important voices.

Boots on the ground Larrakia Elder Aunty Bilawara Lee is one such quiet voice. She says:

“The Voice gives us a platform and a way forward. This referendum isn’t about politics or constitutions or governments or legislation – it came from us, not from them.

It’s about how do we keep our kids at school? How do we fight the scourge of domestic violence, suicide, and poor mental health?

How do we stop repeating this same terrible cycle, decade after decade?

We’re not asking for money; we’re not asking for your backyards. We want recognition and acknowledgment; we want to be included.

Some people say to me “You’re an elder, why don’t you fix this problem.”

Well, we need to have a seat at the table. Let me have a say and bring our suggested solutions to these major issues.”

How to support the quiet voices? By voting Yes.

Shakti Burke, Maclean

Understanding the Voice

September 20, 2023 -

Ed,

I was unaware of how a Voice to Parliament would be implemented and have read as much as I can find on the question of the referendum and now have a better understanding.

The terms of reference, size, mode of election for the Voice will be determined by the parliament not by the prime minister. This does make it fairly clear why as yet we have not been given details of how it would be implemented.

Since the Albanese government does not have a majority in both houses of parliament, the composition and function of the Voice will require negotiation and compromise, in which Mr Dutton and members who are advocating a ‘No’ vote will be able play a constructive role in the make up, size, mode of election and terms of reference for the Voice to Parliament. This includes our Federal Member Kevin Hogan who recently claimed he is concerned about who is on the Voice and how they are chosen to be on the Voice etc.

Hopefully as the next few weeks go by, we will gain more of any understanding of this process and less vitriol and negativity on such an important question.

Annie Dorrian, Iluka

There are also events like this one on Sunday, 1 October 2023, at Pilot Hill, Yamba.....

Photo: Maiara Skarheim, Look Right Productions

Photographer not identified

Video by Frankie Belle Parker

Tweed Shire expects to start rolling out water restrictions within next few weeks and rest of the Northern Rivers region likely to be following its lead sooner rather than later

NSWDPI Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) mapping, 23 September 2023. CDI = Combined Drought Indicator. RI = Rainfall Index. SWI = Soil Water Index. PGI = Pasture Growth Index. DDI = Drought Direction Index

Click on map to enlarge

There are 19 large dams on NSW regional regulated rivers and hundreds of smaller dams, reservoirs & weirs associated with a mix of environmental use, off-farm agricultural and urban water storage on other rivers.

Across the seven local government areas in the Northern Rivers region water storage locations include:

Toonumbar Dam

Rocky Creek Dam

Clarrie Hall Dam

Emmigrant Creek Dam

Korrumbyn Creek Dam

Shannon Creek Dam

Bray Park weir

Tyalgum weir

Mullumbimby Power Station weir

Jambour weir

Kyogle weir

Nymboida weir

Rushforth Road 100ML Reservoir.

Tweed Shire Council is strongly alerting its residents and ratepayers as to the current situation and what may lie ahead.

The Echo, 27 September 2023:

Following the devastating floods of 2022 we are back to dry weather. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has declared an El Nino weather pattern and it has predicted that there will be less-than-average rainfall in the Northern Rivers this year. Tweed Council is reminding residents and visitors that it is important to save water as we head into dry weather.

‘Without significant rain, the Tweed will head into water restrictions, with restrictions for Tyalgum looking likely in the next few weeks,’ said Tweed Shire Council’s (TSC) water and wastewater business and assets manager Michael Wraight.

‘We source our water from the Tweed River at Bray Park and Uki, plus the Oxley River at Tyalgum. The river flows are down and the weir pools at Bray Park and Tyalgum are drying up.

‘While Clarrie Hall Dam is currently sitting at 98 per cent capacity, it will now drop about 1 to 1.5 per cent, per week, as we start releasing water to supply the Bray Park Weir – the source of water for most of the Shire.

‘We will trigger level 1 water restrictions when the Clarrie Hall Dam level drops to 85 per cent.

‘Restrictions at Tyalgum will be introduced sooner. The flow of the Oxley River at Tyalgum is down to a trickle and the weir pool there is dropping fast.’

Image of the Month

Lighting up the dunes near Wanda Beach, Cronulla, NSW

ahead of the 14 October 2023 national referendum asking the question:

"A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

via @slsandpet, X/Twitter, 24 September 2023

Cartoon of the Week

 

First Dog On The Moon via @cecenviro

 

Richmond Valley Council has refused the development application at 59 Rileys Hill Road, Broadwater, due to flood risk

Sometimes it is hard to believe the evidence of one's own eyes when looking at development plans lodged with local councils. 

This was one of those times, with property owner Broadwater Riley Pty Ltd ATF The Broadwater Riley Unit Trust and developers The Trustee for Cromack Family Trust and Others having lodged a document DA2023/0100 in December 2022 seeking consent to create 60 Torrens Title residential building lots on land which less than nine months before had been under a record amount of flood water.

The proposed development from the DA. IndyNR, 11 January 2023

IndyNR.com, 27 September 2023:

The first meeting of Rileys Hill residents opposing the development on January 10, 2023.

Resident Jemma Donnelly is thrilled that the development of 60 blocks on Rileys Hill Road will not go ahead.

Richmond Valley Council has refused the development application at 59 Rileys Hill Road, Broadwater.

“This is a fantastic response and shows that Richmond Valley Council has listened and taken into consideration the community’s concerns and has acknowledged the significant risks this proposed development puts on the existing community and the environmental impacts,” Ms Donnelly said.

“This development is not in the public interest and is not suitable for development due to flood risk.”

During the floods in February–March last year, the site was underwater.

The development site was zoned residential in 1972.

The next logical step would be for the council to rezone the land to agricultural, Ms Donnelly said.

“So that the current or next developer does not continue to propose future development.”…..

The developer has a right to appeal the decision within six months.

It should be noted that this refusal by Council also removes any need to clear-fell the remaining roadside tree corridor - a fact that is welcomed by those concerned with the plight of koala in urban areas of north-east NSW.