Clarence Valley Emergency Operations Centre and a new NSW Rural Fire Service Fire Control Centre to be built on council land at Grafton Regional Airport

 

A much needed response to the increased need for co-ordinated disaster planning due to the increasing scale and intensity of climate change impacts beginning to be experienced in the Northern Rivers region....

 

Aerial view of site of the proposed Clarence Valley Emergency Operations Centre, Grafton Regional Airport. IMAGE: Clarence Valley Council

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 15 November 2023:

Disaster responses in the region will be streamlined and managed from a new $13.569 million Emergency Operations Centre, co-located with a new Fire Control centre at the Clarence Valley Regional Airport, with council currently assessing a development application for the facility.

The NSW Government announced $8.9 million in funding toward the project in February as part of a $75.1 million investment to upgrade 13 fire control and emergency operations centres across the state.

The DA 2023/0627 for 419 Airport Road, Glenugie, on land owned by Clarence Valley Council proposes construction of a NSW Rural Fire Service Fire Control Centre within the airport precinct, 11 south-east of Grafton.

The Emergency Operations Centre will be located north of the current airport terminal and feature an operations room, a planning and logistics room, two training rooms, meeting rooms, general offices, IT room, storage rooms, meal room, outdoor undercover area, bathrooms and amenities, and be fronted by 12 undercover parking spaces.

North of the single storey Emergency Operations Centre, which features 75 rooftop solar panels, will be a regional Rural Fire Service stores building designed to house equipment for the Clarence Valley District and vehicles, if approved by council.

Surrounding the Emergency Operations Centre will be new adjoining sheds, a helipad, internal roads and parking, with the site having a footprint of 6,100 square metres.

In addition to the administration, training, and operations centre spaces of the Rural Fire Control Centre, the facility “will also be able to function as an emergency operations centre for State Government Agencies and Local Government to assist in managing bush-fire support and recovery functions.”....

Hot showers for rough sleepers now available in Brunswick Heads, Northern Rivers NSW

Reflections Holiday Park, Brunswick Heads
IMAGE: Trip Advisor

The Echo, 17 November 2023:

Hot showers are something that many people take for granted, but for those sleeping rough they can be difficult to access.

In an effort to ease this problem, Reflections Holiday Parks and Byron Shire Council have partnered to jointly fund the installation of hot water at the amenity block at Banner Park Reserve, Brunswick Heads.

The aim of the initiative is to provide hot water to help people who are sleeping rough. Hot water is now available daily in the public amenity block at Banner Park Reserve between 6am and 11am. To support water conservation, showers will run on a timer.

Banner Park Reserve is maintained by Reflections for the local community and is part of the 15 acres of public reserves that Reflections looks after in the Byron Shire. Reflections uses proceeds from its holiday parks to provide nature reserves, BBQs and amenities for the local community.

Business for good

Reflections CEO Nick Baker said the role of Reflections, the only holiday park group in Australia that is a certified social enterprise, was not only to nurture land on behalf of the NSW public but also to do ‘business for good’ as a profit-for-purpose organisation.

‘As a Crown Land Manager and a social enterprise, Reflections reinvests profit from holiday parks into public nature reserves for the enjoyment of the local community, and we also partner with community organisations on initiatives that benefit the community,’ Mr Baker said.

‘We are really pleased to partner with Byron Shire Council to help the local community and look forward to continuing to work together.’....

Clarence Valley Council places its "Lower Clarence Flood Model Update 2023" on public exhibition seeking resident & ratepayer feedback

Clarence Valley Council

HAVE YOUR SAY: Proposed Interim Flood Planning Levels

Published on 16 November 2023

Clarence Valley Council is currently seeking feedback on proposed interim Flood Planning Levels for the Clarence River floodplain, which is based on Council’s recently adopted Lower Clarence Flood Model Update 2022.

At the October 2023 Council meeting, it was resolved to exhibit the interim Flood Planning Levels proposed to replace current Flood Planning Levels.

The proposed Flood Planning Levels are informed by the peak flood depths across the Clarence Valley floodplain during a predicted 1% annual exceedance probability (AEP) flood event that includes mid-range climate change considerations, as indicated by the Lower Clarence Flood Model Update 2022 (see image below). An additional 500mm ‘freeboard’ is added to this flood event to determine the proposed interim Flood Planning Levels.

Click on image to enlarge

It is proposed new homes or residential development with habitable rooms will be required to be built above this Flood Planning Level.

"Generally, the proposed Flood Planning Levels increase in all cases, more in Grafton and surrounds, and lesser in the Lower Clarence," Clarence Valley Council Manager Development and Land Use Planning Murray Lane said.

"This is because the proposed Flood Planning Levels include greater climate change assumptions than the current 2013 Flood Model. The 2022 Flood Model includes up-to-date assumptions about sea level rise and increases in rainfall and runoff associated with climate change.

"Including climate change in Flood Planning Levels is best practice and must be considered, as required by the NSW Government’s current flood planning policy and guidelines.

"The proposed interim Flood Planning Levels do not affect the use of existing homes or buildings, and will only apply to new development where habitable rooms are proposed."

Why is an 'interim' Flood Planning Level proposed?

Council has a responsibility to quickly incorporate the most up-to-date flood planning information from the 2022 Flood Model into Council's planning controls. Due to recent changes by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to the standardised Local Environmental Plan which affects how Flood Planning Levels are determined, Council has commenced preparation of a new Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan which is expected to take 18-24 months. The proposed interim Flood Planning Levels, if adopted, will be in effect until a new Floodplain Risk Management Plan is adopted.

A series of Frequently Asked Questions has been compiled and can be viewed under Related Information on this page.

Click here for instructions on how to view the interim Flood Planning Levels for individual properties on Council's Online Mapping System. If you require any further assistance please contact Council on 02 6643 0200.

Community engagement sessions started this week with drop in sessions to discuss the proposed interim Flood Planning Levels, as well as the draft Clarence Valley Local Housing Strategy.

"The sessions at Yamba Farmers Markets and Wooli Street Hall were well attended with plenty of interest in the community," Clarence Valley Council Director Environment and Planning Adam Cameron said.

"We received lots of feedback and were also able to explain some of the finer details of the proposed changes to the interim Flood Planning Levels and how they were determined.

"We look forward to continuing to engage with the community on the interim Flood Planning Levels, as well as the Housing Strategy, which will both play an important role for future development in the Clarence Valley."

Upcoming community engagement sessions include:

• Fri 17 Nov, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30-4.30pm: Maclean Library
• Tue 21 Nov, 10am-4pm: Grafton Library
• Thurs 23 Nov, 10am-1pm: Iluka Bowls Club

There are additional engagement sessions planned for relevant industry groups and stakeholders including local chambers of commerce, developers, real estate agents and environmental and community advocates.

The proposed interim Flood Planning Levels, and any submissions during the exhibition period, will be considered by Council before deciding if they should be adopted. Submissions close 4pm on Monday 29 January 2024.

The Lower Clarence Flood Model Update 2022, including interim Flood Planning Levels proposed, animations and other details are available here: https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/Council/Our-performance/Plans-and-strategies/Floodplain-Management-plans-studies-and-animations

Lower Clarence Flood Model Update 2023: Final Report by clarencegirl on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/685386898/Lower-Clarence-Flood-Model-Update-2023-Final-Report 

Tweets of the Week

Israel-Hamas war live: UN security council to vote on ‘humanitarian pause’; France expresses ‘serious concern’ over al-Shifa operation https://t.co/Qnp9II7l4j

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) November 15, 2023

"There is no way to physically transport them... when some people did try to leave the facility they were bombed."

We call for the protection of medical staff, patients and displaced civilians sheltered inside the hospital. We are extremely worried for their lives. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/v1UqfLHk9p

— Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (@MSF_canada) November 15, 2023

"We can't move them out it's too dangerous... our problem is protecting the people of #Gaza from what's being visited upon them" - UN Relief Chief, Martin Griffiths for @UNGeneva⤵️ pic.twitter.com/nRt1RBYQba

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 15, 2023

“I am deeply disturbed by the horrible situation & dramatic loss of life in several hospitals in Gaza.” –@antonioguterres calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, in the name of humanity."https://t.co/hT01L9zPxx

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 15, 2023

 

Reports of military incursion into Al-Shifa hospital are deeply concerning.

We’ve lost touch again with health personnel at the hospital.

We’re extremely worried for their and their patients’ safety.

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 15, 2023

UN expert Francesca Albanese: Under international law 'Israel “cannot claim the right of self-defence against a threat that emanates from the territory it occupies – from a territory that is kept under belligerent occupation”'https://t.co/Do380DNvbM

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) November 15, 2023

Francesca Albanese: "Israel has the sacrosanct right and duty to protect itself, its territory, its citizens. Although it tends to confuse a lot its own territory with the territory that it is trying to annex under occupation"...

— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) November 14, 2023

There will be no posts by North Coast Voices today due to water damage to the residence. I thank readers for their patience. Hopefully posting will resume tomorrow.

Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023 - 17th annual survey by Scanlon Foundation Research Institute - social cohesion in Australia has declined by 13 points since November 2020

 

"Trust in government and concern for inequality are contributing to a declining sense of national pride and belonging....Social cohesion has declined in almost all

domains over the last year." [Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023, pp. 8, 13]

Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023, Executive Summary, 14 November 2023:

Social cohesion in Australia has been remarkably resilient through the challenges of recent years. However, we continue to face difficult national and global circumstances, global conflict, economic pressures and uncertainty and division over issues such as the Voice referendum.

As a result – and while we remain connected – our social cohesion is under pressure and declining on some fronts.

Our sense of national pride and belonging has been

declining for some years, discrimination and prejudice

remain stubbornly common, while in more recent years,

we are reporting greater financial stress, increased

concern for economic inequality and growing pessimism for the future. However, in the strong connections we have in our neighbourhoods and communities and the way we increasingly embrace our differences and diversity, there is reason for optimism that we can respond collectively to the challenges we face and restore and strengthen our social cohesion.

Mapping Social Cohesion 2023

The Mapping Social Cohesion 2023 report comes

at a crucial time – a time to take stock and consider

the challenges ahead. In 2023, almost 7,500 people

participated in the Mapping Social Cohesion survey,

making it the largest survey in the series. As has been the case since 2018, the 2023 survey was administered to the Social Research Centre’s Life in AustraliaTM panel.

In preparing this year’s Mapping Social Cohesion report, we have taken extra steps to ensure we are reflecting the views of all Australians, particularly in view of our vast ethnic and cultural diversity. To do this, 251 targeted surveys were conducted with people from Indian, Middle Eastern and African backgrounds in four different languages (including English). We also conducted 55 in-depth qualitative interviews with people who have migrated to Australia over the years. This adds to the growing body of information on the attitudes and experiences of migrant Australians collected through the main Life in AustraliaTM survey, providing a greater, more in-depth and nuanced understanding than ever before.

More information on the surveys and interviews are

provided in the Appendix of this report.

Social cohesion in Australia is under pressure

and declining

In our 2022 report, we remarked that social cohesion

appeared to be at an important juncture. Our indicators

suggested that cohesion had been declining after a

COVID-related spike in 2020. While there were some

signs to suggest that cohesion was returning to a

pre-pandemic normal, declines in our sense of national

pride and belonging, increasing financial strain and a

weakening sense of social inclusion and justice were

warning signs of further weakening in our social fabric.

The results of Mapping Social Cohesion 2023 reinforce

these concerns and underline the precarious and

uncertain social environment of Australia in 2023.

In the last 12 months, the Scanlon-Monash Index of social cohesion declined by four points to 79, the lowest score on record. Since a peak in social cohesion during the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020, social cohesion has declined by 13 points.

Read and download the full report at:

https://scanloninstitute.org.au/mapping-social-cohesion-2023

NSW Government's Forestry Corporation in the news, November 2023

 

The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 November 2023, p.3:

Forestry activists allege the NSW government-owned Forestry Corporation has breached regulations more than 1200 times in recent logging operations in Tallaganda State Forest, one of the last strongholds of the endangered greater glider.

AAP General News Wire, 14 November 2023:

The Forestry Corporation of NSW has been slapped with a new stop work order, amid concerns about efforts to protect endangered greater gliders.

Logging has been shut down in a second NSW forest amid claims the Forestry Corporation failed to properly look for den trees an endangered glider needs to survive.

The Environment Protection Authority has ordered the state-owned corporation to immediately halt harvesting work in parts of the Flat Rock State Forest near Ulladulla.

The watchdog has accused the corporation of failing to conduct detailed, thorough searches for den trees used by endangered southern greater gliders, as well as vulnerable yellow-bellied gliders.

It's the second time the Forestry Corporation has been accused of incompetently conducting habitat searches in recent months.

Harvesting has also been shut down in the Tallaganda State Forest, southeast of Canberra, after the EPA found multiple den trees in an area where the Forestry Corporation said there was only one.

The corporation later admitted it looked for den trees during the day when nocturnal greater gliders would have been asleep.

EPA officers went to Flat Rock this week after receiving a complaint from conservationists who went to the area to do a den tree search.

Members of South East Forest Rescue said no den trees were recorded by the Forestry Corporation but they spotted a greater glider leaving what appeared to be a hollow-bearing den tree on Sunday night.

When the EPA officers arrived on Monday, they also identified what appeared to be a greater glider den tree within 30 metres of logging.

“The EPA alleges that FCNSW has not conducted detailed and thorough searches necessary to identify all Greater Glider and Yellow-Bellied Glider den trees within the Flat Rock State Forest compartment," the watchdog said on Tuesday.

The EPA also said the Forestry Corporation had identified 137 glider sap feed trees, making it likely a family of yellow-bellied gliders was active in the area.

"Yet no den trees were identified," it said.

“Den trees and their surrounding habitat are critical for the gliders’ feeding and movement and removal of habitat removes shelter and food, making the gliders vulnerable to harm."

AAP has sought comment from the Forestry Corporation.

South East Forest Rescue staged a protest Flat Rock on Monday, after discovering the den tree.

"Again, conservationists have shown the absurdity of the Forestry Corporation looking for nocturnal species during the day," spokesman Scott Daines says.

Kita Ashman is a threatened species ecologist with WWF Australia and says there are alarming similarities between Flat Rock and Tallaganda, where conservationists also identified unlogged den trees.

"In both cases it’s been left to citizen scientists to record greater glider den trees. A deeply disturbing pattern of behaviour is emerging that cannot be allowed to continue."

Greens MP Sue Higginson says it's time for the NSW government to step in.

“It is clear that Forestry Corporation are either wilfully disregarding their legal obligations to operate consistently with their approvals or they are too incompetent to adequately conduct operations in a lawful way,'' she said.

1 Earth Media, 14 November 2023:

A magistrate dismissed a charge of ‘enter a forest w/o permission if prohibited by notice’ after the police failed to provide prima facie evidence to prove their case against Susie Russell. She has called the police action a S.L.A.P.P. – Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

Veteran forest defender Susie Russell defended herself in the Forster magistrates court on Tuesday November 14. The judge’s ruling meant that Ms Russell did not have to provide her evidence and she can now put the long drawn out matter to rest.

Ms Russell, a member of the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) had been arrested at the 9 January 2023 protest at Bulga Forest, west of Port Macquarie.