In this January 2011 rain BOM's the word on the NSW North Coast

FLOOD WATCH FOR THE TWEED, BRUNSWICK, RICHMOND/WILSONS, CLARENCE AND BELLINGER RIVER VALLEYS FOR SUNDAY TO TUESDAY

Issued at 11:18 am EDT on Friday 7 January 2011

Note: This Flood Watch is a "heads up" for possible future flooding and is NOT a Flood Warning [see note below].

Further heavy rain is predicted for the NSW northern rivers from Sunday to Tuesday.

The above catchments are wet from recent rain so there is a higher than 70% of local and main river flooding developing during Sunday evening onwards in the following:

1. Tweed Valley - moderate flooding including local flooding in several areas including Chillingham

2. Richmond and Wilsons Valleys - moderate to major flooding

3. Brunswick Valley - moderate to major flooding

4. Clarence Valley - including the Orara River - minor to moderate flooding

5. Bellingen Valley - minor to moderate flooding

This Flood Watch means that people living or working along rivers and streams must monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop. Flood Warnings will be issued if Minor Flood Level is expected to be exceeded at key sites along the main rivers for which the Bureau of Meteorology provides a flood warning service. Across NSW, about 70% of Flood Watches are followed by flooding.

FloodSafe advice is available at www.ses.nsw.gov.au

For emergency assistance call the SES on telephone number 132 500.

For life threatening emergencies, call 000 immediately.

Northern Rivers

Forecast for the rest of Saturday

Cloudy. Isolated showers, becoming scattered in the afternoon and evening, with the chance of thunderstorms. Winds south to southeasterly averaging 15 to 25 km/h tending east to southeasterly up to 20 km/h later in the evening. Temperatures in the mid 20s during the day.

Forecast for Sunday

Cloudy. Rain. The chance of thunderstorms early in the morning, mainly inland. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 15 to 30 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to in the low 20s with daytime temperatures reaching the mid 20s.

Mid-North Coast

Forecast for the rest of Saturday

Partly cloudy. Isolated showers, becoming scattered in the north during the afternoon. The chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, mainly in the north. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 10 to 20 km/h. Temperatures 22 to 28 during the day.

Forecast for Sunday

Cloudy. Rain, more frequent in the north. The chance of thunderstorms early in the morning. The chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 15 to 25 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to between 15 and 20 with daytime temperatures reaching 21 to 28.

How to tell when it's getting a trifle damp around the house in January 2011?

.....the local ants move their nest from the turf below to the peg basket hanging on the clothes line above.

Graphic from Google Images

Oh dear! Dams on the Opposition agenda again

From A Clarence Valley Protest yesterday:

Barnaby's on the dam(mn) trail again with Abbott trekking in the rear

With the flood waters still making their way down the eastern length of Australia and so much of Queensland still under water, Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce is back on the dam trail again and, obscuring his intention to endorse proposals to dam and divert freshwater from the Clarence River catchment within broad sentences such as these:

The Coalition took to the last election a very specific strategy on the construction of dams….

CJ Bradfield was a Queensland engineering visionary for our nation. He designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Story Bridge in Brisbane and the inland water scheme in the 1930’s.Unfortunately the final and most important part of his vision was never constructed compromising the wealth of this nation that would have been delivered from this agricultural bounty……..

Australia not only can, but must have the vision to construct the infrastructure that gives us the capacity to create the agricultural, industrial and mining wealth for our future. If we don’t we only have ourselves to blame at the next drought, not climate change, just our lack of management and foresight. We can not afford a reliance on desalination, we must build dams and we must move water.

Never backward in coming forward for a swift political jab, his Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has joined Joyce for the media moment according to The Business Spectator:

Sensing that water policy will be a significant election issue stemming from the severe Queensland flooding and the controversial Murray-Darling project, opposition leader Tony Abbott says he will develop a plan to build a series of dams across Australia as part of the Coalition's next election platform, according to a report in The Australian.

Great Barrier Reef not immune from 2011 Queensland flooding

Look what's heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. A freshwater and heavy sediment plume which is likely to stress certain coral species.

NASA image of Queensland flooding on 4 January 2011

Click on image to enlarge

Australian Broadcasting Commission - anything but the whip!

When ABC Radio began a dedicated twenty-four hour news broadcast I was delighted and it is probably still my first preference for national news and current affairs over the airwaves.

When ABC Television announced it was following with a dedicated twnety-four hour news channel I expected at least the same level of immediacy and range of subject matter as that on the radio.

How wrong I was. ABC TV News24 is the most basic of news padded out by endless self-promotion and current affairs repeats of repeats of repeats over day after day after day.

If one tries to use this TV channel as a primary source of information one comes away feeling flayed. Thank heavens it’s free to air because no-one would possibly want to purchase access as it now stands!

Albanese talks with NSW North Coast mayors about flooding

The Federal Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin’s timely media alert, as the NSW North Coast and Mid-North Coast face a day of predicted severe weather and chance of flash flooding:

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is on the NSW North Coast and will hold a doorstop following a briefing from local mayors about the impact of the recent floods.

The following mayors will be attendance: Jennifer Dowell (Lismore), Ernie Bennett (Kyogle), Phillip Silver (Ballina), Col Sullivan (Richmond Valley) and Richie Williamson (Clarence Valley).

Google Images photograph of Saffin and Abanese in less stressful times on the North Coast

Elmo visited Yamba

Brisbaneite Elmo hit Yamba in a big way recently. He, along with Delece & Victor and DJ, stayed in a caravan while holidaying in Yamba. More reports about Elmo's world trips can be read here.

Credit: Pic of Elmo and DJ from http://elmosworldtrip.blogspot.com/

A WTF moment coming off the back of larger political ambition

Clarence Valley Mayor and announced Independent candidate at the March 2011 NSW state election, Richie Williamson, told The Daily Examiner:

POPULATION growth in the Valley is bringing with it increasing demands on services and facilities. To help finance those extra demands, Clarence Valley Council is introducing Section 94 (developer) Contribution Plans. The State Government recently set a maximum threshold of $20,000 for developed areas and $30,000 for ‘greenfield’ sites.

Err….Section 94s have been in place across the Clarence Valley for many years, based on the ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT 1979 - SECT 94.

A fact Clarence Valley Shire Council admits on its own website:

Planning policy in the Clarence Valley is defined through the Local Environmental Plans (LEP), various Development Control Plans (DCPs) and Section 94 Contributions plans…. Section 94 Contributions Plans enable Council to levy developer contributions to fund public facilities and services whose demand is generated as a consequence of new development.

Additional to this, it does not appear that Clarence Valley Shire Council has been approved to levy the mentioned higher amount of $30,000 yet.

In fact what the mayor seems to be re-announcing is a watering down of developer obligations to adequately compensate residents and ratepayers for additional impacts on local government infrastructure.”

Indeed, in June 2010 it was reported in the mainstream media that:

The NSW Government’s decision to cap developer contributions could see new home owners in greenfields housing estates left without adequate facilities and households facing steep rises in rates, according to the Planning Institute of Australia’s NSW division.
and
PLANNING experts have warned a government decision to cap the amount of money councils can charge developers to pay for infrastructure will increase the cost of new houses - the opposite effect to that intended.
The president of the Planning Institute of Australia, Tony McNamara, said he feared a government imposed cap of $20,000 on developer levies would force up housing prices because councils in growth areas would be reluctant to approve new land for housing subdivisions, exacerbating the housing shortage.
Councils in several growth areas on Sydney's fringe have announced they will refuse to process new development applications, saying they cannot pay for the shortfall in infrastructure that will result from the new rules.

While this move is part of a NSW Government plan to eventually reduce the cost of State infrastructure contributions.

Now I can understand Williamson getting carried away by his enthusiasm for higher office and vamping a mayoral media release of what is essentially old news canvassed twice in mid-2010 in newspaper articles It's a taxing argument and Developer cap not a concern for CV, but what I cannot understand is the local media accepting this recent political beat-up so uncritically and churning out what comes perilously close to misinformation.

Thinking of Yaamba in the January 2011 Queensland floods

Here on the NSW North Coast we share a number of similar area names with Queensland – Maclean and Yaamba being the more well-known.

Like Yamba in the Clarence Valley, theYaamba area to the north of Rockhampton is also a rural/regional holiday destination for many and the preferred home to a lucky few.

So, as radio reports begin to inform the nation that the flood gauge at Yaamba this morning reached a reading that just edged above the 16.65m 1991 flood level recorded for that part of the Fitzroy River catchment, I’m sure everyone here at North Coast Voices sends their best wishes to this small rural village and all Queenslanders affected by this massive flood.

Photograph of Yaamba flood makers from the Capricorn Coast Historical Society