2017 Green Globe Awards

Inspirational projects including local business Stone & Wood and Enova Community Energy.  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/awards-and-recognition/green-globe-awards/awards/2017-winners

Draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan 2017

On exhibition until 20 December.  The full exhibition material, including mapping and fact sheets and information on community sessions, is available on the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage page of Council’s website.

Koala Mapping and Sighting Records

Tweed Shire Council interactive koala habitat restoration mapping is now live! Links to the mapping and to report a sighting can be found on Councils website  http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Koalas You can assist by sending in your sighting including a photo if taken. These sightings can also be viewed by the public. It is important for the conservation…

Draft Crown Land Management Regulation 2017

Future protection, management, use, transfer or sale of our publicly owned Crown Lands will be defined by the draft Regulation now on exhibition.  The Regulations underpin the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW). Comment can be made until midnight on Sunday 15 October 2017. Documents that explain the Draft Regulation and inform submissions are: Draft Crown Land Management…

Limpinwood logging – Private Native Forestry – Hewittville Pty. Ltd.

Logging on a property of high ecological significance at Limpinwood is causing grave concerns for locals and all people who care about native wildlife, habitat for rare and threatened species, cultural heritage, and corridor connectivity to World Heritage Areas. Unauthorised works happened on this property in 2014.  Read the back story. On 7 September 2017…

Stop Adani Big Day of Action Cabarita 7 Oct

11am – 1pm.  Norries Headland, Cabarita.  Join forces with the Stop Adani campaign to create human signs at iconic locations across Australia. At the local event there will be photos at the headland followed by a picnic, so please spread the word, wear red, bring a picnic rug and something to eat.

Transport Forum 25 September Murwillumbah

How do you feel about the future of public transport in our region? A Public Forum will be held on Monday 25th September, 6 pm – 9 pm at Murwillumbah Community Centre. Speakers: Katie Milne – Tweed Shire Mayor Dr Mehreen Faruqi – NSW MP & Transport spokesperson Geoff Reid – Northern Rivers Railway Action…

Protecting our paddock trees

Paddock trees are big, old, majestic native trees that often stand alone like sentinels from another time. They graciously provide shelter for stock, nectar for honeybees, hollows for nesting, and places of rest and safety for weary wildlife. Studies have shown economic and environmental benefits from keeping paddock trees and small patches of native trees…

New solar bulk buy

Community partnered bulk buy information sessions – Sept 12-14th: Tweed, M’bah, Ballina, Lismore, Byron.  The first “Farming the Sun” bulk buy round was fully subscribed. Bulk buys save 20-29% on retail prices. The “Farming the Sun” group is up front with all their pricing and offers. Also included are prices for Reposit systems. The scheme focuses on tier…

Living for the Future Home Expo

Saturday, 16 September 2017 A free, family-friendly event offering a one-stop-shop of stalls and practical workshops to help people embrace sustainable living principles, find out more about smart housing designs and renovations to help create more affordable and environmentally-friendly homes and lifestyles in the Tweed. Be inspired and informed: See the winners announced for the 2017…

Draft Wildlife Protection Areas Policy

This is a great initiative by Council to protect and improve high conservation value public land by reducing threats to wildlife from the impacts of domestic cats and dogs. Draft Wildlife Protection Areas Policy The draft Policy is on public exhibition until 12 September 2017.  Community is invited to comment by 26 September 2017. Submissions…

Sunlight and Seaweed

Sunlight and Seaweed , the most recent book by Tim Flannery is a must-read book for all who want to look straight ahead at climate change and its effect on our planet and our lives. Importantly it is a book that presents hopeful solutions in the face of these challenges. Flannery believes we cannot now…

Kings Forest – proposed modification 

The modification request seeks approval to: Implement a revised Koala Plan of Management (KPOM) which includes changes to the location and quantity of koala habitat offsets within the site; Remove the requirement to plant koala food trees on a 27hectare parcel of land within the Cudgen Nature Reserve; Revise the ‘commencement of works’ definition to provide consistency with the approval issued under sections 130 and 133 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Approval 2012/6328); Revise the locations of the koala fencing and fauna underpasses, and amend the timing for the construction of this infrastructure; Remove the requirement to provide traffic calming devices to manage potential koala movements across the site; and Remove references to the KPOM dated August 2012 and insert references to the revised KPOM. Tweed Valley Weekly 29 June 2017 The modifications explained. NSW Planning: details of the proposal and where to make a submission. Submissions open til 18 August 2017

Gold Coast Airport ILS

Gold Coast Airport (GCA) ILS development facilitates provisions for increased runway operational length south.  Attached is the final design of the ILS development footprint on the NSW Crown Reserve for Public Recreation/Conservation with construction to commence shortly. The additional element in the footprint on the Reserve immediately adjacent to the GCA’s southern boundary that has never appeared…

Build it Local Design Competition

Build it Local challenges entrants to design a family home in a typical suburban context, using approved and/or non-approved materials sourced from our collective backyard in the Northern Rivers region to reduce the embodied footprint of the build. The theme also extends to using local labour, an owner builder model or a combination of the…

Koala Awareness Walk Sun 23 July

10am meet at Lions Park (in front of Bowls Club), southern end Marine Parade, Kingscliff.  To raise awareness of the plight of the endangered Tweed Coast Koalas.  For more information contact facebook.com/teamkoalatweed  

National Tree Day Sun 30 July

Tweed Shire Council is hosting the National Tree Day planting this year at Pat Smith Park, Dulguigan. The site is located on Dungay Creek at the confluence of the Rous River, one the major tributaries of the Tweed River. We are aiming to restore riparian habitat and beautify the park. Time: 9:00am to 1:00pm Directions: If…

EDO workshop – environmental law and policy relating to koalas

Sunday 2 July 2017, 2-4pm.  Friends of the Koala Inc. will host a free EDO NSW workshop in Lismore explaining key environmental laws and policies that impact koalas. The workshop will cover development assessment processes under NSW planning law, and the new biodiversity and land clearing laws. Participants will also receive guidance on how to participate…

Threatened Species Children’s Art Competition

Open from June 5 to August 4 to all primary aged children in NSW and the ACT. Fifty finalists’ works will hang in a two week exhibition in September, with winners announced on September 7, Threatened Species Day. http://www.threatenedspeciesartcomp.net.au/

Wild About Pottsville – Sunday 25 June

Celebration of our local wildlife!  9am – Noon , Pottsville Marketplace, Philip Street. Enquiries to Kim Stephen, Council’s Threatened Species Officer on 66702419.          Program of activities

Cultivating Murder Saturday 3 June Regent Cinema Mbah

On the 29th July 2014 Glen Turner a compliance officer with the Office of Environment and Heritage was shot four times by a farmer and died on the side of an isolated public road in NSW, 40 kms from Moree. Cultivating Murder tells the story of what happened and follows the murder trial to discover why…

Boomerang Bags Sewing Bee Sunday 28 May

With 8 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans annually, affecting our food chain, killing off ecosystems, marine mammals, fish and seabirds, as well as clogging up our landfill, Let’s Waste Less believes we can’t ‘waste’ time waiting for the NSW government to act. We want Murwillumbah to get on the plastic bag ‘ban’ wagon.…

Threatened Species Recovery Fund

Applications close for this National Landcare Programme funding on 15 June 2017.  Funding is for projects between $20,000 and $250,000.  Visit: http://www.nrm.gov.au/national/threatened-species-recovery-fund

How does Aboriginal culture relate to bush regeneration? Tues 23 May

This free workshop is suitable for those who do bush regeneration either professionally or as a volunteer. How does Aboriginal culture relate to bush regeneration? Good question! It’s not just about what to look out for but what protocols need to be followed. Come along to a free workshop to find out why Aboriginal Cultural…

The fungi photography of Steve Axford

Nimbin Bush Theatre – Sunday 21st May – 11am   Entry by donation – Hosted by Nimbin Bushwalkers Club For this special event Steve Axford gives a presentation on his time lapse photography of fungi and mushrooms sourced from our local rainbow region rainforests and used in the acclaimed David Attenborough BBC documentary film –…

Keep speaking out against Adani

A message from GetUp.. Since we last spoke, we’ve had two huge wins against Adani. The momentum is palpable. First, after almost 8,000 of you chipped in to run a huge marginal seats campaign, another Coalition MP has publicly defied Turnbull over the $1 billion dollar Adani loan.  The campaign is now in full swing,…

World Environment Day Festival 2017

The Caldera Environment Centre’s annual World Environment Day Festival will be held on Sunday 4 June at Knox Park, Murwillumbah from 10am-3pm. Be entertained by the Pitts Family Circus, Hoopla Kids Circus, children’s activity space and music by Taraf Tambal – Balkan Gypsy Band, Monkey and The Fish and Broadfoot, who put a smile on everybody’s face. Listen…

Northern Rivers solar & batteries community bulk buy

Love clean renewable energy as much as we do? Here’s an opportunity to be a part of the uptake of renewables right here in the Northern Rivers. This April, the Northern Rivers will have it’s very own community bulk buy for solar and batteries – making the process easy and accessible, at lower prices. Find out…

‘A Plastic Ocean’ screening in M’bah 29 April

Don’t miss this award-winning film that Sir David Attenborough calls ‘The most important film of our time’, which focuses on the impact of plastic in our oceans, marine life and our own health. To reserve your tickets, please visit the Demand Film Event Page here: https://tickets.demand.film/event/1601. Unlike a traditional movie showing, my Demand Film screening requires…

New report into biodiversity offsetting

A message from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Dear Members, As you may have seen in the news, at the Nature Conservation Council we’ve just released a new report into biodiversity offsetting schemes in NSW. The report, titled ‘Paradise Lost: The weakening and widening of NSW Biodiversity offsetting schemes, 2005-2016’ is a thorough analysis…

Understanding North Coast Soils Workshop 8 April postponed

A one day workshop in Murwillumbah.  Postponed due to flooding. Management factors to enhance soil health will be covered in addition to elements of importance for soil biological function and microbiol activity. To register and for more information on program and venue contact Judi Earl on 0409 151 969 or email judi@aimsag.com.au Understanding Our Soils…

NSW Planning Law Changes 2017

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2017 is on public exhibition until Friday 31 March 2017. EDO submission. EDO Briefing Note – Six big changes to the Planning Act in 2017 (and three missed opportunities). EDO seminar slides. EDO Planning Reform Podcast.