WetlandCare Australia would like to invite the wider community to join them for a community tree planting day at Clothiers Creek Road near Cabarita Beach on the 15th of May to improve habitat for the Tweed coastal Koala population. WetlandCare Australia is collaborating with project partners Friends of Cudgen Nature Reserve, National Parks and Wildlife…
EDO Update on Protest Laws
Inquiry into water augmentation in rural and regional New South Wales
The NSW Legislative Council’s General Purpose Standing Committee No.5 is currently conducting an inquiry into water augmentation in rural and regional New South Wales. The closing date for submissions is14 August 2016. The inquiry will take place over 18 months, and the committee intends to hold public hearings across rural and regional New South Wales,…
Renewables in agriculture workshop
Find out how your farm business can benefit from clean energy technologies to move water. Learn from industry experts and solar providers about selecting the right solar powered pump for your agricultural needs. Speakers will explain what government incentives are available, top tips on energy efficient pumps and how to plan for future climate variability.…
CEC Fun Raiser Dinner
Do you want an inflatable aquatic ‘fun park’ in Jack Evans Boat Harbour?
This idea was proposed in late 2013 by Councillor Polglase and subsequently rejected by Councillors, 4 votes to 2. Aquasplash fun park operators have now approached Tweed Shire Council about such a facility in Jack Evans Boat Harbour. Aquasplash operates a business at Broadwater Parklands at Southport on the Gold Coast. CEC has been contacted…
World Environment Day Festival – Sunday 19 June 2016 – Knox Park Murwillumbah
Come Join The Race To Make The World A Better Place! FREE environmental celebration and educational community fun day. With Live Music – Andrea Kirwin Band, Broadfoot The Pitts Family Circus – Tasty Food – Environmental and Sustainable business stalls – Kids’ activities in the kids tent and workshop with Hoopla Circus – Enviro quest…
Fun Raising Dinner
ISSUES – Gold Coast Airport Pty. Ltd. (GCA) Instrument Landing System (ILS) Preliminary Draft Major Development Plan (MDP)
INTRODUCTION Federally-leased airports in Australia are required to produce a Master Plan (MP) every 5yrs. This is effectively a blueprint for the future coordinated development of an airport over a 20yr period, with an emphasis on the first 5yrs. It includes information relating to forecast growth, airport terminals and facilities, runways and incorporates an environmental…
Save Ballina’s Koalas & Treetops
Dear Friends of the Koala The March issue of Treetops is already late and will be later still. In part this is due to the critical stage of our campaign to persuade the Federal Minister for the Environment to reject the Ballina Koala Plan and determine against proceeding with the route chosen for Section 10…
Draft North Coast Regional Plan
Further consultation on NSW coastal reforms
Media release – 25 February 2016 Planning Minister Rob Stokes today announced a second stage of targeted consultation on the NSW Government’s coastal reforms, in response to valuable community feedback already obtained during the initial consultation phase. Mr Stokes said that proposals for a new Coastal Management State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) had been on…
CEC submission to NSW coastal reforms
Caldera Environment Centre (CEC) has been established in Tweed Shire for the past 25 years to promote the protection of the environment. Tweed Shire has a highly diverse coastal area which over the past years has been the subject of CEC campaigns. A major campaign was the protection of the large Pottsville Wetlands which includes…
Public Meeting 14 March – Gold Coast Airport Expansion Plans
Environmental Volunteering Survey – Are you an environmental volunteer?
The NSW Environmental Trust is planning new initiatives to better support environmental volunteers and volunteer programs, but we need to know what is important to volunteers first. To discover this, the Trust is conducting a survey of environmental volunteers and we would really appreciate your participation so that we can include your views. Who should…
Stand up for nature – sign the petition to stop Baird’s war on trees!
Our unique and beautiful natural heritage in NSW is in crisis. Without urgent action, many our species of native wildlife, including the iconic koala, will become extinct within our lifetime. Without adopting new, sensitive approaches to land management, our farmers will find it harder than ever to provide food and fibre sustainably in the face…
NCC submission guide on NSW coastal reforms
EDO workshop presentation: NSW Coastal Reforms
Draft Water Sharing Plan for the North Coast Coastal Sands Groundwater Sources
The draft Water Sharing Plan for the North Coast Coastal Sands Groundwater Sources includes proposed rules for protecting the environment, water extractions, managing licence holders’ water accounts, and water trading in the plan area. The draft plan area comprises all coastal sand aquifers from the Queensland border to the Hawkesbury River. Set back distances from…
FREE EDO WORKSHOP: How to Have Your Say: NSW Coastal Management reforms
Caldera Environment Centre will host a free EDO NSW workshop in Cabarita to explain the new draft framework for coastal management for NSW and how the community can have their say and respond to the reforms. Late last year the NSW Government released the coastal management reforms package proposing new laws and significant changes to…
CEC response to Northern Councils E Zone Recommendations
Honourable Rob Stokes Minister for Planning office@stokes.minister.nsw.gov.au 14th December 2015 Northern Councils E Zones Recommendations Dear Mr Stokes Members of Caldera Environment Centre would like to submit their concerns in relation to the recommendations of the E Zone review of northern councils as they relate to Tweed Shire. A recent public workshop on the recommendations…
Tweed water supply augmentation
At Council meeting on 10th December the following motion was passed on the casting vote of the Mayor. Mayoral Minute Water Supply Augmentation 1. Based on the information currently available, Council adopts the raising of the wall of the Clarrie Hall Dam as the preferred option for future water security and proceeds with the planning…
EDO Briefing Note on E Zone Reforms
The Environmental Defenders Office has prepared a briefing note outlining the NSW Government’s changes to the way that councils can set land aside for environmental conservation and management in the Far North Coast of NSW, and the wider implications of these changes for the rest of the State. Read the Briefing Note
After the EDO workshop about reforms to environmental zones
The Environmental Defenders Office visited Tweed on 24 November to explain recent changes to environmental zones in the North Coast. CEC is preparing a response to these state government reforms. Thank you to all the people who came along to the workshop and to those who contributed to supper. The workshop was very well attended.…
Nature Conservation Council of NSW – Major changes to Coastal Protection Laws
NSW Planning Minister, Rob Stokes, has announced major changes to NSW coastal protection laws. Our assessment is that there are positive aspects to the reforms, which involve: * Replacing the current Coastal Protection Act with a new Coastal Management Act * Replacing the current NSW Coastal Policy with a new Coastal Manual * Replacing existing…
Legal Guides – EDO NSW
COUNCIL VOTES ON DAM ISSUES THIS THURS 19th 4pm at Council Chambers.
Yes we knew it could resurface and it’s not much warning! Please come along & support the No Dam at Byrrill Creek cause. The Council’s Staff Report recommends raising the Clarrie Hall Dam as the first choice. The report highlights the risks and expense of a dam at Byrrill Creek over the Clarrie Hall option.…
GREEN VOICE on TPP
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) threat by Peter Whish-Wilson MP. From the NSW Greens quarterly Green Voice The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the biggest trade deal in Australia’s history and has been negotiated in total secrecy. Few people have had access to the draft agreement. Large corporations have been able to see portions…
Grants Available for Caring for the land
Minister Joyce has announced the opening of the National Landcare Programme Sustainable Agriculture Small Grants Round 2015-16 (Small Grants Round). Grants of between $5 500 and $55 000 (GST inclusive) are available for projects that will achieve the objectives of the programme. The programme objectives are: increase the capacity and knowledge of farmers and fishers…
‘Travelogue of the Tweed’ screening as part of Tweed River Festival
See rare footage of Tweed’s early days 1923 film ‘Travelogue of the Tweed’ screening as part of Tweed River Festival Rare moving images of the Tweed River and surrounding districts will be shown at a special screening of the historic film Travelogue of the Tweed 1923 at Murwillumbah ’s Regent Cinema on Wednesday 28 October. …
World Climate Change Rally
Tweed elects its first Greens mayor
Luis Feliu Tweed shire has its first Greens mayor after Cr Katie Milne’s name was drawn out of a box in a surprise election ballot last night. Cr Milne’s luck was sealed when a tied 3-3 vote with factional opponent Cr Warren Polglase had to be split by council’s returning officer Neil Baldwin drawing a…
Northern Rivers Guardians and the Environmental Protection act
Scott Sledge, Lois Levey and Greg Reid (Photo and article from Tweed Daily News) ENVIRONMENTAL group the Northern Rivers Guardians have called for local residents to unite against the Federal Government’s proposed change to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. The changes would repeal an ability for individuals, communities and environmental groups to…
What Every Environmentalist Needs To Know about Capitalism
A Citizen’s Guide to Capitalism and the Environment by Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster There is a growing consensus that the planet is heading toward environmental catastrophe: climate change, ocean acidification, ozone depletion, global freshwater use, loss of biodiversity, and chemical pollution all threaten our future unless we act. What is less clear is…
CEC on Geo-Engineering, Fluoride, EMR, nano-particles etc
The Caldera Environment Centre The CEC is a serious environmental organisation and is concerned with tangible environmental issues such as land-clearance, illegal development, and enforcement of environmental regulation. The current energy being devoted to issues such as geo-engineering, chem-trails, fluoride and other conspiracy theories is not something we support in any way at all. The…
Time to get the economics of environment right
Ross Gittins You get the feeling Tony Abbott doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about what our economic activity is doing to our natural environment. In which case, those of us who do care about ecological sustainability – including many Coalition voters and, in all probability, Abbott’s successor, whether Liberal or Labor – will have…
A Win for The Environment in Hague Court
Marjan Minnesma, Director of Dutch NGO Urgenda. Just under a month ago, Marjan Minnesma stood weeping with joy in a Dutch courtroom, as three judges handed her and nearly 900 co-plaintiffs a resounding victory in their battle to force the Netherlands government to adopt more stringent climate action targets. Now she is in Australia with a…
Objection to Repeal of North Coast Regional Environmental Plan
Hi everyone, DoPE are proposing on getting rid of the North Coast Regional Environmental Plan (1988), apparently because it requires a variety of environmental values to be protected in environmental zones in Local Environmental Plans. This is part of their plan to stop far north coast Councils from implementing their environment zones. It would be…
The Trans-Pacific Partnership : A Free Trade Agreement?
21.06.2015 Author: James ONeill New Eastern Outlook The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) currently nearing its final stages of negotiation purports to be about increasing trade and economic co-operation among its twelve negotiating parties. These twelve countries include the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Significantly, it does not include China. The agreement is being…
Reduce Energy Use in the Home
By Andy Yeomans (from his presentation at the W.E.D Festival June 7 2015) Whilst renewable power generation and storage are rapidly becoming cheaper in dollar terms, they still require significant resources. We should not be wasting any resource so energy efficiency is still very important. Two main…
The TTP [TPP] and TTIP Trade Agreements: “A Dystopian Future in which Corporations Rather Than Elected Governments Call the Shots”
By Eric Zuesse Global Research, May 06, 2015 The Obama-proposed international-trade deals, if passed into law, will lead to “a dystopian future in which corporations and not democratically elected governments call the shots,” says Alfred De Zayas, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order. These two mammoth trade-pacts, one…
World Environment Day Festival 2015
The Caldera Environment Centre (CEC) is pleased to announce that their Green Energy and waste wise event will highlight the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) “International Year of the Soil”. The CEC with support from Tweed Shire Council will run an environmentally affirming Family Fun Day in Knox Park, Murwillumbah on Sunday 7 June, from…
Danish climate contrarian Bjorn Lomborg’s “Consensus Centre”
The University of Western Australia announced last Friday that it would no longer house Danish climate contrarian Bjorn Lomborg’s “Consensus Centre” – a fantastic outcome for science. Unfortunately, Lomborg’s Centre is still trying to establish itself in Australia, and this is deeply troubling. We’re concerned that the Centre would be focused on spreading misinformation presented…
Organic Farming Changes Agriculture from a Huge Carbon Source to a Carbon-DESTROYER
Posted on April 30, 2015 by WashingtonsBlog From Source of 35% of All Carbon Worldwide to Carbon Sink Science China Press reports (via the American Association for the Advancement of Science): Approximately 35% of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) come from agriculture. Some argues that human can reverse global worming by sequestering several hundred billion tons…
Fukushima Worse than Chernobyl- ENENEWS
Fukushima Worse than Chernobyl: “Effects of Radiation Have Become Much More Severe” — “Enormous Decline” in Animal Species By ENENews Global Research, April 21, 2015 ENENews 17 April 2015 Dr. Tim Mousseau, USC biologist: “The declines have been really dramatic… now we see this really striking drop-off in numbers of birds as well as numbers…
Technology To Decommission Fukushima Needs To Be Invented: Tepco
By Richard Wilcox Global Research, April 06, 2015 Activist Post 5 April 2015 Anyone with a brain could have told you back in 2011 at the time of the Fukushima nuclear triple meltdown that Tokyo Electric (Tepco) was lying about the true condition of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 (“Dai-ichi”). Four years later,…
Fracking will ruin sacred, preserved sites in the ‘American cradle of civilization’ – lawsuit
Published time: March 14, 2015 16:37 From rt.com A Navajo advocacy group has asked a federal judge to halt hydraulic fracking permits in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, claiming that drilling threatens a historic UNESCO heritage site considered sacred by Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo peoples. Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment and three…
Shutting off Tap Water: Revenge of the Rainforest
by Robert Hunziker / February 27th, 2015 From Dissident Voice Imagine this scenario: The following is a Public Service Announcement by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Water, July 4, 2015: Because of low water levels in state reservoirs, the Division of Water proclaims a statewide water-rationing program. Starting next month, on…
Building Resilience and Limits To Growth: Nicole Foss
We are approaching many limits to growth over the next decades: Economic contraction, peak energy and geopolitical stress. Nicole Foss explains how the deflationary dynamics that always follow finance and property bubbles will rapidly impact individuals and communities, while the longer acting forces of peak oil and climate change will limit the nature of any economic recovery. So how can we adapt?
