Lismore Young women and Teen Showgirls announced

By Samantha Elley

For the first time since the 2022 floods the North Coast National Young Woman and Teen Showgirl titles were able to be held at home at Norma’s Kitchen in the Lismore Showgrounds.

And what an event it was, with seven young women vying for the two titles.

Maddy Dillon and Rose Mills both walked away with the title of Young Woman and Teen Showgirl respectively.

North Coast National President John Gibson said it was great to be home.

“It gives us a lot of confidence to promote our show,” he said.

“And we’ve had an increase in sponsors.”

Winners and runners up of the Young Women and Teen Showgirl competitions

Young Woman

For the Young Woman title, there were four ladies, from office worker, to disability support worker, to farmers, who shared their dreams and hopes for their community and the reasons why they entered the competition.

The girls were Charlie Murray, Lucinda Downs, Maddy Dillon and Eliza O’Toole.

“I had always seen the competition and wanted to give it a crack,” said Young Woman winner, Maddy Dillon.

As a young dairy farmer from Coraki she is up at 4am to milk and talk to the cows.

“In five years time I would like to have an investment property and a couple of kids,” she said.

She received $1,000 from the Far North Coast Law Society, a prize from the Jewellery Design Centre and a Mortgage Choice sponsored deportment course.

Runner up was Charlie Murray who works at the Casino Food Co-op and is very involved being with cattle.

“My dream is to go to Canada to see how beef is done there,” she said.

“I’d also like to go to the Calgary Stampede.”

Young Women winners

Teen Showgirl

The three competitors for the Teen Showgirl were Isabella Johnson, Shenae Flanagan and Rose Mills.

Winner, Rose Mills said she wants to study human rights law.

“I really like the concept that everybody is equal and we are all God’s creation,” she said.

When asked what change she would like to see, Rose wanted more opportunities for the younger generation.

“We are going to be the future,” she said.

“We need more jobs, places to go and things to do.”

She won $250 from Warren Innes Contracting.

Runner up Teen Showgirl was Shenae Flanagan who is studying beauty therapy and has a dream to work in the movies as a make-up artist.

The change she would like to see is less empty houses in the area and less homelessness.

“You can see many of our houses are empty and people living in caravans and pods,” she said.

“I would love to have the government get them back in their homes.”

Teen Showgirl winners

The judges Jeri Hall, Lyndall Gordon and Joe Martin.

Both Maddy and Rose will now go on to the zone level of the showgirl competition.

Dwelling Entitlement Exemption: Facilitating House Relocations in Lismore

Lismore City Council has received an exemption from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) to assist with the relocation of homes purchased through the NSW Reconstruction Authority’s Resilient Homes program. This exemption allows the Council to consider relocating dwellings to rural allotments where no current dwelling entitlement exists, potentially opening up more sites for housing in the region.

Under the Lismore Local Environmental Plan (LEP), rural allotments typically need to meet a minimum lot size (40 hectares or 20 hectares in some areas) for a dwelling entitlement. While many smaller rural lots still have entitlements based on historical planning controls, others do not, often because they were once part of larger land holdings. A dwelling entitlement does not guarantee that a dwelling can be built or relocated but permits the Council to assess a Development Application (DA) to determine if the site is suitable.

Lismore City Council Mayor Steve Krieg emphasized the community’s interest in repurposing structurally sound homes from the buy-back program to provide housing for local families.
“Our community wants to use these abandoned but structurally sound homes across the Northern Rivers to house local families,” Mayor Krieg said. “We worked with the NSW Government to find a solution where more historic homes could be saved and relocated outside the flood plain.”

Graham Snow, Council’s Head of Planning and Environment, added,
“It doesn’t make sense to abandon homes that could be used to house people. This exemption offers a chance to relocate these houses to suitable rural sites, though finding the right locations remains a challenge.”

Key Points of the Exemption:

• The exemption allows Lismore Council to consider rural sites without existing dwelling entitlements for potential house relocations.
• Sites must meet certain criteria, such as considering buffers to agriculture, watercourses, vehicle access, biodiversity, and risks from bushfire and flooding. Sites within the flood planning area are not suitable.
• The exemption applies for two years, until September 30, 2026.
• No additional rural subdivisions below minimum lot sizes are allowed—the exemption only applies to existing lots.

The exemption is expected to benefit recipients of the buy-back program and increase opportunities to relocate historic timber homes, as development on some designated Resilient Lands sites may take years to complete.

More details and the full Fact Sheet about the exemption and re-siting dwellings are available on the Council’s Future Housing page under the Relocating Dwellings tab at www.lismore.nsw.gov.au.

New Trial for Safe Disposal of Embedded Batteries, Including Vapes, Launches in Lismore

The Lismore Community Recycling Centre is participating in a new NSW Government trial designed to help households safely dispose of embedded batteries commonly found in wireless products such as light-up toys, single-use vapes, and other electronics. The initiative, led by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in collaboration with Lismore City Council, aims to reduce the number of these problematic products ending up in landfills and mitigate fire hazards caused by battery disposal in household bins.

As part of the trial, the Lismore Community Recycling Centre on Wyrallah Road is now accepting embedded battery products from households and small businesses free of charge. This new service will help the community safely dispose of products with built-in batteries that cannot be easily removed, such as:

• Single-use vapes
• Electric toothbrushes
• E-bikes
• Smart watches
• Portable speakers
• Vacuums

Embedded batteries, often made of lithium-ion, pose unique challenges for waste management due to their difficulty to recycle and their potential to cause fires. In 2023, the number of lithium-ion battery-related fires in NSW surged to 285, more than double the previous year.

Dedicated Bins Now Available

Lismore is one of 21 community recycling centres across NSW taking part in this EPA-led trial, which includes dedicated bins specifically for embedded battery products. E-waste items such as laptops, gaming controllers, and tablets should still be directed to Lismore Council’s e-waste collection service.

The trial is active and will run until September 2026. More information can be found on the NSW EPA website at: NSW EPA Embedded Batteries.

Community and Environmental Benefits

Janelle Saffin MP, Member for Lismore, praised the initiative, saying: “This trial is a much-needed initiative that will help protect our local community and environment by reducing the number of embedded-battery products that are mistakenly disposed of in yellow and red kerbside bins. We hope Lismore residents will learn more about these products, the risks they pose, and the importance of correct disposal.”

Penny Sharpe, Minister for the Environment, also highlighted the importance of the trial: “We want to make it easier for people to do the right thing with embedded batteries, to help prevent fires in bins, rubbish trucks, and waste facilities, while reducing what goes to landfill. The majority of embedded battery products, including disposable vapes, end up in rubbish bins where they pose significant risks. This trial will help mitigate those hazards and increase recycling efforts.”

The trial represents a significant step towards a safer and more sustainable approach to managing hazardous materials in NSW.