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Regional housing squeeze holding back economy

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Regional housing squeeze holding back economy

In-demand workers are facing soaring rents and dwindling vacancies in rural and regional areas, creating an “unsustainable” situation for the agricultural sector.

Tenants are paying at least 10 per cent more than last year for the majority of areas, with Upper Hunter rents the worst – jumping by 22.9 per cent. Communities with strong agricultural bases, such as Forbes, the Richmond Valley, Yass and Wagga Wagga were among those with 15 per cent rent rises, while the number of rental vacancies was far lower than the number of job ads, a trend NSW Farmers Workplace Relations chair Chris Stillard said was “unsustainable”.

“I know everyone is feeling the pinch with higher costs at the supermarket and rising electricity prices, but if people can’t afford to live in these places then we won’t get the workers we need to produce our food and fibre,” Mr Stillard said.

“Farmers are often at the bleeding edge of cost-of-living pain, taking lower and lower prices for our produce while paying more and more to grow it, and we absolutely empathise with rural and regional renters.

“This is a problem that needs to be solved, and soon.”

The issue of housing access and affordability was a key issue facing local, state and federal governments, and there were a range of solutions put forward, such as reducing short-term holiday rentals, building pre-fabricated homes for workers, and/or changing planning rules.

Mr Stillard said all options needed to be on the table and called for an urgent review that looked beyond metropolitan areas to the specific needs of rural, remote and regional communities.

“Available housing in rural, remote and regional areas is scarce – while the rental vacancy rate in the regions has lifted from last year, it is still below what would be considered a balanced market,” he said.

“If you look at Echuca and Moama, there are 22 rental vacancies and an additional 27 vacancies on AirBNB – those are additional properties that could be used to ease the rental market.

“It’s a similar situation in communities right across the state, and we’ve heard many stories of businesses buying old pubs or motels to house their workforce. If we’re going to attract doctors and nurses and teachers and tradies to regional areas we need somewhere for them to live.”

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Casino Beef Week

Four decades of cooperation on display through Casino Beef Week sponsorship

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Bindaree Food Group CEO Andrew McDonald

Four decades of cooperation on display through Casino Beef Week sponsorship

 

Bindaree Food Group is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Casino Beef Week 2024 Industry Dinner, continuing more than four decades of involvement with the Casino community and nearby producers.

The Bindaree Food Group Industry Dinner will be held on Thursday, 23rd May at The Clydesdale Motel and Steakhouse.

As part of its sponsorship arrangement, the company is planning an industry panel discussion to explore the major issues confronting beef producers now and into the foreseeable future. Details of the panellists will be made available in coming weeks.

Comments attributable to Bindaree Food Group CEO Andrew McDonald:

Bindaree Food Group started its operations at the Casino Food Co-Op in 1981, and we’ve maintained strong ties with the region ever since.

Although we have facilities across Australia, the Casino region continues to play an important role for us in both supply and production.

For this reason, sponsoring the Casino Food Co-Op Casino Beef Week Industry Dinner is a very natural extension of that 43-year relationship with the town and region.

I expect that the dinner will produce a lively discussion about the opportunities and challenges we currently confront as an industry.

I also look forward to sharing some of the exciting developments for the Bindaree Food Group, such as our recent and upcoming investments in plant and equipment, which total around $60 million.

These upgrades benefit regional NSW beef producers, including in Casino, by allowing us to compete more strongly on global markets.

I am certain this will be a memorable event for everyone lucky enough to attend, and I am delighted that Bindaree Food Group is ‘coming home’ to Casino Beef Week.

 

For more Casino Beef Week news, click here.

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Tweed Shire, Rous funded to protect estuarine areas

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NSW-Northern-Rivers-Breaking-News

Tweed Shire, Rous funded to protect estuarine areas

 

LISMORE MP Janelle Saffin says the NSW Government is supporting Tweed Shire Council and Rous Country Council to manage important estuarine areas with grants totalling $291,663.

Ms Saffin says the funding received under the implementation stream of the 2023-24 Coastal and Estuary Grants Management Program will be welcomed by the councils and local residents who valued work to protect our environment.

Tweed Shire Council will receive $263,733 towards stabilising erosion and enhancing riparian and aquatic habitat condition on a 500-metre length of the Tweed River estuary at Tygalgah.

The site is predominantly sugar cane land with no native riparian vegetation. Erosion is occurring due to a combination of wake waves undermining banks, and block failure following high flows when soils are saturated.

This rehabilitation project will build a minimum crest height rock revetment to protect the riverbank from wake wave impact.

Rous County Council will receive $27,930 towards revegetating and rehabilitating a 675-metre riparian length and 1.5 hectares of riparian and gully habitat fronting the Wilsons River Tidal Pool at Woodlawn, upstream of Lismore.

The area is of high ecological importance and contributes to estuary health in the Richmond River catchment. The project includes subtropical rainforest plantings along the Wilsons River edge, with new stock-proof fencing, improved farm management and open woodland and wetlands plantings in the gully line.

This project will be a demonstration of best practice methods for water quality protection within the Wilsons River Tidal Pool.

Both projects are among 34 coastal management projects funded with a total of $11.3 million. The NSW Government works in partnership with the councils by also providing technical support to local government under the grants program.

Quotes attributable to Environment Minister Penny Sharpe:

“Each unique part of our coastal has individual challenges and needs.

“I am proud we are funding these 34 projects which will help councils and communities care for their coastal environments.”

 

For more Tweed Shire news, click here.

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SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2024 HAS BEEN CANCELLED

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Splendour in the grass 2024 cancelled

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2024 HAS BEEN CANCELLED

 

By Liam Jennings

To the surprise of many punters, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

The announcement came today (27.03.2024) from an article posted on Tone Deaf stating “Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled, according to music industry reports.”

Splendour in the Grass then released a statement confirming that the festival was being cancelled due to ‘unexpected events’.

“With a heavy heart, we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendour in the Grass 2024, originally scheduled from Friday 19 July to Sunday 21 July in Ngarindjin/North Byron Parklands.” stated event organisers.

“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events we’ll be taking the year off. Ticket holders will be refunded automatically. We thank you for your understanding and will be working hard to be back in future years.”

Splendour in the grass 2024 cancelled

To the surprise of many punters, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

It was then followed up by a quote from Jessica Ducrou & Paul Piticco, co-CEOs of Secret Sounds, “We’re heartbroken to be missing a year especially after more than two decades in operation. This festival has always been a huge community effort, and we’d like to thank everyone for their support and overall faith. We hope to be back in the future.”

Many fans have taken to social media to vent their frustration, resulting in the official social media pages for Splendour in the grass disabling their comment section.

This news comes only one week after tickets went on sale to the public.

This has left festival goers believing it may be due to low ticket sales, similar to the announcement that Groovin the Moo 2024 has also been cancelled from insignificant sales.

Other festival organisers are blaming the cost of living on low ticket sales, however, large scale concerts, such as Fred Again, Taylor Swift, and recently Hozier, have all sold out within minutes. This is leaving fans to believe if it is in fact cost of living pressures, or festival organisers booking acts that don’t resonate with their audiences.

What to do if you’ve purchased tickets for the event:

If you have purchased tickets for Splendour in the Grass 2024, you don’t need to do anything – your ticket(s) will be automatically refunded back to your credit card/PayPal account and Moshtix will let you know when this has been done. Refunds will be processed within the next 5-10 business days.

Visit www.moshtix.com.au for any issues in relation to ticket refunding.

 

For more entertainment news, click here.

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