Casino NSW News
CASINO AUCTIONEERS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED (CAAI)
CASINO AUCTIONEERS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED (CAAI)
The Casino Auctioneers Association Incorporated (the CAAI) were overwhelmed with the support shown by the community at the public meeting held on the 4th of September at the Casino RSM club.
The CAAI fully support the six motions put forward by members of our community.
The CAAI are calling upon the Mayor and the Councillors to listen to the community and reopen negotiations to allow the selling of cattle at the NRLX to re-commence as soon as possible for the benefit of the livestock vendors and buyers, the Casino business community, the citizens of Casino and the CAAI agents.
Andrew Summerville, President of the CAAI said:
“The CAAI are non-negotiable on relinquishing the responsibility for livestock Pre and Post delivery. This is an important role within the processing of cattle, ensuring animal welfare, vendor satisfaction and guaranteed buyer delivery and is a task best performed by experienced livestock handlers on behalf of their clients. Beyond this, everything is on the table, and we want to have an open dialogue with the Mayor and the Councillors about getting the yards back open as soon as possible. As agents, we can function without access to the yards but both ourselves and our clients want to be there because we can see the harm the closure is doing to Casino which we all know has always been the real beef capital of Australia. It is a travesty”
Mr Summerville went on to explain that despite the plea of the Casino community at last Monday’s community meeting, little progress has been made with respect to the negotiation of the terms of the proposed the Agents’ Licences:
“To be frank, we are a little in the dark. At the meeting the consensus of the Community was clear with the Council indicating that they would give all concerns raised due consideration and the General Manager, Vaughan McDonald, making it clear that he would move to implement whatever decisions the Council made about the matter. We were therefore surprised when having made it clear that all options were on the table, a meeting we had expected to occur with the Mayor, to progress things, was cancelled by the General Manager.”
“We were also disappointed by the comments on social media by Councillor Robert Hayes who criticised the attendees of the meeting by stating: “I am estimating that 50% of them don’t even reside in the RVC area”. Not only do we disagree with his assessment, it is unhelpful and failed to recognise the presence of livestock vendors from beyond the RVC who pay fees to utilise NRLX to the benefit of the Council. These are people that also want to see cattle back in the yards and we should be supporting them because they are on our side.”
A copy of Cr Hayes statement has been attached.
When asked about what the future holds Mr Summerville remains optimistic but also realistic:
“We have not been idle here at the CAAI. We remain optimistic that a deal can be reached with the Council and promptly. This remains the most sensible and best approach for all involved and we remain very hopeful that cool heads will prevail, and an understanding can be reached.”
“That being said, and despite the clear will of the community at the meeting, nothing has yet been achieved to bring us any closer to cattle being back in the NRLX. Council needs to act quickly. If they don’t, we’ve been taking legal advice in the background and understand there are various steps we can take to review the Council’s decision making processes. Obviously, that would be a regrettable step when all parties here appear to want the same outcome, but it is one we are prepared to take if need be.”
“The vendors want us there and they want us responsible for their cattle. That’s the way its always been and it’s a special relationship of trust and mutual confidence that develops between vendor, agent and even the buyers. It is not something that can just be undone or replicated; it has been like that since time immemorial and if it comes to it we will fight to preserve that.”
$15 million dollar road opens after landslide
By Samantha Elley
It’s been over three years in the waiting for residents around Naughtons Gap, since the landslide in March 2021, caused by heavy rainfalls that closed Naughtons Gap Road.
Thanks to funding of up to $15.8 million from the State government, however, long detours to Casino or Lismore are now a thing of the past.
Gracie Rambaldini-Gooding was born and bred in the area and still lives in the house she was brought up in.
“I’ve lived here lots and lots and lots of years,” she laughed.
“I went to school down here; we used to walk down this road when it was gravel.”
Taking the barriers off the road
Gracie knows what it is like to be inconvenienced with the road closed.
“I had to go through Manifold Road or Springrove Road which put an extra 25 to 30 minutes on the road and now it’s developed a lot more potholes, so you can only crawl along,” she said.
“Whereas, with our road open here it takes 10-15 minutes to get into town into Casino and 20-25 minutes to Lismore.
“It will now be back to normal.”
Official heads, those who worked on the road and neighbours, gathered last Friday to formally open the road and celebrate the long figurative journey that has been travelled to get it back to normal.
Paul and Allie Connolly’s vintage cars
“This road is a vital link for our community,” said Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow.
“We’ve had a lot of flak over the last 3-4 years to ‘get the bloody thing open’.
“It wasn’t that easy but now we have a $15 million job done on a flat section of road.
“Anywhere else in the local government area would cost about $800,000 for a kilometre, this was 300 metres at $15 million which shows the enormity of the job.”
To understand the scale of the task, Richmond Valley Council General Manager, Vaughan MacDonald said this short stretch of road contained 2,500 cubic metres of concrete under it, to make sure it goes nowhere.
Cake to celebrate the opening
“We’ve got it documented on video,” he said.
“It really does show how, hopefully, in 50 years time it won’t have moved an inch.”
Casino car enthusiasts Paul and Allie Connolly brought two of their vintage cars to be the first to drive over the new stretch of road, adding to the festivity of the day.
“Richmond Valley Council deserves commendation for recognising the value of the new disaster recovery program and acting quickly on it, said NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery and Lismore MP, Janelle Saffin.
“They have achieved value for money and, most importantly, have improved access for the roughly 1000 motorists who were using this road each day before the March 2021 landslip.”
For more local news, click here.
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