$5 million for our rivers and catchment areas

By Samantha Elley

Thanks to a grant from the NSW Government the rivers in the Northern Rivers will be getting a ‘make over’.

Called the Northern Rivers Watershed Initiative, it involves initiating shovel-ready projects to improve water quality in the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond and Evans river catchments.

“I am delighted to be announcing the funding of $5 million for the Northern Rivers Watershed Initiative,” said Lismore state member, Janelle Saffin.

“It’s a whole series of projects, it operates across six local government areas from Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley, Ballina, Tweed, Byron.

“We’ve talked about doing repair and we’ve talked about the Watershed Initiative for a long time and Rous County Council did a lot of work on it.”

The funding became an election commitment which has now come to fruition, according to Ms Saffin.

Works will start in  October, 2024 and is based on the application of a range of natural flood management techniques across the Northern Rivers.

Key projects include:

• Working with macadamia farmers on orchard floor management, water sensitive drainage and soil stabilisation.
• Improvements in waterway condition to establish self-sustaining vegetated buffer zones including weed removal, cattle exclusion and planting 10,000 trees.

Jeremy Stewart, Whian Whian Landcare, Garry Lambert, landholder with wife Margaret, State MP Janelle Saffin, Anthony Acret, Rous County Council and Joseph Leven, Casino Food Co-operative.

This is a major partnership between Rous County Council, Lismore City Council, Richmond Valley Council, Kyogle, Tweed, Byron and Ballina Shire Councils, North coast Local Land Services and the Northern Co-operative Meat Company.

“We are backed by a whole catchment community that is really motivated,” said Anthony Acret, Catchment Assets Manager at Rous County Council.

“We’ve got landcare groups, first nations groups, community organisations that are doing a lot of this work themselves and its great to be able to work with them in partnerships to generate these sorts of outcomes.

“And of course we can’t do this work without partnerships with landholders.”

Garry Lambert is one of those landholders who owns acreage at Boatharbour.

“My interest of course is the land around us but I am a member of the community,” said Mr Lamber, former mayor of Darwin.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to look down at that creek and see the degradation that has happened over many years. That’s the history of farming.

“There’s now a movement to bring some vitality back to these waterways and make them much more productive.”

Mr Lamber said he and his wife were working at regenerative farming practices.

“This is just a perfect way of making sure we can be sustainable, that maximise capacity of the land,” he said.

“But still keeping production happening, because we still need to feed people, still need employment for people but we need to manage the environment.”

For more local news, click here.

The Northern Rivers Times Newspaper Edition 216

The Northern Rivers Times is packed with essential information as we continue our “Meet the Candidates” series. This week, we’re featuring the candidates from Ballina, Kyogle, Lismore, and Richmond Valley, giving you a closer look at the people vying for your vote.

The Northern Rivers Times is packed with essential information as we continue our “Meet the Candidates” series. This week, we’re featuring the candidates from Ballina, Kyogle, Lismore, and Richmond Valley, giving you a closer look at the people vying for your vote.
Our comprehensive 72-page edition is full of insights, interviews, and profiles to help you make an informed decision at the upcoming elections.
Pick up your copy early tomorrow from your nearest Newsagent, Woolworths, or Ampol Foodary service station, general and rural stores. Don’t miss out on this vital resource for the Northern Rivers community!

Our comprehensive 72-page edition is full of insights, interviews, and profiles to help you make an informed decision at the upcoming elections.
Pick up your copy early tomorrow from your nearest Newsagent, Woolworths, or Ampol Foodary service station, general and rural stores. Don’t miss out on this vital resource for the Northern Rivers community!

Deserving Clubs win Ampol IRB Hull Giveaway

Evans Head-Casino SLSC and Batemans Bay SLSC have today been named the winners of Ampol’s Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) Hull giveaway in 2024. The Evans Head-Casino SLSC IRB was on proud display today at Surf Life Saving Australia’s SHARKSKIN IRB National Championships, taking over Miami beach from 18-21 July.

This is the third time the Ampol IRB Competition has run since Ampol’s sponsorship of Surf Life Saving Australia began in 2020. Over 620 responses were received, highlighting the need for clubs to receive this critical piece of equipment.

IRBs are used by surf lifesavers to save lives around the country and were involved in 949 rescues last year. The IRB allows for multiple volunteer surf lifesavers to quickly attend to a rescue in challenging conditions, allowing one of the crew to enter the water to retrieve patients and make a rapid return to shore. The lifesaving capabilities of the IRB were on full display today as the SHARKSKIN IRB Championships Masters and Under 23s competition raced on. The SHARKSKIN IRB Championships have attracted over 816 competitors from 42 surf clubs who will compete across three categories: U23s, Masters and Opens, concluding Sunday 21^st July.

Evans Head-Casino SLSC were nominated for the Ampol IRB Hull Giveaway by a number of volunteer patrolling members who helped with rescue efforts during the 2022 floods. The club’s IRBs were critical in the rescue efforts as flood waters reached unprecedented heights. The IRB allowed the club to navigate through the water which devastated up to 95% of the households in Woodburn area, 10km from Evans Heads. The IRB’s capability allowed it to manoeuvre and land on roofs and rescue up to 100 people from their homes.

The other winning club was Batemans Bay Surf Life Saving Club, based on the Far South Coast of NSW covering 82 beaches and over 72kms of water. With a visitor population that hits 60,000 visitors over the summer period, the club will use the IRB to protect holiday goers and the community long into the future.

Michael Pontefract, Club Captain from Evans Head-Casino SLSC says the IRB will make a huge difference to the club.

“Evans Head-Casino Surf Life Saving Club are so thankful for Ampol’s support of Surf Life Saving Australia and clubs all around Australia. We are privileged to be one of the recipients of the Ampol branded IRB, which will ensure that our club and volunteers can continue to support the local community and help train our young members. In the 2022 floods, our IRB was essential in the rescue efforts, and this new IRB will help protect our community on the beaches and also in times of natural disaster.”

Ampol Chief Brand Officer, Jenny O’Regan said:

“Our partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia continues to place an important spotlight on Ampol Foundation’s focus of safety and wellbeing within the communities in which we operate.

“We are proud to oversee the delivery of new IRBs to two deserving Surf Life Saving Clubs in Evans Head and Batemans Bay and wish them all the best for the beach patrol season ahead.”

In addition to Ampol donating equipment directly to club they will be for another year via @ampolfoodary proudly raising donations to support all of Surf Life Saving.

By visiting selected stores within the Ampol Foodary retail network between 3 July and 6 August, purchase a treat from the tasty selection of products, and 10c from your purchase will be donated back to Surf Life Saving to support our incredible volunteer surf lifesavers to continue to do their heroic work!

For more Evans Head news, click here.