Clarence Valley Orchestra Medical Student Scholarship

The Clarence Valley Orchestra (CVO) is proud to announce their first scholarship candidate for their new Rural Medical Student Scholarship worth $5,000 to Mattea Lazarou in Grafton.

Mattea says, “I have been fortunate enough to complete the beginnings of my medical education as part of the Graduate School of Medicine at University of Wollongong. With a strong focus in contributing to the health and wellbeing of rural Australia, the program sees students undertake a year-long placement within a rural community. With personal connections to the local community, I was thrilled to be placed in the Clarence Valley to complete this stage of my training. It is through my placement in Grafton and surrounds, that my own passion for practising rural health and contributing to the wellbeing of rural communities was encouraged. It was a privilege not only to be surrounded by enthusiastic mentors and teachers within the hospital setting, but to connect with and hear the stories of community members, both within the hospital and beyond. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to return to the Clarence Valley in this latter half of the year and undertake additional experience in both Grafton and Maclean hospitals. I am grateful to complete this final stage of training with the support of the Clarence Valley Orchestra’s generous scholarship. I look forward to returning to Grafton to work as a doctor throughout my career to give back to the community that has showed me so much kindness and opportunity”.

The University of Wollongong’s Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine, Professor Zsuzsoka Kecskes has commented that “we are very excited about the recent awarding of the first Clarence Valley Orchestra Medical Scholarship and would like to once again congratulate Mattea on her successful application. In times when living costs continue to rise, it’s vital for our students to have external support and encouragement to stay on track toward their dream careers and to feel the impact their efforts can have on our communities. We want to express our gratitude to the Clarence Valley Orchestra for their incredible support – our partnership is a fantastic example of how community efforts can uplift and empower future generations.”

The idea of Artistic Director and Conductor of the CVO Dr Greg Butcher, says “the Orchestra is thrilled and has agreed to keep the $5,000 scholarship going over the next 2 years (3 years in total) as a way of ‘thinking outside the box’, hopefully attracting GPs to the Clarence Valley and wider area in the future. These scholarships along with other major community donations are funded from tickets sales from the orchestra’s major concerts. CVO’s next concert, An Afternoon at The Pops, will be their 10^th anniversary and will be on Sunday 27^th October at the Saraton Theatre Grafton, performing with the Comedy Trio the Kransky Sisters, with compere comedian Anthony Ackroyd”.

For more local Clarence Valley news, click here.

More Homes for the Northern Rivers as Junction Hill Site Released

In a significant step toward bolstering disaster-resilient housing in the Northern Rivers, the Minns Government has announced the release of land in Junction Hill near Grafton, as part of its broader initiative to deliver up to 1,000 new homes. This marks the seventh land release under the $100 million Resilient Lands Program (RLP), a key component of one of Australia’s largest flood-resilience efforts, alongside the $790 million Resilient Homes Program funded jointly by the State and Commonwealth.

The Junction Hill site joins previously identified locations in East Lismore, Goonellabah, North Lismore, Brunswick Heads, Casino, and Lennox Head-Ballina. Collectively, these sites are expected to yield more than 4,300 homes across the region, addressing the critical need for safer and more resilient housing following the devastating 2022 floods.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA), Transport for NSW, and the Clarence Valley Council to outline necessary transport infrastructure improvements for the Junction Hill site. This infrastructure is crucial to supporting the anticipated growth and development in the area.

The NSW Government has also detailed its Resilient Lands Strategy, which identifies additional sites in Murwillumbah, Goonellabah, and Kyogle. The strategy, developed through extensive community consultation and expert peer review, aims to accelerate the supply of land for residents affected by the 2022 floods. It complements, rather than replaces, ongoing land releases and housing developments across the Northern Rivers.

The RA is now working with councils, landowners, infrastructure providers, and various partners to expedite land and housing developments as quickly as possible.

For more information, visit the NSW Reconstruction Authority website.

Key Government Statements:

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully: “It is critical that communities are assisted in building resilience to natural disasters. The release of land at Junction Hill and the Resilient Lands Strategy demonstrate that the Minns Government is serious about properly planning for the future. With housing stress and homelessness remaining high in the Northern Rivers, these initiatives are vital in creating up to 4,300 flood-resilient home sites.”

Minister for Emergency Services, Jihad Dib: “The Resilient Lands Program will accelerate the delivery of new land and housing, providing locals with safer options. Clarence Valley is the fifth council to receive support under the program, and we will continue working with other councils to bring more housing to the Northern Rivers.”

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Jenny Aitchison: “The Minns Labor Government is committed to ensuring that people in the Northern Rivers have safer homes connected to essential services. Good transport infrastructure is vital for the success of new housing developments, and the release of land at Junction Hill will support this.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery, Janelle Saffin: “Flood-affected communities across the Northern Rivers have been keenly interested in safer land and housing options. I’m pleased to see Clarence Valley included in the Resilient Lands Program, and there is more to come.”

Member for Clarence, Richie Williamson: “This site has been zoned for development for some time. It’s flat, flood-free, and close to town—a rarity in the Northern Rivers. The only thing holding back development is the necessary transport infrastructure upgrades, which this initiative aims to address.”

The release of the Junction Hill site and the broader Resilient Lands Strategy reflect the NSW Government’s commitment to providing disaster-resilient housing and ensuring that the Northern Rivers community is better prepared for future challenges.

For more local Grafton news, click here.

Fears of Grafton airport snub for $6m centre

By Tim Howard

Fears the NSW Government could snub Grafton Regional Airport for a $6 million emergency services co-ordination centre for the Northern Rivers has stung the Mayor into last-minute action.

At the final council meeting ahead of the September 14 Local Government election, Clarence Mayor Peter Johnstone rushed in a mayoral minute to lobby Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib to “strongly consider” Grafton as the preferred site for the centre.

Cr Johnstone said in early 2023 the government announced an $8.5 million investment in the new Fire Control Centre and Emergency Operations Centre at the airport.

It would include a facility for co-location of emergency personnel from the RFS, SES Fire and Rescue at NSW and police to be able to respond to fires, floods, storms and a range of other emergencies, and was to include an operations and logistics centre, administration offices, training rooms, storage base and vehicle base.

He said the Reconstruction Authority has confirmed funds of $6 million have been secured to construct an Emergency Services Coordination Centre to service the Northern Rivers, and that a consultant would soon be engaged to undertake a site feasibility study.

Cr Johnson said discussions so far have favoured Lismore as the site for the proposed centre.

He said the evidence would suggest Grafton Regional Airport was an ideal site for the proposed centre.

“We are considered one of the very worst places, if not the worst place, for potential floods in the future,” he said.

But Grafton Regional Airport is a dry airport. We are on the main highway, Pacific Highway.

We have transport links in terms of railway.”

Cr Johnstone said that while the Clarence was at the top of flood risk areas in the State Disaster Mitigation Plan, its bushfire risk had been downplayed.

“I look at that chart and we’re right down there in terms of bushfire, and that, to me, makes no sense at all, when 60% of our local government area was burnt in the last in the last fires,” he said.

“And I consider that when they put us right down there in terms of the average annual loss, they put us down as having an average annual loss of $3 million It’s ignoring several bits that they should be considered.”

The mayor said the region had suffered heavily in the 2019-20 fires and was at risk from future fire.

“Farms and industries in areas are affected by bushfires will not only potentially lose infrastructure, which is all its report is considering, but also affect production for several years, I’m not convinced that that’s been put into these figures,” he said.

“And finally, habitat and species loss. The wilderness areas of the Clarence contain rare and uncommon habitats that date back to different climatic conditions in the Australian subcontinent, plants and wildlife that are rare and endangered, some may not even be known to science.”

Cr Debrah Novak backed the Mayor, pointing out that the proposed site for the centre in Lismore was at risk in emergencies.

“The Grafton Regional Airport is the no brainer for the Northern Rivers, simply because it was the only airport that didn’t go under,” she said.

“It’s a project that is ready to go, it doesn’t need a whole lot of funding to get it ready to be the Northern Rivers Emergency Management Centre, whereas, if Lismore is the airport chosen to be the central point for emergency management, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done there.

“There’s still planes sitting in their paddock up there that were destroyed on the back of the 2022 floods.”

There was unanimous support from councillors.

Cr Steve Pickering said the centre would be a boost for the area, providing jobs and infrastructure

The council could also use the presence of the centre to lobby the government to take control of the site and take the expense of running the airport away from the council, said Cr Greg Clancy.

Cr Karen Toms said it was crazy the government was thinking of replicating what was happening in Grafton in Lismore.

“It’s a huge efficiency savings and it just makes sense, so let’s hope we can get them to change their mind,” she said.

Councillors voted unanimously to support the mayor’s minute.

For more local Grafton news, click here.