SURF Life Saving drones will be in the air earlier and for longer this summer as the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) steps up shark surveillance. The NSW Government has allocated an extra $2.5m for shark management following the recent deaths of a female tourist near Crowdy Bay and a local surfer on Sydney’s Northern […]
Kendall Blues ‘Bikes For Kids’ initiative arrives just in time for Christmas
Kendall Blues members hand over the bikes to the Aussie Battles in Laurieton. Kendall Blues members hand over the bikes to the Aussie Battles in Laurieton. Kendall Blues members hand over the bikes to the Aussie Battles in Laurieton. THE Kendall Blues delivered three utes full of bicycles to Aussie Battlers in Laurieton on Saturday, […]
Anger and fears over Council’s sudden closure of Kindee Bridge
Kindee resident Chris O’Brien. Photo: supplied. The Kindee Bridge was closed without warning on Tuesday. KINDEE resident Chris O’Brien, 73, lives on his own since his wife passed away earlier this year. A resident of the area for more than 35 years, he is fiercely independent. But as the survivor of a triple bypass, heart […]
Red Cross and Qantas ‘PlaneDeer’ brings Christmas Joy to Mid North Coast
Santa’s Link-Dasher 8 delivered cheer to children from Coopernook Public School. Red Cross volunteers with Port Macquarie MP Robert Dwyer. The Red Cross Bear with children from Coopernook. The children’s faces were filled with joy. Red Cross volunteers with Port Macquarie Airport staff. QANTAS team members and Australian Red Cross volunteers delivered hundreds of presents […]
Patience is needed to find a break in the trailers, trucks and caravans travelling at speed past the Houston Mitchell Drive turnoff. Photos: Kathy Regan.
State Government stalls on promised Houston Mitchell Drive safety upgrades
IT’S 7.15am on Tuesday morning, 16 December, and cars are lined up behind the stop sign at the intersection of Houston Mitchell Drive and the Pacific Highway, as a work truck and other cars wait in the turning lane opposite, and semi-trailers and a cement truck fly past at 110kmph. This is the nerve wracking […]
DFV strategy welcomed but more to be done
THE State Government has launched a “landmark strategy” to respond to the perpetration of domestic and family violence (DFV) in New South Wales. “Building Better Responses: NSW Strategy to Respond to the Use of Domestic and Family Violence 2026–2030” is NSW’s first dedicated plan aimed at disrupting DFV and focusing on those who cause or […]
Major change to gas connection fees
THE Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) will require newly connecting retail gas customers to pay the upfront cost of their connection, often more than $2000, moving away from the old system where these costs were often shared across all customers. The recent final determination responds to a rule change request from Energy Consumers Australia and […]
Work continues to restore Oxley Highway
RECONSTRUCTION work is continuing on the Oxley Highway at Mount Seaview to restore full access through areas affected by natural disasters. The weekly planned closure at Mount Seaview will be lifted after Thursday 18 December, with parts of the highway returning to single lane, alternating flow traffic arrangements during the NSW summer school holidays and […]
Council opts for $17m upgrade over $92m new wastewater plant
A $92 MILLION price tag to build a new wastewater treatment plant has driven Port Macquarie Hastings Council’s decision to instead upgrade the existing Wauchope facility, despite concerns about flooding at the site. Councillors last week endorsed proceeding with Stage 1 upgrades to the Wauchope Wastewater Treatment Plant – focused on inlet works – while […]
Christmas under the stars: The sky that started a story
EVERY year, as the festive season picks up speed, the night sky quietly rolls out its own holiday display- no tinsel, no blinking bulbs, just a crisp dome of stars performing the same cosmic pageant they’ve been staging for thousands of years. And woven into that ancient canvas is a tale as old as Christmas […]
