Latest local news headlines from teh Tweed Shire of NSW, Australia. http://www.tweedecho.com.au Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:01:36 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.tweedecho.com.au Latest local news headlines from teh Tweed Shire of NSW, Australia. http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2356&Itemid=538 Photo: Ray Morrissey with wife Fay and friend Pam at home in Hastings Point this week. An 80-year-old pensioner convicted of assaulting a policeman during a scuffle over the use of a police siren at Pottsville village shopping centre in February last year has won his appeal against the charges. Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:49:46 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2355&Itemid=538 Murwillumbah garden enthusiast Ron Nelson bears an uncanny resemblance to federal opposition leader Tony Abbott and he’s been told that quite often. But, unlike the reinstalled opposition leader, green thumb Ron prefers gardening to bike riding as a pastime and is looking forward to this Saturday’s annual flower and garden expo. He is pictured in the thick of a fresh display of cliveas in the colourful Murwillumbah garden of Twin Towns and District Garden Club secretary John Bennett. Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:43:51 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2347&Itemid=538 Students from Banora Point High School’s Learning Support Unit dig having their own garden. The garden started with the help of parents and teaching staff about 12 months ago and now involves about 30 students with disabilities and learning difficulties. Parent volunteer Pamela Bianchi said students had shown great enthusiasm for the project, which has helped them gain valuable skills including composting, worm farming, seed saving and propagation. If you can provide funding assistance or garden expertise call Pamela on 07 5513 0563. Photo Jeff Dawson Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:30:57 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2346&Itemid=538 Tweed Mayor Warren Polglase has been forced to retract claims used to justify a controversial decision to axe Greens councillor Katie Milne from the council’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee (AAC). The backflip comes after AAC members questioned Cr Polglase over claims made in a mayoral minute accusing the committee of failing to deliver on its objectives to support Tweed’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Members also ‘raised concerns’ about Cr Milne’s removal from the AAC and the appointment of Cr Joan van Lieshout as an alternative delegate in the shock shake-up following the mayoral minute which was delivered last May. Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:29:16 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2345&Itemid=538 Back from China: Brenda and Dougal Cumming Thom, with Jacqui Turner and Shauna Hughes Just a month after competing against the best paddlers in the world, four Mt Warning Dragon Club members are back on the water and aiming to do it all again. Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:26:58 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2344&Itemid=538 Thor Hoopman in action just before leaving for China for the combat sports games. Photo Jeff ‘Bigfoot’ Dawson Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:22:33 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2343&Itemid=538 A plan to seek an interim heritage protection order to save a commemorative fig tree at Chinderah has been put on hold pending an inspection by a qualified arborist. Tweed Shire Council held an extraordinary meeting on Monday to consider the protection order after local arborist Brett Hamlin and residents prevented contractors from removing the 114-year-old tree from the carpark of the Chinderah Tavern last week. The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, considered legal advice and a submission from Chinderah publican, Rick Adams, who is worried about his public liability after the tree shed a limb two weeks ago. It voted unanimously to seek an urgent assessment of the tree’s health before deciding whether to apply for the protection order after Mr Adams gave them an undertaking not to remove the tree until the council explores its options. Crs Barry Longland and Katie Milne, who requested the meeting to consider a protection order ‘due to the tree’s heritage significance and the concerns about its imminent removal’, said afterwards the outcome was the best they could achieve. Cr Milne said a report from the council’s cultural officer confirmed that the tree’s cultural and heritage values were ‘significant’. She believed that if the arborist’s assessment proved... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:20:07 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2342&Itemid=538 The historic Tyalgum Hall was packed for the Friends of the Festival concert last month. Photo Vibrant Imaging Tyalgum will resonate to a timeless soundtrack this weekend as the town’s classical music festival gets underway. The town’s 101-year-old hall will double as an intimate setting for a program of baroque, jazz, chamber and classical ensemble performances. Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:17:57 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2341&Itemid=538 Bilambil Heights couple Norman and Judith Pike are this week celebrating the news that their son Rolland has won an Emmy Award for his television work. Judith is holding a family photo. Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:13:40 +0100 http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2333&Itemid=538 Residents of a manufactured home park at Kingscliff are toasting a new government planning panel after it refused to approve a canal-style development which had been given a green light by council planners. The joint regional planning panel received a standing ovation from a packed public gallery at the council chambers when it unanimously rejected an application by Baclon Pty Ltd to build an extra 45 homes at Noble Lakeside Park. Several had earlier made impassioned pleas to the five-man panel urging it to reject the application because of the impacts on their amenity, flood and drainage concerns and damage to endangered ecological communities. Council planners had also acknowledged similar concerns but had recommended that the $10.4 million project be given approval on a deferred commencement basis requiring Baclon to satisfy 96 conditions. They included preparation of reports showing how significant losses of habitat can be compensated by plantings in other areas and how the impact of flooding on adjoining properties can be mitigated. But the panel expressed concerns that Baclon had not prepared an extensive geotechnical report to address flooding concerns and questioned whether off-site plantings adequately compensate for on-site ecological destruction. The panel also noted that council normally demanded that residential developments be set back at least 50 metres from roads, but in this case some of... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:26:26 +0100