Ballina Information Blog

Construction of Commercial Building 89 Tamar St
Closure of temporary car park (adjacent to the Ballina Post Office)
Ballina Shire Council has approved a contract with local firm Bennett Industries Pty. Ltd. for the construction of a commercial office building on Council owned land at 89 Tamar Street, Ballina (adjacent to the Ballina Post Office). The construction [...]

‘Scare mongering and outright lies’ is how Ballina MP Don Page today described claims from NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus that nine Department of Environment and Conservation jobs will go in Byron Bay and Alstonville if a Coalition Government is elected.
Mr Page said the Coalition’s recruitment freeze policy on non-frontline public sector jobs was confined [...]

A university professor who is investigating climate change also has been looking at ways of improving the water supply of Ballina and Lennox Head.
He is Southern Cross University Associate Professor Graham Jones, pictured, who says: “”The North Coast of NSW and south-east Queensland are rapidly developing areas with a burgeoning population. This development is placing [...]

The NSW Labor Government has shown its complete ignorance of issues affecting the Far North Coast by labelling the Alstonville bypass part of the Pacific Highway, Member for Ballina Don Page said today.
Mr Page said the out-of-touch NSW Labor Government responded to a question on the status of the Alstonville bypass posed during the recent [...]

Eighteen Rehabilitation/Transition Care beds will be established at Ballina Hospital under a revamp of services.
North Coast Area Health Service chief executive Chris Crawfored said that from mid-January 2007, the NCAHS will assume direct responsibility for providing rehabilitation beds and Aged Care Assessment Team services in the Richmond Valley, following a decision by St Vincent’s Hospital [...]

The secrets of the coral reefs lying along the coast of Kenya in Africa have been uncovered following years of painstaking research by Sangeeta Mangubhai.
Sangeeta, pictured, a PhD student with Southern Cross University, is back in Australia to complete the final part of her study, which she hopes will lead to better understanding and management [...]

Fans of original acoustic music should head to Bangalow for the inaugural Bangalow Pacific Songwriters Festival on Saturday, October 28.
“The inaugural festival is a celebration of the passion and dedication that goes into creating songs, and the first major national festival established to showcase the importance of songwriters,”spokeswoman Debbie Kruger said. “Established and aspiring tunesmiths [...]

A survey of Ballina Electorate businesses has found 52 per cent of respondents believe skills shortages are negatively affecting their business, Member for Ballina Don Page said today.
Mr Page said the survey also revealed 43 per cent of business owners have had difficulties recruiting employees for specific positions during the last 12 months.
“Of those businesses, [...]

Four local surf lifesavers have been named in the North Coast Academy of Sport (NCAS) squad for its Panthers Port Macquarie 2006-07 Surf Life Saving program.
Launched in mid-2002, through the regional partnerships of Far North Coast, North Coast and Mid North Coast Surf Life Saving branches, the program was the first regional surf life saving [...]

As Australia experiences severe drought, local woman Anne Thompson is organising another Christmas hamper relief appeal.
“It’s time to do something to show our farmers that we haven’t forgotten them. They are suffering the worst drought in living memory and, as was said (Friday 13th) in an a television interview, ‘it is incumbent on the nation’ [...]