Ballina Information Blog

Available tonight (Friday 23rd and possibly after the 24th, but not on the 24th of March) The Vote 1 Smithy Beer at the Australian Hotel Ballina, all donations from the beer go directly to the local hospital.
The vote 1 Smithy beer will be available from around 6pm onwards tonight to raise money for the [...]

The Consortium of Neighbourhood Centres will receive more than $5.8 million over the next three years to implement the Early Intervention Program on the Far North Coast, Ballina MP Don Page has announced.
Mr Page said the Consortium, which includes local Neighbourhood Centres, pre-schools, kindergartens, child care centres and health services, would receive $5,867,609 from the [...]

Visiting North American Indigenous scholar Stephen Neyooxet Greymorning, pictured, has come to Australia to share an astonishing language technique.
Professor Greymorning has developed a way of teaching languages, called Accelerated Second Language Acquisition, so that a total novice can be speaking and understanding a foreign language with conversational ease after as little as 18 hours tuition.
SCU [...]

Beaches in the Ballina Shire Council area have received an excellent report card, with most sites tested passing National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) swimming water quality guidelines throughout the 2006-2007 summer season, according to results released by Ballina Shire Council and the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation’s Beachwatch Program.
Beachwatch Manager Cris Hickey [...]

Smokers be warned — if you throw away your cigarette butts in Ballina Shire Council, you risk a hefty fine.
Later this month, officers from Ballina Council will participate in a national cigarette butt littering crackdown, issuing fines to those who thoughtlessly discard their butts in public areas.
“Cigarette butts are Australia’s number one litter item with [...]

Name: Melanie Doriean.
Occupation: Currently Labor Candidate for the seat of Ballina and otherwise a project officer in the Department of Education and Training.
Do you have any hobbies?
I love reading, discussing ideas, walking, singing in a local choral group, spending time with my family.
How long have you lived in the Ballina electorate?
My husband and I [...]

Name: Ben Smith (aka Smithy).
Occupation:
IT consultant and small business owner. I love being in small business, small business is the backbone of our community and we have some of the best small business operators in NSW here I think! Very enthusiastic, forward thinking people.
Do you have any hobbies?
I walk every day; I figure it’s a [...]

A number of Ballina Electorate athletes have been awarded grants under the 2007 NSW Country Athletes Scheme, Member for Ballina Don Page announced today.
“I am pleased to announce 15 local athletes shared in a total of $15,000 funding for the Ballina Electorate under the Country Athletes Scheme,” Mr Page said.
The successful recipients are:
Angela Reakes, NSW [...]

Ballina MP Don Page says a NSW Coalition Government would establish a $300 million Clean NSW Fund to finance climate change and environmental projects throughout the State.
Mr Page said specifically the Liberal/Nationals Coalition will:
Allocate $40 million for the development of a solar power station in NSW.
Allocate $58.5 million to provide rebates of up to $1000 [...]

A cracking swell to eight foot greeted surfers this morning. That’s the good news.
The bad news? A strong northerly blew up by 10am, effectively seeing the best swell of the year go to waste.
No doubt remnants of the swell will hang around over the weekend, but north-easters are forecast, so it might be wise to [...]