Ballina Information Blog

Artists have been invited to submit proposals for the 12th Thursday Plantation East Coast Sculpture Show.
The annual show offers an acquisition fund of $15,000 and other prizes totalling almost $5000.
It is held outdoors in the rainforest and botanical gardens at Thursday Plantation, which is 1km north of the airport turn-off at Ballina.
For conditions of entry […]

Thinking of giving up the dreaded ciggies?
If so, the perfect day to start is on the 20th annual World No Tobacco Day tomorrow, 31 May, and the North Coast Area Health Service says the theme of ‘Smoke Free Environments’ is aimed at highlighting the dangers of passive smoking.
“Rigorous research leaves no doubt that breathing second-hand […]

Lennox Point could be declared a National Surfing Reserve by the end of the year following a meeting at the Lennox Point Hotel this week.
Representatives from surfboard and surf lifesaving clubs, the Jali Aboriginal Land Council and others who attended the meeting agreed unanimously that the iconic surfing location should be granted Reserve status.
Representatives at the […]

South Pacific humpback whale populations will be seriously threatened and could face extinction if the ‘scientific’ whaling proposed by Japan goes ahead, according to Associate Professor Peter Harrison, director of the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre.
Professor Harrison, pictured, who teaches in the School of Environmental Science and Management, said the International Whaling Commission meeting […]

Behind the steering wheel that is driving our local economy are a number of local entrepreneurs operating as home-based businesses and they are growing in number, according to Ballina Shire Council economic development officer Jane Laverty.
“Seventy per cent of small business is home-based and after meeting only three members of the Ballina Shire Home Based […]

Westpac today committed to continue its support of rescue services in northern NSW, with the announcement of a new three-year partnership with the Northern Region Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service.
The new agreement guarantees Westpac’s support of the NSW northern region’s vital aero-medical rescue service until at least 2010.
General Manager of the Northern Region Westpac […]

Ballina and Lennox Head will play host to a new annual charity cycling event, the Tour de Cure, which will arrive in town on Tuesday as part of a 1100km journey from Brisbane to Sydney.
A group of 23 Australian men and women make up the Tour de Cure team, which is making the mammouth trip […]

Federal Nationals Member for Page Ian Causley has announced that the Australian Government has approved up to $112,489 in Regional Partnerships program funding for the Alstonville Agricultural Show Society.
The Alstonville Agricultural Show Society will use the funding for its ‘Alstonville Showground Moves Forward’ project.
Mr Causley said the Australian Government funds will assist the Show Society […]

Ballina’s Bonanza Fruit Market is a rare commodity these days — an independent greengrocery.
And despite a move from the Boulevard Shopping Centre across the road to River Street, proprietor Karel van Engelen, pictured, says he will remain independent, offering fresh fruit and vegies at prices comparable with or better than the big supermarket chains.
Karel made the […]

Ballina MP Don Page is seeking a permanent solution to the problem of stormwater outflow onto Byron Bay beach from the Cowper Street stormwater drain.
Mr Page said he believed the permanent solution lay in diverting stormwater away from the beach altogether and into the town’s main drain that runs under Byron Street, under the railway […]