Ballina Information Blog

There’s a swell of six to eight foot and offshore winds today, so get ready for some good waves this weekend.
The swell is a bit lumpy but hopefully today’s south-wester will fix that in time for tomorrow.
Offshores are forecast for the weekend, so look for a cleaner swell tomorrow.
And remember, if it stays big, stay [...]

Hollywood celebrities Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt drive them; so, too, does Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Even Prime Ministerial hopeful Kevin Rudd is getting behind the wheel of a hybrid car.
And Southern Cross University Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) student Martin Kunst predicts that hybrid car manufacturing will explode in coming years to meet [...]

The plight of the homeless will be highlighted when Emmanuel Anglican College hosts the Ballina-on-Richmond Rotary Club Community Sleep-Out from 7pm on Saturday, July 14, to 7am on Sunday, July 15.
The sleep-out originally was planned to be held in River Street, but local police were concerned for the safety of those sleeping out. Organisers then [...]

More than 200 rugby league fans gathered at Ballina Seagulls Rugby League Clubhouse to hear talks by league legends Arthur Beetson and Tommy Raudonikis.
Seagulls president Bill Wilson, pictured with Big Artie and Raudonikis, said the Sportsman’s Dinner last Friday was a raging success.
He was particularly pleased with the efficient catering of Ward Gunn, the club’s [...]

With solid stormy swells hitting the far north NSW coastline the Rusty Gromfest relocated to its traditional home break at Lennox Head beachbreaks which again provided excellent long challenging right hand 1.5m surf for a fitting final day yesterday.
Six prestigious and sought-after Rusty Gromfest titles were decided and the winners join a very illustrious group [...]

A competition to design the artwork for a logo for a new Aboriginal health service to be established in Ballina before the end of the year, has just been announced.
The Bullinah Aboriginal Health Service will be based in Ballina and serve the Aboriginal communities from Ballina as far as Wollongbar, Broadwater and Byron Bay. Entries [...]

It’s been said that Australian punters would bet on two flies crawling up a wall. But would they take a punt on politics?
Apparently so, according to Canberra bookmaker Portland Bet.
“Voters and punters often behave in a similar way, at least according to the cynics out there,” bookie Stephen Hobbs said.
“They are both guided by their [...]

Ballina Shire Council is currently preparing a new Local Environmental Plan (LEP) for the entire shire. The new plan will establish direction for the shire for the forthcoming planning period of around 20 years. Matters such as land use zoning, subdivision, building height, urban development, environmental protection and heritage management will be addressed through the [...]

Member for Ballina and Shadow Minister for Small Business Don Page has congratulated Brookfarm, macadamia product manufacturers, on being named finalists in the 2007 Telstra New South Wales Business Awards.
“It is great to see a North Coast business being recognised as a finalist for such a prestigious award,” Mr Page said
There are 22 finalists for [...]

NAIDOC Week celebrations began in Ballina today with a march up River Street.
About 150 people took part, but an organiser, David Kapeen, expressed disappointment at the lack of non-Indigenous Australians in the march.
The march finished near the library, where Bundjalung Elder Aunty Bertha Kapeen was a speaker at the flag-raising, along with Member for Ballina [...]