Ballina Information Blog

Ballina Shire Council has engaged Geolink to prepare a Conceptual Master Plan on the potential future uses for the Richmond River Lighthouse Precinct at East Ballina, and is calling for public input on the plan.
“The Richmond River Lighthouse Precinct is located on Harbourview Street and is bounded by Beach Road and Suvla Street East Ballina. [...]

North Coast Lifeguard co-ordinator Stephen Leahy’s daily beach report:
The clouds came in over the coast by mid afternoon and we also saw the wind strengthen. This resulted in the waves becoming choppy and the rips increased in strength – but it didn’t matter because the change saw the beaches becoming empty pretty quickly. Here’s what [...]

Member for Ballina Don Page made a glowing tribute to Lance Ferris in his speech in Parliament House late yesterday.
“I believe Lance’s good work needed to be placed on the public record for all time. I urge everyone to honour his memory by carrying on his important work,” Mr Page said.
“We owe it to Lance [...]

Horses will be missing because of the Equine Influenza outbreak, but there’s still plenty to see and do at this year’s Alstonville Show.
The show runs on Friday and Saturday.
As well as the annual Showgirl judging and usual exhibitions, there will be entertainment such as Celtic dancers, bands and a magician.
The lack of horses will be [...]

Ballina Shire residents can get rid of e-waste on Friday and Saturday for free.
All commercial premises, government offices, educational facilities and households can recycle their e-waste at the drop-off days. All the e-waste collected will be transported to a purpose-built facility in Brisbane to be recycled through an environmentally-friendly process.
E-waste includes computers, home office equipment, [...]

New South Wales Minister for Tourism Matt Brown has launched a new website and brochures to promote Indigenous tourism for the Northern Rivers during a visit to Lismore.
Mr Brown said the new website would enable Bundjalung Cultural Tours to promote its expanding range of cultural experiences to the increasing number of people who plan their [...]

The back-drop to the Prime Minister’s press conferences proves what we have always known – even the Liberals think the National Party is irrelevant, according to Labor candidate for Page Janelle Saffin.
The back-drop says “Vote Liberal”, but contains no mention of the National Party or the Coalition, she said.
Ms Saffin said this proved the Nationals’ [...]

Thousands of North Coast seniors, carers and disability pensioners will benefit from increased support to manage their household budgets under a re-elected Coalition Government, according to Page Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis.
“For a range of reasons including the sea change/tree change phenomenon, we have more low income residents on the North Coast than just about anywhere [...]

PICTURE: Ballina Mayor Phillip Silver speaking at last week’s memorial service for Lance Ferris.
Ballina Mayor Phillip Silver will push for Fawcett Park to be renamed Lance Ferris Park, in memory of the founder of Australian Seabird Rescue who died suddenly on October 14, aged 60.
Lance became known as the Pelican Man for the work he [...]

North Coast Lifeguard co-ordinator Stephen Leahy’s daily beach report:
The many deep gutters that have developed over the last week along our popular beaches have resulted in some strong side currents and rips. As the tide continued to come in, the channels became deeper, resulting in dangerous conditions for swimmers. Like yesterday, the winds picked up [...]