Ballina Information Blog

Ballina Shire Council has announced that applications for the 2012/13 round of funding under the Festival and Event Support Program are now open.

The program provides $50,000 in funding to support festivals and events held within Ballina Shire between July 2012 and June 2013.

The program, in its third year, has provided valuable financial support to six major events held in the Ballina Shire.

Events that were successful in receiving funding in the 2011/12 program were Ballina Coastal Country Music Festival, Ballina Boat and Leisure Show, Ballina Island Paddle Challenge and Alstonville New Year’s Eve Family Festival.

Ballina Boat & Leisure Show Event Co-ordinator Duncan Woodhead said: “The funding we have received in previous years has allowed the Ballina Marine Rescue to put on the inaugural Ballina Marine and Leisure Show, which we hope will become an annual event, benefiting the community in many ways through safe boating talks and local marine businesses displaying their wares.

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Seven Ballina Electorate organisations have been awarded funding under the 2012 NSW Seniors Week Grants Program.

Ballina MP Don Page said the programs would be held during NSW Seniors Week from 18 to 25 March 2012.

The successful recipients are:

Alstonville Adult Learning Association Inc: Sensational Seniors $500 Ballina Lighthouse RSL Day Club: An Outing With The Lot $1,000
Crowley: Crowley Seniors Week 2012 Gala Day $1,000
Byron Shire Council: Get Active, Get Involved, Be There! $1,000
Ballina Coastal Quilters Inc: Seniors @ The Gallery Creativity In Action $500 Ballina Community Services Association: Seniors Mobile Phone Workshop $500
Tintenbar Community Aid Network Inc: It’s On For Young And Old $500

The heart of Ballina will come alive every Thursday night from the 29th December during daylight saving with the vibrant sounds and smells of the new Ballina Twilight Market being held at Fawcett Park.

The Ballina Shire Council, in association with Northern Rivers Foodlinks and the NSW Environmental Trust, are proud to be working with the community’s helicopter rescue service, Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter, in delivering the new market.

Planning started some months ago to gauge support for the new market which will be starting with over 25 stallholders.

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Ballina Visitor Information Centre is set to offer Visitor Information Services at the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport.

The initiative, which commenced last week, saw Visitor Centre staff meet and greet 10 jet services from Sydney and Melbourne providing visitors with information about the Ballina Coast and Hinterland, and inspiring them to see and do more in our backyard.

To add to this service, the tourism section has also commissioned promotional footage to be displayed in the arrivals terminal showcasing our lush hinterland and magnificent waterways.

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Great news for those who commute between Lennox Head and Ballina – The Coast Road has been reopened to traffic.

The Coast Road at Lennox Head had been completely closed to traffic since October this year to allow for the road and foundation to be excavated and rebuilt after a landslide in January 2011.

Council general manager Paul Hickey said: “The road was reduced to one lane but the reconstruction was extensive and we were forced to close it to traffic completely to allow repairs to be carried out.

“The landslide originally occurred due to effects of continuous heavy rain, and a subsequent assessment of the damage revealed a section of the road foundation was very unstable. The location of the road, on the side of a ridge, meant repairing the damage was difficult and expensive.

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As part of the Ballina Shire Liquor Accord’s drink drive prevention project, a new anti drink drive message will be installed on the rear of toilet doors, above urinals and wash basins in licensed venues across the Ballina Shire over the Festive period.

Pubs, hotels, licensed restaurants and cafes have joined forces to support the “Don’t Let Your Mates Drink and Drive. It’s Stupid” convenience advertising campaign.

“Alcohol continues to be a major contributor of road trauma in our local area. Over the past five years alcohol was involved in 71 crashes on our local roads. And of the people killed or injured 64% were male, says Jodie Hewett, Ballina Shire Council’s Road Safety Officer.

We are using convenience advertising to drive the message home this Christmas. Convenience advertising allows you to create a hard-hitting campaign to reach an already captive audience. This new anti drink drive message states the hard facts about drinking and driving”, continues Jodie.

The project, a partnership with the Ballina Shire Liquor Accord, Ballina Shire Council, Transport, Roads and Maritime Services, NSW Police and licensed premises, will continue to deliver a series of messages throughout the year to minimise harm associated with alcohol use”, says GavinFensom, Chairman of the Ballina Shire Liquor Accord.

The Accord aims to deliver simple messages. The first message reminded drivers how to avoid drink driving and this message states the facts, the myths and the consequences.

Patrons who are planning to drink alcohol are encouraged to leave their car at home and arrange a lift, designate a driver who is not drinking, or catch a taxi or hire car.

Local licensees and restaurant owners recognise the need to continually target drink driving and support the placement of these important messages in their establishments.

The launch of the “Don’t Let Your Mates Drink and Drive. It’s Stupid” convenience advertising campaign will commence Christmas Eve.

The speed limit on The Coast Road between Lennox Head and Ballina is being reduced to 80 kilometres an hour.

The NSW Government’s Roads and Maritime Service decided to reduce the speed limit from 100km/hour to 80km/hour in response to complaints and requests from residents.

John Truman, Civil Services, Group Manager, Ballina Shire Council, said that the NSW Roads and Maritime Service was the only authority designated to change the speed limit on State roads.

“After assessing requests from residents and members of the public, and reviewing the road, traffic volumes, speeds and the history of incidents on The Coast Road, the State Government’s Roads and Maritime Service decided to reduce the speed limit to 80km/hour,” Mr Truman said.

“The Roads and Maritime Service is independent of the Ballina Shire Council and no doubt it believes there was a justified argument for the reduction in the speed limit.”

It is expected the new speed zone will reduce the number of traffic accidents on The Coast Road.

The new 80km/hour speed zone will apply from Tuesday, December 20, 2011.

Professional and amateur fishermen will welcome the announcement that the NSW Government has signalled its intention to dredge river bars and navigation channels in a major policy shift.

Minister for the North Coast and Member for Ballina Don Page said: “The dredging of the Ballina Bar is a step closer with the NSW Government currently evaluating tenders for an entrance bar feasibility study, which will include costings for the dredging of the Ballina bar.

“This study will identify the most practical solution to restore adequate clearance over the bar, which provides value for money and long-term benefits.

“It will also look at environmental issues associated with dredging.

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The chairman of the Ballina Jockey Club, Dr Bob Jemison, has released the names of the two new additions to the Iris Nielsen Lady Jockeys Hall of Fame for 2102.

The Selection Committee has met and the Directors have accepted their recommendation that Lesley Bellden and Julie Krone join the list of inductees.

The induction will take place at the Iris Nielsen Memorial meeting on Sunday 29th January 2012.

Lesley Bellden, the first woman to ride a winner at Randwick, will be present to accept her honour at the track where she won the Ballina Bracelet in the 1980s when it was a $40,000 event.

Julie Krone, the rider of 3704 winners and the only woman to have ridden a winner in America’s Triple Crown, will also be trackside to receive her award.

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Two boat ramps in the Ballina electorate are to be upgraded as part of the NSW Government’s Better Boating program, the Member for Ballina, Don Page, said.

“Parking at the Cawarra Park boat ramp on North Creek in Ballina will be improved with $55,000 to be spent on reconstructing the car park,” Mr Page said.

“At West Ballina, an 8m x 4m pontoon with a gangway adjacent to the existing boat ramp will also be built.

“This project has a budget of $69,000 and when completed will be a significant asset for anglers, providing improved access to the Richmond River.”

The two grants are part of more than $4.5 million in allocations to provide new and improved boating facilities across NSW.

“It is estimated more than 1.5 million people go boating in NSW each year, and making access to our waterways safer and more convenient is good news for the community and the economy,” Mr Page said.