THE TWEED SHIRE Volume 2 #06 Thursday, October 8, 2009 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Full steam ahead for historic boat regatta Rumours of
‘lucky-dip’ rig scotched Ken Sapwell
Classic boat fan Peter Wade chats to another keen boatie about his beloved steamboat replica Freya, which will feature in this year’s Tweed River Classic Boat Regatta on Saturday. Photo Jeff ‘River Rat’ Dawson Kim Cousins
Murwillumbah boat enthusiast Peter Wade has one of the cheapest modes of transport around with his single-cylinder steamboat, Freya, which will be on show this Saturday at the Tweed River Classic Boat Regatta. ‘It’s a replica of an early 1900s steamboat,’ he said. ‘It has a steam boiler which runs on coal. I’ve just got to pick up some driftwood.’ Named after a lusty Viking goddess, the boat can reach a maximum speed of 8-9 knots and uses one bag of firewood for a day of travel. Peter is just one boating enthusiast getting on the water this Saturday, October 10, for
the regatta, which is part of the Tweed River Festival and continues all this week as well as next week. He said the members had quite a collection of vessels, ranging from steamboats and putt putts to sail boats. ‘The putt putts are slow but very pretty. It’s fun on the water, especially in a big group.’ Peter has purchased another steamboat, this one from 1907, that is currently being rebuilt and he said he hoped he would be ready to hit the water in time for next year’s regatta. Organiser Bob Modystack is looking forward to the event, with people coming from as far away as Sydney and Kingaroy.
‘Boats come from up and down the coast. One chap is coming down from Brisbane via water,’ he said. ‘Each year we do something different.’ ‘Most of us are retired, it’s a hobby a bit like blokes with their cars.’ Boats will launch from Chinderah in the morning and land at Jack Evans Boat Harbour at 12pm on Saturday, October 10, where you can get up close and personal with this unique fleet. Another viewing area for the boats is Pioneer Park in Kennedy Drive, Tweed Heads. For more information call Bob Modystack on 0417 714 456.
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Senior Tweed Shire Council staff have scrambled to scotch suggestions that last month’s ‘lucky-dip’ decider for mayor and deputy may have been rigged. They have threatened one resident with defamation and persuaded a state MP to withdraw part of a statement to Parliament amid growing disquiet about the improbable comeback of sacked mayor Warren Polglase. The council’s corporate services chief Troy Green says the draw from a cardboard box to decide a tied vote for the positions of mayor and deputy was in line with Local Government general regulations and was properly supervised. His assurances follow speculation about the process which came to a head when Greens MP Sylvia Hale rose in Parliament to inform the NSW government that the mayor of the council it had sacked just four years earlier was back at the helm. She told MPs the new mayor was already ‘crowing about development opportunities and threatening to go after anyone who dared object’ despite an inquiry by Professor Maurice Daly which found he and other Tweed Directions candidates had corrupted the democratic process. ‘Mr Polglase’s enthusiasm for promoting his local developer mates has clearly not subsided,’ she said, ‘His comments demonstrate that he has learnt nothing from the Daly report, and has no remorse about his previous actions.’ The anti-corruption campaigner described Cr Polglase’s comeback as ‘amazing’ and claimed it had ‘made people shake their heads and wonder what is happening in the Tweed’. Ms Hale, in further comments which she has since unreservedly apologised for and withdrawn from Hansard, suggested a lack of scrutineering when she said council boss Mike continued on page 2