NEW KINGSCLIFF FIRE STATION FULLY OPERATIONAL

By J. WILLOW

North Coast communities will be better protected with a state-of-the-art fre station at Kingscliff now open and fully operational.

By J. WILLOW

Roll the dice on some of your favourite locations across the region with the special edition Ballina-Byron Monopoly game.

A local twist to the family favourite game gives players the opportunity to buy up their favourite locations around the Ballina-Byron area including the Big Prawn, Richmond River and Lake Ainsworth. Offcially launching 11 February 2023, the game is already gaining signifcant interest.

“Growing up monopoly was always a family favourite, so to see our local area come to life through board is very exciting” said Alanah Ward, Team Leader Visitor Services at Ballina Shire Council.

“The game not only makes a wonderful souvenir for visitors, but it also a great keepsake for locals and those with strong connections to the region”.

Stocks are extremely limited and once sold, cannot be restocked. To purchase the BallinaByron Monopoly game, pop into the Ballina Visitor Information Centre at 6 River Street Ballina from Saturday 11 February 2023.

Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke joined Member for Tweed Geoff Provest and Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Paul Baxter to offcially open the $4.7 million facility.

“It’s a very important day for the Kingscliff community and surrounds, with this new fre station providing a much needed boost to emergency response capability,” Ms Cooke said.

“The two-storey station has been built on the existing Marine Parade site and includes a large dual-vehicle engine bay, dedicated ‘clean frefghter’ zones to guard against carcinogen contamination and separate male and female amenities.”

Mr Provest said the station will provide the 18 on-call frefghters based at Kingscliff with ft-for-purpose facilities, including dedicated spaces for training, living and storage.

“This new station will give our frefghters the facilities and resources they need to keep the North Coast community stronger and safer in future emergencies. It’s taken three years to complete and has been built to allow for possible expansion in the future as our region continues to grow,” Mr Provest said.

Commissioner Baxter said the station has been designed to withstand the local weather conditions.

“The crew had to work out of portable buildings for a while as the construction work was carried out. But it’s paid off when you look at this exciting new building that will serve and protect the people of Kingscliff and the surrounding areas well into the future,”

Commissioner Baxter said.

As a tribute to one of Kingscliff Fire Station’s founders, Charlie Gilmont, a bottlebrush tree that was carefully removed during construction has been replanted at the new station.