September between and 5pm at the Nimbin Farmers Markets • Thursday,

Camp oven festival to go ahead Tweed Police seeks witnesses to

FLOODED BRIDGES CUT ‘signifcant’ supermarket theft OFF COUTTS CROSSING Tweed Heads Police are calling on the community to help identify a man wanted over a ‘signifcant’ theft at a supermarket in Tweed City shopping Centre.

Police believe the

man shown in these

pictures may be able to assist police with its investigation.

If any member of the community recognises this man or knows

his whereabouts, they are urged to contact Tweed Heads Police on

By Tim Howard

Residents around Coutts Crossing, cut off from Grafton, are keeping a close eye on weather patterns as more rain is predicted for the Clarence Valley this week.

The removal of the two timber bridges on the outskirts of Coutts Crossing has caused the township and outlying areas to be cut off.

Deputy mayor and Coutts resident Greg Clancy said the bridges, which were being replaced with modern concrete structures, would normally have kept the road open.

“The side access for the bridges during the building phase has gone under, cutting us off from Grafton,” he said.

This had personal ramifcations for the deputy mayor and his wife Val.

“Val was visiting Coffs Harbour when road went under,” Cr Clancy said.

“She drove back to Grafton along the highway and the SES ferried her across to home because she had to access medication at the house.”

Cr Clancy said he suspected most Coutts residents would be in a similar position to his, provisioned well enough to ride out a few days of isolation.

“I know Allan, from the general store, was able to get into Grafton by going along the Glens Creek Rd to the Old Glen Innes Rd, but I don’t know how much stock he could bring back,” he said.

“Glens Creek Rd is a real mess and you’d only go that way with a good four-wheel drive.”

Cr Clancy said the town could be cut off for days as the Orara River is slow to recede.

“We’re hoping it goes down before the next rain system comes over and we can get into town to restock,” he said.

“Until then people have access to the general stores, so that should be good enough in the short term.”

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted food heights at the Coutts Crossing bridges would remain at the moderate level in the early parts of the week.

It has also predicted another rain system would move over the North East of NSW on Tuesday bringing more rainfall until early next week.

On Sunday the BoM reported: “The Orara River at Coutts Crossing (Manual Observation) is currently at 9.55m and falling, with minor fooding. The Orara River at Coutts Crossing is expected to remain above the moderate food level (9.00m) overnight Sunday into Monday.”

Mr Clancy said people coming down the mountain from Armidale were not aware the road into Grafton was cut.

“I’ve spoken to our (Clarence Valley Council) director of works, asking to have some signs put up at Ebor to let people know what’s happening,” he said.

The road closures could affect a large regional event scheduled for the Long Weekend.

The Clarence Valley Camp Oven Festival, at the Nymboida Camping and Canoe Centre, was due to begin on Friday and continue until Monday.

But a festival organiser, Laena Stephenson, said the festival the council said the road should be open in time for the festival.

“They promised it would be open by Tuesday,” she said. “But we’re going full steam ahead.

“We already have postponed it from the June Long Weekend because of rain.”

Ms Stephenson, a Nymboida resident, said the road closures had been creating havoc on the region’s back roads.

“People have been coming down the mountain road, saying there’s no signage warning of the road closures,” she said.

“We’ve had a ridiculous amount of traffc in the area and a lot of people have discovered the Glen’s Creek Rd to Old Glen Innes Rd into Grafton.”

She said the road was supposedly closed to all except local traffc, but users were not paying attention to this.

“We’ve had big log trucks using the road, and they’re just ripping it pieces,” she said.

“A friend of mind has been helping to repair culverts along the road, but he says as soon as they’re repaired another truck comes along and rips them up.”

Ms Stephenson hoped the council would install some signs to let people know of the problems.

“The Old Glen Innes Rd has been closed to traffc since July, but people are not taking any notice of it.”

Cr Clancy said there was also a workshop to assess wildlife recovery after the 2019-20 bushfres, scheduled for the Nymboida Hall.

“That one might able to be a Zoom or Teams event,” he said.

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Arts and Culture Priority Needs Program

Applications for funding from the Arts and Culture Priority Needs Program are now open. The funding is for the arts and cultural sector to rebuild and recover from the February 28 floods and at the same time provide arts and cultural experiences that are crucial to community wellbeing. Funding amounts between $5,000 and $500,000 are available for eligible arts and cultural organisations. Applications close 30 November 2022. For more information, eligibility and to apply go to https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/arts-and-culture-priority-needsprogram/

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