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The Northern Rivers Times Edition 128
Footpath Trip-Hazard lands woman in Hospital
By MARGARET DEKKER
The ‘notorious’ footpath west along Hastings Road in Bogangar/ Cabarita Beach has claimed another casualty with a woman tripping on its uneven surface, falling heavily to the ground, and sustaining serious head injuries.
The well-known ‘Caba’ local - who The Northern Rivers Times has not named - suffered a deep gash to her forehead, severing a blood vessel, and experienced heavy bleeding as she waited on the footpath for an ambulance to arrive.
The woman’s partner, Peter, said the quickthinking actions of nearby Reef Villas staff and locals and NSW Ambulance staff were instrumental in preventing disaster.
“They recognised the seriousness of her blood loss and got her to Tweed Hospital Emergency ASAP,” Peter said.
“Tweed Shire Council has a serious OH&S issue here which they’ve chosen to ignore. The walkway is broken, has been broken for years, and Council has done SFA to update warnings (by their laughable
A Cabarita Beach woman suffered head injuries after tripping on an uneven local footpath
yellow paint,) grind back high concrete or replace this well-used footpath,” he added.
Other Bogangar/ Cabarita Beach locals were scathing in their assessment of the ‘dodgy footpaths around Caba,’ taking to the local community Facebook page to vent their concerns about uneven pathways, inadequate street lighting and locals’ other near misses.
“These footpaths seriously are very concerning; you would think with the high rates we pay we would at least have level & safe
pathways!!!
“I nearly tripped there two nights ago ..
“This footpath has been a disgrace for way too long.
“It is disgusting how footpaths all over the country are left in this disgraceful condition. We have just travelled from Kingscliff to Perth in our caravan and I am now in a moon boot with a broken foot from the very same thing happening to me in Perth, come on Councils get your act together!” one woman posted to ‘Bogangardians’ Facebook Page.
COUNCIL KNOCKS BACK AIRPORT OPERATION OFFER
By TIM HOWARD
Clarence Valley Council has knocked back an offer to operate passenger services from the Grafton Regional Airport.
At last week’s council meeting a confdential report went to council outlining an expression of interest from passenger air service provider FlyPelican to offer regular passenger services.
The provider had been in talks with the council’s previous administration during the on again-off again relationship between the airport owner the council and Rex Airlines since early
2020.
And during 2022, FlyPelican, Qantas and Link Airways had expressed interest in using the airport for regular passenger services.
Grafton has been without air services since Rex withdrew its Grafton to Sydney fights at the end of June.
Although the report was confdential, it was passed undebated as part of a block of reports which required no action from councillors.
After the meeting Mayor Ian Tiley said the rejection of the offer was a “no brainer”.
He said the costs
of the service to the council would have been onerous and there was no way the council could recoup the costs.
But Cr Tiley said the airport remained a viable asset and just this year had received a $1.54 million upgrade of the water storage capability of the airport for fre emergencies.
Cr Tiley said while it was desirable for Grafton to have a passenger service operating from the airport, it was essential the operation ftted into the council’s budget.
Offcially the council voted unanimously to not proceed with the expression of interest from FlyPelican.
Tweed Shire welcomes new Deputy Mayor
Cr Meredith Dennis is the new Deputy Mayor of Tweed Shire Council
By MARGARET DEKKER
It was to generous applause and unanimous vote Cr Meredith Dennis was named the new Deputy Mayor of Tweed Shire Council at an Extraordinary Meeting of Council last week. It’s a notable achievement for Cr Dennis in just her frst term on Council.
Meredith Dennis is also President and Volunteer Coordinator at Wedgetail Retreat for Palliative Support in Murwillumbah and three years ago was awarded the Tweed’s highest civic award, the Citizen of the Year.
Cr Dennis replaces outgoing Deputy Mayor Reece Byrnes who
described his service over the past two years as ‘an honour’ in
who stood down from the role for family reasons.
“I believe the last few years have been the most challenging and the most unprecedented. The Covid-19 pandemic decimated our Shire in many ways, it witnessed times of great distress for many businesses, families, and individuals,” Rhys Byrnes, outgoing Deputy Mayor, Tweed Shire Council, said in his address to Council.
Cr Byrnes noted his proudest achievements included his call for a ‘border bubble’ to be created during the border closure; driving cost-relief measures for ratepayers out of the pandemic and the food; opposing the state’s
amalgamation of four Murwillumbah public schools into one super campus; introducing drone technology for safer beaches; and creating friendly ‘Council Catchups’ for Council colleagues.
Cr Dennis acknowledged she had Cr Byrnes’ ‘big shoes to fll’
“I will certainly do my very best to represent the Council and the community,” Cr Meredith Dennis, Deputy Mayor TSC said.
Cr Dennis’ will serve as Deputy until December 2023; Cr Byrnes remains a councillor.
