Applications open for Australia Day community event funding

Get involved in the platyproject for some platypus spotting this September

This September everyone is invited to help one of Australia’s most iconic species, the platypus, by participating in the platy-project.

Council is offering fnancial assistance to community organisations across the Tweed who plan to hold small community events three days either side of Australia Day 2024.

Council’s Manager of Corporate Governance

Stephanie Papadopoulos said these small community events have a big impact.

“As the Australian Government has given local councils a range of dates on which they can choose to hold their ceremonies, Council is offering fnancial assistance for eligible Australia Day Events to be held on one of the 3 days either side of 26 January 2024,” Ms Papadopoulos said.

“Bringing people together is paramount to fostering a vibrant community where both the people and places of the Tweed can thrive.

“We look forward to seeing the events our community groups have planned for the public to enjoy.”

The amount of funding available is based on the expected audience size of the event.

There are criteria for application, which include: whatsontweed.com. au - to ensure the public has information of the event. get involved in this special project to help this unique species. The briefng event is a great opportunity for everyone to bring their friends, neighbours, and kids to learn more about the species and how you can get involved in this years’ platypus watch,” Ms Caddick said.

• Any community organisation requesting fnancial assistance for an event must be Tweedbased and provide an outline of the event.

The platy-project is an annual event hosted by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) that brings together people from across Australia, to help count and monitor the platypus population in our waterways. Data collected from the project is used to better understand the platypus population and make informed decisions about their protection.

“September is the best time of year to spot a platypus, but if you see one at another time, you can still jump on the ACF website and record your sighting on the platyproject map,” she said.

The 3 categories of funding support on offer are:

• Category 1: $300 for events up to 149 attendees

• Category 2: $400 for events with 150-249 attendees

• Category 3: $500 for events with more than 250 attendees.

Community organisations applying for the frst time will be assigned to Category 1 grant funding.

• The organisation must be an incorporated body and hold public liability insurance.

Get your application in before 5 pm on 29 September 2023

• Funds are not to be used for a social activity for members of the community organisation exclusively and no fnancial assistance will be given to privatelyowned businesses or companies.

• Successful applicants will be required to place event details on Council’s calendar of events -

• The successful applicant must also recognise Council’s support for the event on the day and in all promotional material. Eligible applications will be assessed by the Tweed Shire Australia Day Awards Selection Panel on Thursday 19 October 2023.

All relevant approvals will need to be applied for and must be in place if the event is to be held on Council-managed land such as a park or beach.

To apply, please complete the application form on Council’s Australia Day webpage and return your application to Council by 5 pm Friday 29 September

“Last year over 1,000 people across Australia participated in the platyproject, with several people spotting the mammal in the Byron Shire, including at the Bangalow Weir Parklands,” Council’s Biodiversity Team Leader, Liz Caddick said.

“The exciting thing is that Byron Shire residents may have a platypus living closer to them than they think. They are known to live in urban rivers, suburban creeks, and farm dams and we have plenty of those all around us and potentially many more platypus to spot,” she said.

To help kick-off the project this year, Vision Walks Eco Tours are partnering with Council to run a briefng event on Tuesday 29 August from 4pm until 5.30pm at the Bangalow RSL Hall. More information about the platy-project event is on Council’s website.

“I urge everyone to

As part of Council’s Dogs in Public Spaces Strategy (strategy) the location of the dog exercise area was amended at the Bangalow Weir Parklands to help protect local platypus. New signage is also being installed by Council to remind dog owners to keep their dogs on lead and out of the water.

“Platypus can be easily disturbed by dogs running in the water. They may stop them coming out and feeding, which is critical to their survival, especially in spring when they have babies (known as puggles) to look after,” Ms Caddick said.

“The signs encourage owners to keep their dogs out of the water and on-leash at all times. They can still be off-leash in the designated areas,” she said.

To see a map that shows the places you can exercise your dog off-leash in Byron Shire, please visit Council’s website. www.byron.nsw.gov.au

Quick Crossword

ACROSS

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DOWN

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SUDOKU

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8

No. 162

5 A game of tenpin bowling consists of how many frames?

6 Who wrote the 1960s poems Ariel, Daddy and Tulips?

7 Miranda is a moon orbiting which planet in our solar system?

8 Valkyries are supernatural gures from what mythology?

1 What does a etcher make?

2 What city is known as the ‘City of Light’?

3 In mathematics, is the value of pi closest to: 5.23, 4.12 or 3.14?

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ACROSS

1 Deceive (4)

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7 Third person plural (4) DOWN

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No. 162

Word Find

The

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9-LETTER WORD No. 162 20

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included, and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural words ending in “s”.

Each number corresponds to a letter. Can you crack the code?

Cross Math

Insert each number from 1 to 9 in the shaded squares to solve all the horizontal and vertical equations. Multiplication

5x5

G

S S

N I

I A E

A E

No. 138

Hidden Word

Solve all the clues and an eight-letter word will be spelled out.

1 Cooked eggs

2 Looks like a bear

3 Smell these owers

4 Pour this on cake

5 Yellow, in the middle of 1-across

E T Y

No. 137

Insert the missing letters to make 10 words –ve reading across the grid and ve reading down.

NOTE: more than one solution may be possible

6 Rooster’s call, ‘– – doodle doo!’

7 Home to otters, sh, crocodiles

8 Preparation for bread, cake or beans

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