Last ditch bid to save Ulmarra ferry

By Tim Howard

Clarence Valley councillors have not give up hope they can rescue the Ulmarra Ferry from State Government ordered oblivion.

At this week’s May council meeting Cr Steve Pickering has brought a notice of motion begging the NSW Government to reverse its decision to terminate the service from June 10.

Cr Pickering’s NOM asked that council:

1. write to Jenny Aitchison MP, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads of NSW, and Chris Minns, Premier of NSW, requesting a review of the decision to terminate the Ulmarra to Southgate ferry service and that assurance be given to the Clarence Valley community that the service will remain in operation.

2. write to the Local Member, Richie Williamson MP, thanking him for his support to date and request he make representation to Jenny Aitchison MP, the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads of NSW, requesting a review of the Transport for NSW decision to terminate the Ulmarra to Southgate ferry and that assurance be given to the Clarence Valley community that the ferry service will be retained.

Cr Pickering said the ferry service was tied to the identity of the local community and was recognised as such in planning documents such as the Clarence Way Masterplan II.

It said: B 3.2 Promote cultural tourism that links to the river and refects a sense of place. Coordinate heritage assets. Manage and protect the ferry crossings for their local and tourists

B5 Enhance the visitor experience on the ferry. Consider safe options to allow pedestrians and cyclists and allow passengers to move out of their vehicles.

But Transport for NSW which operates the ferry said the service has become unviable with an average of just one car a trip using the ferry.

Cr Pickering said for residents, businesses, families with school children, tradies, farmers, primary producers and tourists from the Ulmarra side of the Clarence River to the Southgate side of the river; it acts as an infrastructure link, similar to a bridge.

The ferry operated seven days a week between 6am and 10.40pm with stops for meal breaks. The trip took seven minutes each way.

Travelling from Ulmarra to Southgate using roads through Grafton would take 28 minutes and is 29.5km each way.

TfNSW claims that the patronage of the ferry has been reduced since the opening of the Balun Bindarray Bridge and the completion of the M1 Motorway.

The ferry service has also become less reliable recently, with around 250 stoppages last year (as announced by TfNSW).

The reliability was attributed to silt buildup under the ferry due to infrequent dredging.

Cr Pickering said the ferry was part of the community used for daily commutes and was also a tourist attraction.

“To date, there has been no local community consultation, and due to the haste of decision-making and the failure to consult the users and local community effectively, this decision will have unintended consequences,” Cr Pickering said.

The government has also received a petition with the signatures of 6000 people protesting against the decision to close the ferry service.

The outcome of the NOM to be heard at this week’s council meeting, will be reported in next week’s edition of The Northern Rivers Times.

Missing $1.9 mil turns up in village hall account

Comment

By Tim Howard

Clarence Valley Council chose to go into confdential session this week to discuss possibly the worst kept secret of the year: how nearly $1.9 million of State Government money ended up in the bank account of a tiny village hall committee.

Late last month the council sent an urgent please explain to the Ewingar Community Hall Committee after council received advice from the State Government it had deposited nearly $1.9 million in grant funds with the council during 2023.

But there was a problem: it had no idea where the money was because it had never showed up in its accounts.

A frantic search soon showed where the money had landed, when they spotted the bank statement of the Ewingar Hall committee.

Normally happy to have a couple of thousand in the bank, the account for April 2024 showed a balance of almost $1.9 million in the black with records of three deposits from different State Government departments during 2023 of $750,000 in April, $1.142,212 in June and $1390 in September.

The council was not amused, getting the local police to investigate how the funds came to be in the committee’s hands.

Sources in the committee revealed it was no laughing matter at their end as well.

When the money turned up in their account, they tracked down the government departments responsible and asked them some pertinent questions like, what was this money for and how did the government get their bank account details.

When they didn’t get a response the concern $1.9 windfall was some sort of money laundering scam, so they waited for the midnight phone call or mysterious men in dark glasses to knock on some doors.

The wait ended in April this year when the State Government and the council worked out something was amiss and got serious about looking for the missing money.

The police involvement convinced committee members they weren’t unwittingly part of a scam, so in April committee members made the three hour round trip to their bank in Casino to transfer the money to the council account.

Council debated two reports listed jn the confdential section of the business paper, which concerned member of the hall committee.

The committee is a S355 council committee which reports regularly to the council and is subject to council’s code of conduct.

The business paper said it was necessary for the committee to go into confdential session because it contained “personnel matters concerning particular individuals” and the information could “prejudice the maintenance of law” and “contains alleged contraventions of any code of conduct requirements applicable under section 440”.

The Northern Rivers

Times has learned the council planned to bring an urgent late item of business to it April meeting on this matter, but withdrew it at the last minute.

While it’s looking for explanations, the council might also like to explain when it plans to get moving on the building the Rural Fire Service brigade shed for the village promised after the 2019 fres which killed two people and destroyed 45 homes.

The council has had more than $850,000 in Bushfre Local Economic Recovery grant funding since July 2021, when the project was listed as the council’s number one priority.

So far all the Ewingar community have heard on the matter is crickets.

By Samantha Elley

Summerland Estate is the latest piece of land to be opened up as part of the NSW Government’s $100 million Resilient Lands Program.

Located on the north side of Casino at Fairy Hill, the area has been identifed as part of Richmond Valley Council’s Housing strategy as it sits well above the foodplain, allowing for foodresilient homes to be constructed.

“Today, the announcement is ($245,000) to Richmond Valley Council to do some studies under the Resilient Lands package to open up, up to 1500 home sites at Fairy Hill,” said Clarence member, Richie Williamson, on the banks of the Richmond River at Woodburn last week.

“It is a signifcant injection of cash to allow the council to get to a