On the eve of entering a new decade, we look back at the events that occurred in 2019. This is Part 2.

March 6 saw the most successful Eat The Street food festival to date with over 26,000 people attending the iconic local event. Plus we saw the very first AFL match on the newly refurbished Oakes oval on Sunday March 7 between the Sydney Swans and the Gold Coast Suns which attracted nearly 5,000 fans.

(Crowds enjoying this years Eat The Street. PHOTO: Kristian Hatton)

Just before this historic AFL Trial game, the Federal Government announced a further $6 million grant for the stage two development of Oakes Oval and Crozier Field. The upgrade includes;

The new work at Crozier Oval will include:

·      fit-out of a roof-top terrace, 

·      new national standard media and broadcasting facilities including scoring equipment, 

·      new amenities, function rooms, a kiosk and a lift, 

·      a change room upgrade, 

·      new national grade cricket nets, and 

·      a pedestrian bridge link to Oakes Oval.

The new work at Oakes Oval will include:

·      a terrace level to the rear of the main grandstand, 

·      new media and broadcasting facilities, 

·      corporate boxes, 

·      internal refurbishment to the Gordon Pavilion, and 

·      new amenities.

(The Sydney Swans take on the Gold Coast Suns at Oakes Oval in March this year. PHOTO: Lismore App)

The success of Eat The Street and the AFL Trial Match proved a strong starting point for the rest of the events for 2019.

June 21 saw the iconic Lismore Lantern Parade celebrate its 25^th anniversary with a new three day celebration. We had concerts on the Friday night, kids activities including rides and jumping castles, food stalls, buskers as well as the inspirational Lantern Parade itself. As usual a huge crowd in excess of 20,000 turned out to enjoy the Winter spectacular.

(the 2019 Lismore Lantern Parade. PHOTOS: Will Jackson)

The Nimbin Show celebrated 100 years in 2019. To mark the milestone the committee offered free entry and the result was a crowd over 5,000 which was well up on 2018 numbers.

The 2019 Lismore Cup was the next spring event on the social calendar and it was another success in terms of attendance with crowds in excess of 5,000. The Council gazetted half day public holiday was voted against at the December 11 council meeting. What affect that has on the 2020 Lismore Cup will be made apparent in September next year.

The Lismore Masters Games occurred on September 27-29 with over 1600 over 30’s coming to town and playing over twenty different sports. Lismore City Council Tourism and Events Manager Mitch Lowe said “it was the biggest Masters Games in six years”.

Following an intense and traumatic November, residents of the 2480 post code could relax and enjoy Christmas celebrations. The 2019 Carols In The Heart was a huge success with a crowd over 6000 people singing their hearts out.

September 17, 2019 was the date that most people thought terrorism had entered the Northern Rivers when Southern Cross University went into lockdown.

The lockdown occurred when a threatening phone call was received from a man by police. Shortly after the call was received 200 people were directly affected by the lockdown while 750 were at SCU at the time. Police responded with 70 tactical police and highway patrol officers on site. Social media reported a gunman on campus but no one was found with weapons on campus.

On August 13 we began to get a taste of what smoke filled air was like when a fire started in Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre. It spread from the compost to the Materials Recovery Facility where recyclable materials including plastics are processed. The fire was finally extinguished on August 21.

August 17 was when we were warned by the NSW Rural Fire Service about an ‘early start to the Northern River’s Zone’s Bush Fire Danger Period’ due to significant fire activity in the area following strong winds and low humidity.

In early September campfires and barbecues using wood, charcoal, or other solid fuels were banned from our State Forests as bush fires continued to burn. The on September 9, we were warned by the North Coast Public Health Unit to protect our health from bush fire smoke as the air quality began to be affected.

November 8 saw a Total Fire Ban with 66 bush fires burning throughout NSW which brought with it more health warnings due to smoke haze. Saturday November 9 was when the Lismore App first broke the story of the Mt Nardi bushfire. At this stage it was 10 kilometres from Nimbin and heading towards Tuntable Falls Road affecting an area of 2000 hecatres, 16 Rural Fire Service firefighters were trying to bring the blaze under control. Two days later Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a State of Emergency for NSW.

The Nimbin Showgrounds was announced as an evacuation point for residents with 170 people using the facilities at the fires peak while the Lismore Showgrounds were also offered by North Coast National Secretary Mark Bailey and GSAC became another official site.

It wasn’t long before residents of Tuntable Creek had begun evacuating their properties while residents in Whian Whian, Dunoon and The Channon were advised to action their Bush Fire Survival plan. On Tuesday it was confirmed that two properties had been lost.

The many firefighters that helped contain bushfires over the eight days could finally get some respite on the 17^th. These firefighters worked tirelessly throughout the emergency and the community will be forever thankful for their brave efforts especially those with properties that were in the path of the bushfire that destroyed over 6,500 hectares of the beautiful Mt Nardi region of the Nightcap National Park.

As a result of the ongoing drought and the bush fires Nimbin was quickly placed on Level 1 water restrictions which became Level 2 within a week. Lismore entered Level 1 on December 7 before Nimbin hit the serious Level 3 water restrictions on December 12. 

At the Lismore App we support local business as we believe this is the heart and soul of any city and town. These businesses opened their doors or moved in 2019 and deserve our patronage in 2020 as well as the many businesses that have been established for quite a few years.

• La Casita Mexicana on Keen Street in March.
• The Duck Pond Café relocated two doors down in Union Street, South Lismore after closing on February 28.
• Treas Shoes in the Star Court Arcade
• Fair Game, an online wild venison business
• Le Petit Aromatique Apothecary in Star Court
• John Deere dealership in South Lismore
• Totally Dogs moves to a new location at 46 Terania Street, North Lismore.
• Discount Drug Stores in Goonellabah (corner Pleasant Street and Rous Road)
• Pretty Please Hair and Beauty in the CBD down a laneway off Carrington Street
• Affordable Beauty opened another business in the Village Goonellabah Shopping Centre
• Living Entertainment moved into new larger premises at 105 Keen Street.

As 2019 comes to a close, what is in store for 2020? There are times when you wish for a relatively quiet year, after the Mt Nardi bushfires we could do with a quiet twelve months.

On behalf of the Lismore App team, thank you for reading our stories this year. We will continue to do our best and provide News, Sport and Community Information for the 2480 post code. If you see or hear of anything that the community should know about please let us know through the 'Contact The App' button.

Happy New Year!