The Lismore Quad is hosting a big festival for kids next month with a lineup including fun live band Poppy Galactic and the Beat, tight wire classes and high wire professionals, sign language workshops, the Roundabout Theatre and heaps of creative activities.The Playground Festival on September 21, run in conjunction with the Lismore Regional Gallery, is now in its second year and is intended for children 8-12, their families and carers."The main themes of the festival are based around nature play and encouraging risk-in-play," a spokesperson for the Quad said."Kids and families will be encouraged to get involved in everything from building giant bower bird nests to learning to walk a tight wire to creating their own playground."Local circus group SeedArts will be creating a custom designed Tight Wire playground in The Quad where children can balance on the ropes, wires, stepping stones and beams and watch professional performers show their skills on the tight wire.Landscape architects Earth Play, led by Tamsin Scott, will give children and their families the chance to create their very own bower bird nest while an experienced facilitator will help them create the playground of their dreams from recycled materials in the Lismore Regional Gallery event space. Under the Conservatorium of Music, The Clubhouse will host a series of making workshops throughout the day including badge making, make your own drawing robots, perler jewellery making and photoshop mashup poster design.Meanwhile, Poppy Galactic and The Beat, an electronic, dance music duo for kids, will provide some wicked beats to get down to.For more details check out the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/486697095445104/

With the high temperature in Lismore yesterday reaching 28.2 degrees, you could be forgiven for thinking that spring has already sprung and our feathered friends are feeling the same.Spring is particularly busy time for WIRES volunteers and they are already receiving numerous calls about newly hatched chicks.Plover chicks are hatching and parents are acting like all parents do, defending their young, swallow chicks are chirping their way through worms and grubs, noisy miner chicks are being rescued and reunited after falling from nests and ducklings are trotting after their mums and dads with some sadly becoming separated from parents."WIRES would like to remind the public that the best place for any chick is with its parents," a spokesperson said."If you do find a chick that has fallen from a nest, please contact WIRES on 66281898 for advice."Most chicks, if they are uninjured and are not cold or dehydrated, can be reunited with their parents."In some cases WIRES will take the chick/s into care for a short while until reuniting is possible."Anyone keen to make a difference for the wildlife in our area may consider joining WIRES.For more information about how you can join and contribute call 66281898.

A Richmond River High School student was the winner of the Susie Warrick Young Writers Award at the Byron Writers Festival.Entrants were set the task of writing a 1,000 word short story for a $500 prize and publishing opportunities with the festival.The competition attracted 61 entries across two youth categoriesRichmond River High student Niamh Montgomery won the award in the Years 7-9 category with her short story, Crayons.The judges said Niamh’s story was a “surprise both in terms of its subject matter and its ability to manipulate the reader”.“This complex and subtle story, written from the perspective of a child in a violent home, has a clever twist in the tail,” they said.The first runner up in the Years 7-9 category was Kadina student Ally Broome with her short story Shadows.You can read the winning short stories here: https://byronwritersfestival.com/blog/susie-warrick-young-writers-award-winners-read-the-winning-stories/

Lismore City Council is requesting that residents refrain from putting Resource Recovery Collection Satchels in their bins until the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre is reopened.The waste facility has been closed since a fire started in the compost piles and spread to the Materials Recovery Facility on August 11.The council and NSW Fire and Rescue are still working on extinguishing the smouldering green waste.However, even once the fire is completely out, the waste facility is expected to remain closed for several weeks.In the meantime, the council has made interim arrangements for the disposal of most of the waste. “We are asking all residents to please stop placing Resource Recovery Collection Satchels in yellow recycling bins for the time being,” the council said in a Facebook post today. “The facility in Chinderah where we are sending recycling while the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre is closed does not accept these satchels. “Please keep them in your cupboard until our recycling centre reopens.”The Resource Recovery Collection Satchels allow people you to recycle "problem waste" such as household batteries, reading glasses, corks, CDs and DVDs, X-rays, mobile phones and accessories, small electronics (such as cameras, iPods and calculators) and printer cartridges.Easy to spot by manual sorters, the satchels are normally removed from the recycling conveyor belt at the Materials Recovery Facility and the items inside separated for further recycling.

The owner of Totally Dogs pet grooming service has offered a somewhat surprising reason for relocating to North Lismore.Janet Goodwin re-opened the shop in its new location at 46 Terania St today.She told the Lismore App she made the decision to up sticks after the State Election in March "because of the protests".Nationals candidate Austin Curtin’s campaign office was two doors down from Totally Dogs in Conway St during State Election and the Nationals Kevin Hogan used the same shopfront during his campaign for reelection in Page at the Federal Election in May. During both election campaigns, Nationals opponents staged protests outside sometimes with placards urging people to toot their horns“I moved because because of all the protests,” Ms Goodwin said. “I just couldn't work there anymore. I couldn’t conduct my business with the dogs and everything. It was horrible.”Totally Dogs offers services including dog grooming, doggie daycare, dog training and emergency care.However, Ms Goodwin said the noise from the protests agitated the dogs.“Where I am now we have parking, we have a quiet street and we don't have any protestors,” she said.“I've got nothing against protestors. Everybody is free to do what they like - freedom of speech - but to conduct a little business over there with all the problems I was getting was just woeful.”Ms Goodwin said that even though the elections were over, she still decided it wasn’t worth staying.“It’s going to come back. For my business, it’s just not viable,” she said, adding that there were still weekly protests outside Mr Hogan's office in Molesworth St.She said the new space in Terania St - which she had purchased and renovated along with the residence next door - was “fantastic”“There’s more parking, it’s a quiet street, it’s very, very, safe,” she said. “It just wasn't safe for anybody to cross the road [in Conway St], nobody could get a park outside because there was cake shop across the road and trucks would park outside, the fire engines and ambulances would park there as well. “I've got everything I need here.”Totally Dogs was offering re-opening specials on a wide range of products including leads, collars and dog treats, she added.Totally Dogs is now at 46 Terania St, North Lismore. Phone: 6621 9998.

All fire permits have been suspended after the NSW RFS - Northern Rivers Zone assessed today’s fire danger to be “very high”.Rural Fire Service Superintendent Boyd Townsend told the Lismore App it wasn’t the first very high fire danger day this year but it was the first since the declaration of the Bushfire Danger Period and the fire danger rating index was the highest so far.“There were a couple of very high fire danger days in that period when the Clearfield Rd, Rappville, fire started the weekend before last,” Supt Townsend said.“But it is the first with the Bushfire Danger Period and fire permit requirements now in place.“During the Bushfire Danger Period everyone requires a fire permit and on days of Very High Fire Danger those permits are suspended and any fires lit under those permits have to be extinguished.”Supt Townsend said the warm, windy and dry conditions contributed to the high fire danger.“It's the warmest day of the year so far - with temperatures up in the high 20s - heading towards summer,” he said.“The winds are expected to be around about 50kh/h to 60km/h in some locations around lunchtime but hopefully abating later in the afternoon“Also the humidity is forecast to be around 10 per cent, which is very, very low.Very High Fire Danger days in August were “not unheard of”, he said.“We are coming into that windy time of year that we normally do expect and September is normally a windy time.“Really what we're seeing is not that unusual but if you combine that with the general lack of rainfall at the moment [it increases the fire danger]. “The drought indicators are rising quickly for the Far North Coast and we've actually had less rainfall from January to now than we had in the same period last year.“Conditions were drier last year, which sounds a little bit silly, but what rain we have had occurred a little bit later in winter, whereas during winter last year the rain was earlier in the year.“Overall, conditions are slightly better than last year but it's only marginal.“It's not taking much for a fire to ignite and escape very quickly.”Supt Townsend said it was hard to pin the blame for the current fire danger on climate change.“Climate is the ongoing debate for the bigger picture. It’s over a broader time type issue while we're really dealing with the weather week to week,” he said.“We're going through an extended drought at the moment but it's not the first drought that's ever been had, that's for sure“It's hard to say what those factors are.“Hopefully, we'll turn around in a few weeks time and it'll be raining and raining and we'll be out helping the SES.“It's one of those things.”Tomorrow’s Fire Danger Rating will be published on the NSW RFS website this afternoon at: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fdr-and-tobans

A blueberry farming company in Dunoon has paid a hefty price after challenging a fine issued by Lismore City Council in relation to the use of a bird scare gun.In June 2017, the council received complaints from the Dunoon community about noise generated from an LPG-powered bird scare gun deployed at a blueberry farm in Cowley Road, Dunoon, the council said in a media release.The gun was emitting a loud blast like a firework being launched every three to five minutes, which is classified as ‘intrusive noise’ under NSW laws.The council served a direction to the company to take preventative action in June 2017, which required limiting use of the scare gun to no more than six shots per hour.In June 2018, the council again started receiving complaints from the Dunoon community about the use of the bird scare gun in contravention of Council’s direction. Investigations resulted in an $8,000 fine being issued by the council under the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations Act.This was appealed and the matter went before Magistrate David Heilpern in Lismore Local Court this week.Magistrate Heilpern convicted the company for failing to comply with Council’s direction under NSW environmental laws, and reduced the fine to $2,000, however, the company was also ordered to pay $20,000 of the council’s legal costs incurred in defending the appeal.Magistrate Heilpern noted the particular circumstances and mitigating factors of the offence, whilst acknowledging the serious nature of environmental offences. Magistrate Heilpern noted that: “This is a matter that falls at the low end of the scale for offending conduct” before adding that it was “important to send a clear message to those who pollute in contravention of a direction.”The blueberries at the farm in Dunoon have since been covered with bird netting to replace the need for a bird scare gun.The council’s manager of development and compliance Peter Jeuken said the court outcome was a strong warning of the potential consequences for people who fail to comply with council compliance directions that are issued to protect community amenity.“Many residents of the Dunoon community were affected by the use of this device over an extended period of time, and the sentence reflects the lack of an appropriate response by this company to those genuine community concerns,” Mr Jeuken said.“Where noise adversely impacts a whole community, council will take firm action based on the evidence to ensure reasonable amenity is maintained, and people should be aware that Council has a 95 per cent success rate in defending its compliance and enforcement actions in court.”

Lismore has a new home for card, board and role-playing gamers.Unplugged Games was opened in Dawson St today by the same people who run Online Coins and Collectibles in the shop next door.Heidi Green, who is the general manager of both, said it was intended to be a comfortable, welcoming and friendly place to game with friends, or make new ones.“We stock a wide range of games and accessories including Magic: the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dungeons and Dragons, Keyforge, Star Wars X-Wing and Legion, Bolt Action and the widest range of board games in Northern NSW,” Heidi said.Importantly, she said it would also be open all day as a venue for people to come and play games on their own and in the evening there would be organised tournaments.On Tuesday evenings is miniatures and wargames, Wednesday is D&D Adventurers League and boardgames, Thursday is Keyforge, Friday is Magic and Saturday is Magic (free learn-to-play and Commander sessions) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (advanced).Heidi said the owner of the businesses, Andrew Mitchell, saw there was a need for a place for gamers following the closure of Overdrive Gaming, in Carrington St, about nine months ago.“The space next door in Dawson St recently became available and we’ve pulled it all together in about three weeks,” she said."Liam who used to run Overdrive Gaming has come on board with us and is going to manage Unplugged Games.”The grand opening is today with a Magic tournament tonight and then a Keyforge tournament on Saturday.“Then we’ll be open during the day Monday to Saturday for people who can just come and play,” Heidi said.Unplugged Games is located at Shop 3, 132 Dawson St, Lismore. Phone: 6621 3122. Check out the Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/unpluggedgameslismore/

The organisers of the 11th Lismore Workers Masters Games are urging people not to dilly dally as registrations for the 2019 event close in one week.This year the biennial Masters Games is celebrating its 20th year since inception.The Masters Games will be held from 27-29 September at Lismore’s many sporting venues with additional special events and celebrations to honour the Masters Games’ 20th year.“The Masters Games is three days of fantastic fun – we’ll have more than 1500 competitors from our local region, NSW, Australia and the world descending on Lismore to socialise, renew lifelong friendships and enjoy competitive sports,” the council's events officer Leanne Clark said.“It is hard to believe this event has been going for two decades. I remember when we held the first Games... it was popular right from the get-go. We knew we had an enduring event once we saw the enthusiasm that was out there in the community.“The fact it has grown to become such a major event on our sporting calendar is testament to the sporting spirit here in Lismore and the many hundreds of volunteers who work so hard to create an unforgettable event.”This year competitors will benefit from major upgrades to several sporting facilities over the last two years including Crozier Field, the Albert Park Baseball and Softball Complex and the regional hockey facility at Hepburn Park.“We are also celebrating two decades of sponsorship by the Lismore Workers Club. The club came on board as the naming rights sponsor for our very first Games and has been a faithful partner ever since,” Ms Clark said.“At this event we will pay tribute to the Lismore Workers Club and our hard-working volunteers, some of whom have been with us since the inaugural event. The 20th year is the perfect time to say a huge thank you to the integral people that have made the Masters Games what it is today.”There are 19 sports people can choose to register for:BaseballBasketballCricketEquestrianGolfHockeyLawn bowlsNetballOztagFitness challengeFootballFive-a-side footballRugby UnionSoftballSwimmingMasters Mini Games (euchre, darts, pool and indoor bowls)Registrations close on 23 August. To register for the Masters Games or find out more, visit www.lismoremastersgames.com.au.

Rural road trauma will be the focus of a police operation this weekend.Operation Chrome will run from today through to Sunday in the state’s Northern, Southern and Western regions.The operation will utilise police from all 11 districts within the Northern Region, working alongside officers from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, providing a coordinated effort to reducing rural road trauma throughout the region.NSW Police say drivers and riders should expect to see more police on rural roads and highways over the coming days targeting risky driver behaviours.Northern Region traffic tactician Acting Inspector Justin Cornes said drivers need to follow the road rules in order to keep themselves and others safe on our roads.“Reducing road trauma is front and centre for Northern Region. With 69 people killed on Northern New South Wales roads so far this year, we need to continue the conversation and get people thinking about their behaviour on the roads.“Road trauma doesn’t just impact those in the car – it can tear regional communities apart; it can leave gaping holes in families. One life lost is too many,” Acting Inspector Cornes said.Northern Region Commander, Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell APM said reducing rural road trauma is a priority for police right across NSW.“Our main aim is to stop fatal crashes before they happen. To do that, we make no apologies for enforcing the road rules that are the biggest contributors to fatal crashes.“Most crashes happen in rural and regional areas, which is why you will see us in numbers this weekend. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility – it’s that simple,” Assistant Commissioner Mitchell said.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) are transporting a high-power water pump from Sydney to Lismore today to help extinguish the fire still burning in compost piles at the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre.The Hytrans bulk water transfer system can release up to 8000 litres of water per minute and will help to douse the nine large compost piles that continue to smoulder and produce smoke following Sunday’s fire, the council said in a statement this afternoon.FRNSW has indicated it could be a number of days or even weeks before the fire can be fully extinguished but is confident the water pump will speed up the process.Lismore City Council is working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to establish an alternative site for the disposal of bulk green waste. Green waste cannot leave the yellow crazy ant exclusion zone around Lismore without sign off from the DPI.“We are working with the EPA and the DPI to meet requirements around yellow crazy ants and the proper recording of green waste weights,” the council’s executive director of infrastructure services Gary Murphy said.“We are looking for an appropriate alternative site where the public can drop off green waste and hope to have this in place by early next week.”There are currently delays to waste collection across the city, particularly with green organics bins, and residents are asked to be patient and leave bins out until they are emptied.The council will continue to send recycling to Chinderah via Ballina and general waste to Ipswich via Richmond Valley while the Materials Recovery Facility remains inoperable.“We would like to thank our neighbouring councils for their support. We have had to find quick solutions to complex waste management issues and they have been very responsive,” Gary said.“Ballina Shire Council and the Animal Rights & Rescue Group took in animals from the Lismore Pound and we’re very grateful for this.“We would also like to thank the fire brigade and different agencies involved for their unwavering support and hard work, and I would personally like to thank the council staff that have been working round the clock to help extinguish the fire and restore services to normal.“We have had many messages of support and sympathy from the public and this has been very heartening, as we realise the fire is impacting our community. I want to assure people we are working to resolve the fire and our waste management issues as quickly as possible.”For more information on the health impacts of smoke, visit the NSW Health website: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/bushfire-smoke.aspx

An exhibition opening at the Lismore Regional Gallery later this month was inspired by the miraculous world of interconnectivity that exists between trees under the forest floor.Mullumbimby based artist Emma Walker says her work in The Dark Sublime references the underground intelligence systems of forests where white fungal webs grow out towards other trees.These fungal systems create a network of communication and exchange, allowing the forest to behave as though it were a single organism.Her works - which “evoke the relationships, exchange and even love that exists in the soil” - are not planned out but start in much the same way as a forest might, with a laying down of marks that inform those that follow.The paintings grow, with pioneers creating an environment for a succession of other species, and complementary forms and marks to live side by side.“In the studio I follow an informed process of trial and error, struggle and epiphany,” she says.Paint is applied in strokes, drips and pours, layer upon layer, and then it is wiped/scraped back in areas, sanded, and the timber substrate carved into, until the work reaches a point where she can see that it is working and a cohesion forming.Walker spent part of her childhood on a bushy rural property near Cootamundra, south-west NSW, as well as living in Sydney and sailing and travelling the world with her free-spirited family.She has work features in several major public and corporate collections and in private collections in Australia, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and the US.For the last 18 years she has lived in the Northern Rivers.“In this subtropical area, it is easy to imagine that if we left the land to its own devices it would find a new balance,” says Walker.“Our impatience is that nature follows its own timeline, and the lives of mature trees in a complex ecosystem are so much longer than ours.”The Dark Sublime by Emma Walker opens at the Lismore Regional Gallery on August 31 and runs until October 20. The official launch will be on September 13 at 6pm and Walker will be speaking about the exhibition on October 10 at 11am.

Lismore City Council says firefighters are slowly making progress extinguishing a fire burning in nine large compost piles at the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre.Firefighters and council workers are using heavy machinery and five bulk water carriers to pull the compost piles apart and saturate with water.“FRNSW has indicated it could be a number of days or even weeks before the fire can be fully extinguished,” the council said in a statement.The council had previously expected the fire to be out within a few days.The NSW EPA said on Twitter that staff visited the site yesterday.“The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is working with FRNSW and Lismore City Council to address the impact of the fire on waste management and air quality,” the council said.Insurance assessors have begun preliminary investigations to assess the extent of damage to the Materials Recovery Facility.“A full damage assessment and an extensive clean-up of the site will need to be undertaken before the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre can reopen to the public, which could take a number of weeks.”The North Coast Public Health Unit is urging people with heart and respiratory conditions to take caution, with high air pollution levels in some areas of northern NSW as a result of the recycling centre fire as well as significant bushfire activity around the region.People with asthma who can see or smell smoke can collect free respirators at the Bunnings trade desk by showing ID with a residential address within or around Lismore.There are currently delays to waste collection across the city, particularly with green organics bins.Residents have been asked to be patient and leave bins out until they are emptied.“The collection of green waste is complicated by the yellow crazy ant exclusion zones still in place in and around Lismore,” the council’s executive director of infrastructure services Gary Murphy said.“We are working with the EPA and the Department of Primary Industries to implement a solution but this is causing some delays to our collections.“We urge residents to please be patient as we sort through these complex issues. Everyone is working their hardest to get the fire under control and services back to normal.”For more information on the health impacts of smoke, visit the NSW Health website: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/bushfire-smoke.aspx

The Rural Fire Service has announced that the Northern Rivers Zone’s Bush Fire Danger Period will start early this year on Saturday.The statutory Bush Fire Danger Period runs from 1 October to 31 March, however it may vary due to local conditions.“The Northern Rivers Zone will start the Bush Fire Danger Period due to significant fire activity in the area following strong winds and low humidity over several days last week combined with the extended ongoing warm and dry conditions,” the RFS said in a Facebook post.The early start affects the Lismore, Richmond Valley and Kyogle local government areas. The Bush Fire Danger Period has already begun in some other areas of NSW.“Effective from [12:01am] on Saturday 17 August 2019, if you are planning to maintain a fire in the open, you will need a Fire Permit,” the post said.“This includes any burning activity that may already be occurring.“Fire Permits cost nothing from your local Brigade.“The Northern Rivers Zone will be ensuring that any burning will be limited only to activities that will take less than 24 hours to complete to ensure there is a reduced risk to the community in the event of unfavourable weather conditions being forecast.”

Lismore Police today charged a 30-year-old Lismore man who allegedly stole groceries from a supermarket in Lismore and then resisted arrest.“Police will allege that at 7:05am a 30-year-old Lismore man has attended Centro, Lismore,” crime prevention officer Senior Constable David Henderson said in a post on the Richmond PD Facebook page.“He has gone to Woolworths and walked out with $65 worth of groceries. He refused to stop when asked to by staff, who followed him and called police.“He was located on Market Street. When spoken to he started frothing at the mouth. He resisted arrest and it took considerable effort to place him in the police truck.”The man was charged with Larceny and Resist Police at Lismore Police Station and refused bail to appear in Lismore Local Court today.“Lismore shops are becoming more proactive when it comes to alleged shoplifters,” Senior Constable Henderson said.“Most stores have good CCTV coverage and staff are now quick to call police when property has been stolen.“I have noticed that they are starting to recognise repeat offenders as soon as they walk into their stores and will watch them closely.“If they cannot be identified by police or staff their photo will end up on this page, where invariably a member of the public will identify them and advise police.”

Lismore City Council last night voted to officially declare that the “world is in a state of climate emergency” joining at least 33 other local governments across Australia.Cr Elly Bird put forward the multi-part motion which officially recognises the threat posed by climate change and commits the council to a raft of symbolic and procedural actions in response.It followed a community access session during which five community members spoke in favour of the move, including several members the Lismore Extinction Rebellion group.While addressing the motion, Cr Bird painted a nightmare future affected by rising sea levels and climate change.In the next few decades, the number of extreme storms and severity and regularity of droughts and heat waves would increase, she said, which would impact on food production and access to clean, safe drinking water.She said the effects were already beginning to be felt in extreme weather events across the world. Towns such as Tenterfield, Guyra, Armidale, Stanthorpe and Tamworth were running short of water. Others are already completely dry.(Article continues below)“Since our own floods in 2017 I've been to a number of disaster conferences and I'm off to another one later this month - and I can tell you one thing,” she said.“Everyone in the emergency management field knows that climate change is real, that it is happening, and they are scrambling to get ready for what is coming.”Cr Bird said the world was undeniably heading for a future with significant changes - which was scary and overwhelming - but it wasn’t too late.“We have a rapidly shrinking window to turn things around,” she said.“Governments and societies need to take swift and decisive action to reduce emissions and shift energy use away from fossil fuels to renewables. And that's where we come in.“This motion reinforces our commitment to our renewable energy target and our commitments to partnerships with emergency services to increase our community disaster preparedness.“It's a first step by adopting this motion. Tonight we're taking action. We will look at what we're already doing.“We'll have a conversation with our community and then together we will act.”Crs Cook, Bird, Ekins, Smith, Moorhouse, Marks, Guise, Lloyd all voted in favour of the motion while Cr Battista voted against. Crs Casson and Bennett were not present at the meeting.

Trinity Catholic College's newly upgraded $5.1 million Technical and Applied Studies facility was officially opened today by Page Federal MP Kevin Hogan.The Federal Government kicked in $1.6 million for the project through the Capital Grants Program with the school funding the remainder.The refurbished and expanded Technical and Applied Studies facilities will offer courses including wood work, metal work, engineering and jewellery.“We invested $1.6 million in this wonderful new facility to ensure students have the best possible education to set them up for the future,” Mr Hogan said.“This much-improved facility will help students get the most out of their time at school."He said the Capital Grants Program provides funding for non-government schools to improve capital infrastructure where they otherwise may not have access to sufficient resources.“The Government is committed to improving the quality of our school education and ensuring students have access to the resources they need so they are equipped with the skills to succeed in an increasingly competitive world,” Mr Hogan said.“The Government believes in an education system that puts students first. That’s why in addition to our Capital Grants Program, our record levels of school funding will be allocated according to need and tied to a range of evidence-based initiatives.“These initiatives will focus on outcomes in literacy, numeracy and STEM subjects, helping lift teacher quality and better preparing our children for life after school.”Trinity Catholic College Principal Brother John Hilet said the new facility “will provide access to modern workspaces for students.”“The facility is at the cutting edge of the way technical and applied studies is moving,” Brother Hilet said.

Lismore City Council says dry and windy conditions may have caused the fire at the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre on Sunday. A post on the council Facebook page this morning said the green waste may have dried out after being exposed to “low humidity, strong winds and gusty conditions for an extended period of time” leading to spontaneous combustion. The council is still assessing the damage caused to the Materials Recycling Facility by the fire.“Council collects around 1600 tonnes of organic material per month from the Northern Rivers region,” the post said.“Council has an aeration system that automatically releases oxygen into the compost piles. These are turned once every three weeks to ensure even distribution of heat throughout the piles. “This process is undertaken in accordance with Australian Standards AS4454 – Compost, Soil Conditioners and Mulches and under the Environmental Guidelines: Composting and Related Organics Processing Facilities.“The nature of composting organic materials is that it’s a heat-generating decomposition process – this is what breaks down the organic materials into compost.“To produce compost it is necessary to maintain temperatures above 55 degrees for a minimum of 15 consecutive days to eliminate pathogens. It is not uncommon at times for temperatures to reach 80 degrees Celsius or above.“Council has a sprinkler system and a permanent water truck on site which are used to keep the piles moist. Steam from the compost piles is often visible.“The pile that we believe caught alight was exposed to low humidity, strong winds and gusty conditions for an extended period of time, which is believed to have led to moisture loss within the upper levels of the compost piles, causing spontaneous combustion of matter.“Council believes this created embers which passed to other compost piles and eventually to stockpiles of plastic and paper.“NSW Fire & Rescue is on site and is managing the process to agitate the compost stockpiles and saturate them with water to extinguish the smouldering.”Public safety warnings about smoke being produced by the smouldering compost piles are still in place.There are also some delays to waste collections (especially green bins) but residents should still put bins out as normal.The Lismore Recycling & Recovery Centre in Wyrallah Road, East Lismore, will remain closed until the fire in the compost piles is extinguished and damage to the Materials Recovery Facility is assessed.

A local man has been accused of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of food from a Lismore shopping centre and then assaulting a hospital security guard.“Police will allege that at 4:15pm on Tuesday a 40-year-old Coffee Camp man has attended Lismore Shopping Square,” Senior Constable David Henderson said in a post on the Richmond PD Facebook page.“He has been banned from attending the Square for various reasons until July 2020.“He has attended Coles and placed over $300 worth of food into his backpack and left the store without paying.“He then attended a wing of Lismore Base Hospital and assaulted a security guard.“Police located the man in the A&E waiting room and placed him under arrest.”The Coffee Camp man was refused bail after being charged with Assault, Larceny and Enter Inclosed Lands and is expected to appear at Lismore Local Court today.