I WRITE in support of Andrew Vivian’s article titled “Do it now” (NOTA, Page 1, 25/9/2026). Thanks for keeping this incredibly vital issue in the spotlight. Thanks too, to local council members for pursuing this matter with a delegation to Parliament. Exploitation, human rights abuses and yes, actual slave labour in our local agriculture business, […]

DEAR News OF The Area, THE current direction of our local council in Coffs Harbour has taken a serious backward step with the decision to rescind its 2022 Declaration of a Climate Emergency. Equally, the call to remove Scope 3 emissions from the Renewal Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan suggests the current conservative majority in […]

DEAR News Of The Area, AT the moment, people living north of Coffs Harbour are quite lucky. We have had a bit of bypass construction to deal with, but it has all been done very professionally and has made our roads safer. We are lucky because we have a straight run into Park Beach with […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I WAS horrified to see on NBN News (1/10/2026) that there are going to be numerous buildings on the Jetty Foreshores despite the fact that more than 70 per cent of local citizens voted to have open space – gardens etc – for all. I believe these factors should have […]

DEAR News Of The Area, RECENT headlines said The Big Banana would be bypassed by the new highway. Well, despite 35,000-plus locals petitioning Coles about not buying Coffs bananas, Coles are bypassing the Big Banana already. The mealy mouthed, pro forma and predictable responses from Coles are indicative of a big company that doesn’t give […]

DEAR News Of The Area, HOW can any of our councillors, let alone the mayor, think it is appropriate to land a major upheaval to our Council’s policies just minutes before a council meeting is to start? This means other councillors, (unless they have been approached before, and I don’t think that’s in the rule […]

DEAR News Of The Area, COFFS Harbour City Council has voted 4-3 to scrap the ‘Climate Emergency Declaration’ adopted on 8 December 2022. Reality, however, doesn’t care about council motions. Rising sea levels, increasing flood risks and worsening bushfire conditions won’t disappear because politicians vote to ignore them. I remember the night the declaration was […]

DEAR News Of The Area, AROUND Coffs Harbour there are several multimillion-dollar developments that have closed footpath access and, in some cases, street access, so that they can build unimpeded. In some cases this limiting of access can extend for up to two years, during which local businesses and local residents are restricted. How should […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I READ with interest the article in your paper regarding Telstra’s work on the 4G Network around Dorrigo (‘Telstra outage continues around Dorrigo, Coffs Coast NOTA, 25/9/2026). Not a thing was said about Telstra’s NBN (Internet) network being off-air for up to four hours almost every afternoon in the Woolgoolga […]