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 […]
LETTER: Is the Charlesworth Bay traffic light the tip of the iceberg?
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 […]
LETTER: Why ask what we want then not listen
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 […]
LETTER: Coles has already bypassed our big bananas
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 […]
LETTER: It wouldn’t pass the pub test
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 […]
LETTER: Reality doesn’t care about council motions
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 […]
LETTER: Property development at others’ expense
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 […]
LETTER: Woolgoolga Telstra woes
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 […]
Carbon credits must represent real net abatement
DEAR News Of The Area, ANDREW Vivian’s article, “Improved Native Forest Management method divides conservationists”, (Page 9, Coffs Coast NOTA, 18/9/26) accurately reports the political split over the INFM method, but the debate should not be reduced to whether conservationists are comfortable with carbon offsets. The more fundamental question is whether the carbon credits themselves […]
LETTER: Multiculturalism means many cultures but only one community
DEAR News of the Area, THE Coffs Coast is home to people from many ethnic backgrounds. This cultural diversity was celebrated at the inaugural Coffs Coast International Food and Dance Festival in November 2023. Festivals, stories, food, music and dancing are wonderful ways of bringing people from different cultural, linguistic, religious, social and philosophical backgrounds […]
