Up Yamba way "a fine young fellow" plays soccer.......

The Sydney Morning Herald, online, 16 August 2017:

Let him play: Marc Reichler-Stillhard's story is all that is good with kids' sport

This is the story of Marc Reichler-Stillhard, a fine young fellow, born with Down syndrome up Yamba way, and immediately embraced by the local community of the mighty Clarence Valley, where the river flows fast, the fields grow green and the local folk are strong. Integrated with mainstream classes at the local schools and signed up with local sporting clubs, Marc has been a beloved figure who has learnt as much from the kids around him, as they have learnt from him.

Respected: Marc Reichler-Stillhard is a beloved figure in the community of Clarence Valley.

Photo: Enid Reichler-Stillhard

I recounted one story of Marc a couple of years ago, in The Fitz Files. On a sunny day in March 2015, see, the young lads of Yamba are playing the game of their lives against the boys of nearby Lawrence in the local under-12 cricket grand final. No quarter asked for or given, Lawrence has set a good total, but the Yamba young'uns are a confident breed and they go out hard after it. And they get there, too. The scores are level with two balls to go! Yamba's last man on strike is Marc, and as he walks to the crease, the crowd holds its breath.

What is going to happen?

The second last ball is bowled, Marc swings valiantly and ... misses. One ball to go. The Lawrence bowler, a good sport with a fine instinct that some things are more important than mere trophies, a credit to his town, sends down an easier ball. This time young Marc connects, and starts to run like a scalded hare, but the ball is in the air. The Lawrence fieldsman runs in to take the catch ... but drops it. Yamba wins. Marc is carried off the field on the shoulders of both teams, as the crowd roars.

What's not to like? What's not to weep about?

Marc's parents, and the Yamba community take a similar approach to soccer, a sport that Marc loves. For the past couple of years, Marc has been running around with the Yamba soccer club, as an extra – that is, at the suggestion of his coach, he's been taking the field as a 12th man, running out with the others and doing the best he can. Though he's now 16, he's been playing with the under-14s, as it is his best chance of making some contribution, given that he is a lot smaller than his peers and has issues of co-ordination. Every match, Yamba has asked the opposing team if it’s OK and the opposing teams have – bless their cotton socks – never had a problem. The people of the Clarence Valley are just like that.

"Marc does his absolute best and the kids are phenomenal," Marc's mother Enid Reichler-Stillhard told ABC North Coast Radio this week. "When you watch how they interact with Marc, they help him on the field and off the field and make him feel good about himself. He is valued and they want him to play. It gives you goosebumps. The team once gave Marc the ball and said 'go with it Marc' and he ran the length of the field with it, and the kids fell over their own feet not to take the ball off him."

What's not to like?

It has been wonderful for Marc and his family, great for the Yamba team who love to play with him, and make sure he gets to kick the ball, and the opposing teams in the Clarence Valley have respected the situation, and Marc, not taking advantage of his position in the team.

So it's all fun in the sun, yes, in a manner that would bring a tear to a glass eye, as the true spirit of community sport for kids is embraced? Yes, for nearly everyone.

Somewhere out there, however, last week, a complaint was made by just one of the opposing clubs that this was – wait for it – against the rules, asking North Coast Football to stop Marc playing as a 12th man.

NCF have upheld the complaint. Though they are OK to provide an exemption to him on grounds of age, they now insist that Yamba field only 11 players.

And so allow me please, a few words, NCF, and the club making the complaint....

Read full article here.

Clarence Valley Council: Yamba Hill landslip red alert extended throughout April 2017

Clarence Valley Council, media release, March 31, 2017:

Slippage risk in Yamba hill

HEAVY rain in Yamba over the past two days has resulted in the reinstatement of a red alert warning for possible land slippage.

Clarence Valley Council works and civil director, Troy Anderson, said the red alert would remain in place throughout April.

Mr Anderson said Council monitored rainfall at Yamba hill area as it provided a guide to the risk of landslip.

“Once again, the rain that has been experienced has reached the level requiring a red alert to be notified,” he said.

On March 18, council advised red alert level had been reached because of heavy rainfall at that time and reduced to threat level to orange on March 22.

“The situation can change within a day, especially when high rainfall events are experienced,” Mr Anderson said.

“It can take some time for the alert level to be reduced, but this also varies depending on how much rain has fallen in the previous days and weeks.

“With the extra rain that occurred this week, the red alert level will remain in place throughout April. This will continue to be monitored and council will advise of any changes.

“If the area gets another 50mm of daily rainfall owners/site managers/occupants should monitor their land and/or buildings for evidence of any movement during and after this rainfall event.

“Should evidence of any movement be detected, those people should consider evacuation, and immediately advise council of their action.”

Below is a chart indicating trigger levels for the Yamba landslide risk zones.

The shaded area shows the Yamba landslip zone

Clarence Valley Council advises risk of landslips in Yamba NSW coastal zone - see map

Clarence Valley Council, media release, 20 March 2017:

Mayor: Jim Simmons LOCKED BAG 23 GRAFTON NSW 2460

A/General Manager: Ashley Lindsay Telephone: (02) 6643 0200

Fax: (02) 6642 7647

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 20, 2017

Yamba hill residents notified of landslip risk

SOME residents on Yamba hill have been advised to watch for potential landslips following heavy rain in the area over the past five days.

Clarence Valley Council works and civil director, Troy Anderson, said council monitored rainfall events on the hill so it could warn landowners and property managers of any increased risk of landslip in an area known as the Yamba landslide risk zones (see attached image).

“With the heavy rain over the past few days, we have now reached red alert levels,” he said.

“If landowners or other occupiers notice any sign of soil movement they should consider evacuating the site and should notify council immediately.

“We have an engineer on standby to investigate any concerns, but at the moment there have been no problems reported.

“We notified the occupiers of the 15 affected properties with this information on Saturday.”

Below is a chart indicating trigger levels for the Yamba landslide risk zones.

Rainfall Period (days)	Orange Alert Level (Total mm)	Red Alert Level (Total mm)
1	180	200
2	200	280
5	215	325
8	250	370
15	310	425
30	425	560
45	500	675
60	600	800
90	740	955

Note: 1 day = 24 hours

Release ends.

The highlighted area shows properties in the Yamba landslide risk zone

Yamba Bay Park safe - for now

Coastal development pressure is never ending in the NSW Northern Rivers region and this was just the latest example, in the small town of Yamba perched where the mighty Clarence River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Image from Clarence Valley Independent

This was the NSW Roads & Maritime Services (RMS)request received according to Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Monthly Meeting Minutes, 21 February 2017:

In a letter to Council from RMS received 2 December 2016 a potential site situated on Yamba Road, Yamba was identified by RMS as being suitable. The land situated to the north of Yamba Road is identified as Lot 7053 DP 1114190 and the landward portion of Lot 164 in DP 751395. The RMS objective is to construct a two storey operations facility to cater for up to fifteen staff from the three agencies. According to RMS the parcel of land would give the three on-water compliance agencies easy access to the water via the adjacent launching ramp and the RMS marina facility.

One of these lots is covered by Native Title and the other is the subject of an Aboriginal Land Claim.

It is a popular little park used by both locals and visitors and is part of the Yamba Road streetscape.

Council in the Chamber wisely decided against turning it into a state government agency office building:

COUNCIL RESOLUTION – 15.010/17

Williamson/Clancy

That Council not support the transfer of Lot 7053 DP 1114190 and part Lot 164 DP 751395 for the reasons

outlined in this report.

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Simmons, Kingsley, Clancy, Ellem, Novak, Williamson, Toms

Against: Baker

Hopefully Clarence Valley towns and villages will be able to defend all their green spaces as this set of Clarence Valley councillors scramble to find money to meet the $1.2 million project shortfall resulting from a badly planned remediation of the former Grafton depot site – costing to date an est. $6,976,72. Which represents an est. $2.5 million blowout of the remediation budget.

A problem created by the foolish former council initially agreeing to proceed based on a concept level plan only and despite the lack of sufficient information concerning potential costs associated with the Grafton Depot Rationalisation Project.

Not forgetting the need to make up additional $4.13 million cash flow shortfalls these councillors inherited and, in small part have helped exacerbate since their election.

It's not Clarence Valley residents who are short-sighted

This is Clarence Valley Council’s week ending 27-28 notice of The Clarence Valley 2027 10 year Community Strategic Plan placed in Coastal Views on Friday 27 and in The Daily Examiner on Saturday, 28 January 2017.

As the final strategic plan will be a guide for council deliberations over the next decade it can be considered an important reference document.

Someone obviously thought this small giveaway leaflet mounted as a sign was a good idea when Clarence Valley Council sent people forth to conduct the two-page community strategic plan survey at a busy little shopping centre in Yamba on Monday, 30 January 2017.

One local resident contacted North Coast Voices saying that many local shoppers thought it was some sort of eye test program and were passing the workers by on their way into Coles and that the  people conducting the survey were reduced to calling out to shoppers asking them if they would stop and take a short survey.

When asking about the lack of adequate signage the local was told that a larger sign was being delivered on Thursday – but a further query elicited the fact that the survey ended in Yamba on the Friday.

The associated February community workshop ends an hour after the bus service stops for the night in Yamba, which is somewhat par for the course when it comes to council organisational skills.

A lesson in how not to conduct genuine community consultation.

Which NSW coastal town has "world-class surf, more beaches than you can shake a stick at, friendly, easygoing locals and over 300 days of sunshine a year"?

Aerial photograph found at www.visitnsw.com

Yamba, situated where the Clarence River meets the sea, received some well deserved media attention this week.

It is now a year round go to destination which helps produce tourism statistics like this for the NSW North Coast:

NSW destination preference: regional and Sydney, 2015 vs 2016

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2014-March 2015 (n=15,913) and April 2015-March 2016 (n=15,074). Base: Australians 14+

Travellers who’d like to holiday on the NSW North Coast are also a high-value group (27.9% of them spent $200+ per night on their last holiday); just ahead of those with a preference for Sydney Surrounds – North (27.2%). The Murray Riverina (23.3%) is the least likely of the new Destination Networks to be on the radar of big-spending holiday-goers. [Roy Morgan Research, July 2016, Destination NSW: A Regional Perspective]

News.com.au, 24 July 2016:

YAMBA, NSW

With world-class surf, more beaches than you can shake a stick at, friendly, easygoing locals and over 300 days of sunshine a year, Yamba has understandably been a longtime favourite for surfers in-the-know. However, since Australian Traveller Magazine named it “Australia’s best tourist town” back in 2009, word has quickly started to spread and the former-fishing village is now truly coming into its own.

Yes, it’s still populated by surfboard carrying, wetsuit clad beach bums but amid the salty surfers, the number of both visitors — and city slickers relocating — is increasingly annually and with this increase of stressed urbanites flocking to Yamba for a sea change, a burgeoning food scene has been born.

You can see this in action at Irons and Craig, a cafe where fresh produce rules and everything is made on site, from the bread to the custom-blended coffee.

In contrast to the jam-packed beaches of Byron, Yamba’s 11 pristine stretches of white sand, five of which are close to the town centre, are positively Robinson Crusoe-like and with 16 great surf spots, an empty break is virtually guaranteed.

But for serious surf-hounds, the nearby beachside enclave of Angourie — just 5km down the road — is bona fide surfing Mecca. A National Surfing Reserve — the second site in Australia to be recognised — it remains a fixture on the international surfing map.

Australia Infrastructure Development doesn't know its rivers

The Message from Iluka....

Clarence Valley Independent, June 2016:

Ed,

I read with some bewilderment that a “summit” had been held in Casino last week by AID (Australia Infrastructure Development) for the development of a mega port to accommodate massive ships in the Lower Clarence River.

Thought I’d Google here to see what is going on: www.aid-australia.com.au.

This proposal would completely destroy the lower Clarence.

It would appear to be a box ticking exercise as part of a formal application process to government.

Ticking the “community consultation” box.

Community consultation indeed!

This company has completely failed to consult the right communities.

Surely the business people and residents of Iluka, Yamba, Maclean, Grafton and all the smaller villages and islands along the river should have been the target audiences?

One would think the company’s “summit” might have been held in one of the fine clubs that are at Iluka, Yamba, or perhaps Maclean or Grafton, rather than Casino over 100kms away.

And hey, not even the right river! Casino is on the Richmond River. Go figure.

Perhaps AID just had some bad advice about matching the right town/s to the right river.

Or is this just being a tad sneaky? Trying to keep us all in the dark until the paperwork has been lodged.

Or worse still, trying to bluff us and the government that AID conducted extensive “community consultation”.

Either way, there will be huge opposition to this MEGA PORT proposal if it is ever considered.

Tony Belton, Iluka

The Message from Grafton....

The Daily Examiner, Letter to the Editor, 8 Jul 2016:

Ugly transformation

THE Yamba Port and Rail proposal first raised its ugly head three or four years ago, and now the promoters, Australian Infrastructure Developments, and Deakin Capital Pty Ltd, are ramping up the pressure, promoting their multi billion dollar, 36sqkm obscenity, which would completely transform the lower Clarence into an export port facility to rival Newcastle.

Gone would be the fishing, sugar and tourist industries that are the current economic drivers, replaced by heavy industry and its associated noise, air and water pollution, as huge freighters, tankers, and container ships, spewing their poisonous bilge sludge into the river as they go, replace the current pleasure craft and fishing vessels.

Gone would be the quiet relaxing retirement destination described in a series of Government development strategies over the past 20 years, as coastal villages of Iluka, and Harwood, along with communities on Palmers Island and elsewhere, are decimated to allow for the widening and dredging of the river estuary, to four times the current depth.

Gone would be the culturally significant Dirrangun Reef, sacred to the Yaegl people, as part of that massive dredging.

Gone would be the supposedly protected significant agricultural land on the delta, replaced by endless kilometres of wharfs and warehouses, and massive holding pens for the proposed live cattle export, their stench wafting over the urban centres of Yamba and Maclean.

And don't forget border security, with the proponents making provision for a naval base that, in the event of conflict, could see the area become an enemy target.

There are of course the obvious obstacles to such a scheme; the sacred reef, the unstable delta soils which will collapse into the river as a result of the dredging.

There are regular floods that will require mountains of fill to raise the entire project area above flood level, a barrier that is bound to divert those flood waters across Yamba, causing even worse flooding there.

Then there is the added problem of climate change and rising sea levels. Even a modest .75 of a metre within 80 years will see most of the land proposed for the industrial complex inundated at high tide, a situation that will worsen even further with the passage of time.

It's hard to take such a proposal seriously, but over the years we have heard reports that politicians, state and federal, various northern NSW councils, including some of our local councillors, meeting with the scheme's proponents. The Northern Star's report featuring a happy Australian Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, with arms around the proponents smiling for the cameras, adds a worrying dimension to this abhorrent proposal.

It's time for our leaders to come clean, tell us exactly what has, and is still being discussed behind closed doors, and if this proposal is pie in the sky, then to inform the proponents of that fact, and tell them to back off and put their foreign investment into something useful, like renewable energy.

John Edwards, South Grafton

The Message from Yamba....

Management of Calypso Caravan Park in Yamba changes hands

A number of locals have contacted North Coast Voices asking whether JKT & Sons Pty Ltd lost the tender for management of Calypso Caravan Park at Yamba because Cr. Karen Toms is a vocal critic of Clarence Valley Council when it doesn’t follow proper local government process.

As I haven't been following this matter the only answer I can give is to set out established fact and quote from tender notifications and the official June minutes of council.

RFT16/014 Operation and Management of Calypso Yamba Holiday Park. Tenders for the operation of this caravan park were called on 7 May and closed on 9 June 2016.

MANAGEMENT & OPERATION OF CALYPSO YAMBA HOLIDAY PARK 

Tenders are invited from suitably experienced applicants for the contract operation and management of Calypso Yamba Holiday Park. The initial contract will be for a period of 5 years from 29 August 2016, with the option of a further 3 years plus a further 3 years at the discretion of the Clarence Coast Reserve Trust.
A non-mandatory pre-tender site meeting will be held on Monday 16 May 2016 at 1.00pm. Registration is requested to attend the meeting by contacting Libby Douglas on (02) 6643-0219.
The tender documents can be obtained at no charge by registering and downloading (see option below).
All tender enquiries are to be directed to Julie Schipp, Holiday Parks and Saleyards Officer via (see option below).
Tenders are to be submitted electronically in accordance with the instructions included in the tender documentation by no later than 3:00pm on Thursday 9th June 2016.

Clarence Valley Council quoted the pre-estimate for the tender at $250,000 (inc GST).

Those listed as tendering were:

Valley Pool Services Pty Ltd - M. Irwin (director) PO Box 5119, Glenreagh NSW 2450

CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd - A. Easdown (director) PO Box 159, Evans Head NSW 2473
JKT & Sons Pty Ltd –J. Tom (director) 14 Harbour St, Yamba NSW 2464, current operator

Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd - D. Beck (director) 20 Longstaff Rd, Bayswater VIC 3153

Discovery Holiday Parks Pty Ltd - G. Wilckens (director) L2 157 Grenfell St, Adelaide SA 5000

IBA Tourism Asset Management Pty Ltd - C. Carroll (director) L2 15 Lancaster Pl, Majura Park ACT 2609.

On 28 June 2016 the Clarence Valley Council  Ordinary Monthly Meeting listed this item:

URGENT, SUPPLEMENTARY AND LATE ITEMS OF BUSINESS A) GENERAL MANAGER (MATTERS IN RESPECT OF WHICH NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN) 16.010/16 Calypso Holiday Park Management Tender

The vote was as follows:

COUNCIL RESOLUTION – 16.010/16

Williamson/Lysaught

That Council as corporate Trust Manager of the Clarence Coast Reserve Trust:

1. accept the tender from CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd for the management and operation of the Calypso Yamba Holiday Park under RFT16/014 with a retainer of $200,165 (incl. GST) plus commissions to be funded from PJ996780 – Calypso Holiday Park

2. authorise the General Manager to approve any contract variations up to 10% of the contract sum

3. affix the Council seal to any required documentation

4. respond to NTSCORP Ltd as outlined in the Marsdens Law Group letter dated 9 June 2016.

5. The tender price from all tenderers be made public by including them in the Minutes for this item, being:

Tenderer                                                              Tendered Price

Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd                                   $433,123

CM & PA Easdown Pty Ltd                                $200,165

Discovery Holiday Parks Pty Ltd                      $550,000

IBA Tourism Asset Management Pty Ltd         $420,484

JKT & Sons Pty Ltd                                            $304,600

Valley Pool Services Pty Ltd                             $120,000

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Williamson, Baker, Kingsley, Hughes, Lysaught, Howe

Against: McKenna, Simmons

Background:

During the tender process a submission was received from NTSCORP Ltd (NTSCORP) on 3 June 2106, on behalf of the Yaegl Traditional Owners (refer to confidential attachment). Legal advice (confidential attachment) was sought from Council’s lawyers, Mardens Law Group to enable a response to be drafted as a reply. To date the letter from NTSCORP has been acknowledged, however the proposed response supplied by Marsdens dated 9 June 2016 is attached (Confidential Attachment) to this report for consideration by the Trust when considering this tender.

According to ASIC records details of the company managing Calypso Caravan Park from late August 2016 are:

Name:	CM & PA EASDOWN PTY LTD
ACN:	140 423 614
ABN:	63 140 423 614(External Link)
Registration date:	6/11/2009
Next review date:	6/11/2016
Status:	Registered
Type:	Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Locality of registered office:	ALBURY NSW 2640
Regulator:	Australian Securities & Investments Commission

The ABN record for the company lists its current main place of business as Post Code NSW 2473 where the company manages the North Coast Holiday Parks Evans Head* formerly known as Silver Sands Caravan Park. The initial contract expired on 30 June 2016 but presumably was renewed, as the Easdowns are expecting to be resident on site during the upcoming $12 million upgrade to the Evans Head holiday park and community reserve.

I note that the Clarence Valley Council tender vote was not unanimous. As the two councillors who voted against acceptance are both practicing accountants one has to wonder what it was about the bid that gave them pause.

*North Coast Holiday Parks [for NSW CROWN HOLIDAY PARKS TRUST] manage 32 Crown Reserves covering approximately 280 hectares of highly valued sensitive coastal environments. Included within these reserves are 23 holiday parks covering an area of 110 hectares, and approximately 170 hectares of other Crown Reserves consisting of expansive areas of coastal dunes, littoral rainforests, riparian zones and estuarine foreshores. 

See: http://www.northcoastholidayparks.com.au/page/holiday-parks-model#sthash.74PSGRG8.dpuf

The type of Clarence River experience that Yamba, Iluka, Maclean and other estuary towns wish to preserve for their families, visitors and holiday makers alike

This is the sort of river experience that the Lower Clarence delights in.....

https://youtu.be/l4AnlDPps40

Not this......

https://youtu.be/6e9_eeNbyqA

NO YAMBA MEGA PORT!

Des Euen warned off Yamba by an online supporter

Not that Des Euen needed any hint that many Yamba and Iluka residents would be against the industrialisation of the Clarence River estuary…..

Facebook, 23 June 2016

Mr. Euen is rather sensitive about the few comments on the Australian Infrastructure Developments Pty Ltd Facebook page.

He recently removed comments from two Clarence Valley residents (at least one of whom attended the “summit” he organised at Casino on 2 June 2016) but left his accusations of selfishness against individuals living in the region which would be most affected by this highhanded attempt to make his fortune at the expense of so many ordinary people.

Fish n Chips not Mega Ships!

"All the major economic sectors in the lower Clarence Valley are dependent to a considerable extent on understanding and protecting the estuary’s and floodplain’s natural processes and values." [DLWC, Umwelt (Australia Pty Ltd, 2003, Clarence Estuary Management Plan: The Clarence Estuary - A Valued Asset]

The economic value of tourism is worth an est. $239.4 million per annum to the Clarence Valley with recreational fishing forming a significant part of the region's income and, in 2010 the commercial fishing industry was worth an est. $92 million annually to the valley.

The economies of the three main towns in the Clarence River estuary are heavily based on commercial and recreational fishing and water-based tourism, with Yamba and Iluka being principal holiday destinations.

Boating is a major recreational activity, with 90% of recreational boating related to fishing and 61% involving retired people. [Clarence Valley Council, 2003]

Fresh seafood caught locally forms part of the staple diet for many Lower Clarence households.

These are the faces of some of the people who threw a line in the last two months:

Bluff Beach, 10 June 2016

Catch at Moriaty’s Wall, 8 June 2016

26 May 2016

31 May 2016

Iluka Beach, 18 May 2016

Off the break wall, 8 June 2016

Brown's Rock, 16 June 2016

[Images from Iluka Bait & Tackle]

However, Australia Infrastructure Developments Pty Ltd and Deakin Capital Pty Ltd - along with Messrs. Des Euen, Thomas Chui, Lee and Nigel Purves - want to destroy this great year-round and holiday lifestyle by lobbying government to allow the 
construction of a large industrial port covering over 27 per cent of the Clarence River estuary.

Thereby severely compromising lower river commercial and recreational fishing grounds with the constant movement in and out of the river of mega ships such as these:

[North Coast Voices, February 2016]

With their bow wave and propeller wash sucking at known seagrass beds as well as riverbanks along the main estuary channels as they pass. 

Many of us who live on the river are firmly of the belief that we would rather have

“Fish n Chips not Mega Ships!”

Brief Background

Long before the arrival of Europeans in the area, local Bundjalung people were fishing the waters of the 'big river' for oysters and fish, as evidenced by the large middens found along the river banks and coastline. The first settlers to the area found a bountiful river surrounded by dense subtropical forests and swamps flowing out to the coastline. Fish were easy to come by and made up an important food source for the early settlers who set about developing forestry and farming in the area. Grafton was established in the 1850’s with the river being a principal source of transport. The introduction of sheep grazing to the area occurred in the late 1850’s and sugar cane farming was carried out as early as 1868 (Anon, 1980a). A small commercial fishery had its beginnings in 1862 when fish were caught to supply workers and their families employed in the construction of the river entrance works. This major project was designed to provide safe navigation for the coastal steamers that traded upriver. Commercial fishermen were supplying fish to the local market by the 1870’s, particularly seasonal fishing for mullet, which was an important local industry supplying the Grafton market (Anon, 1880). The fishing industry began in earnest in 1884 when shipments of fish were sent to Sydney twice a week, weather permitting. The fish, mainly whiting, bream, flat tailed mullet and flathead were packed in ice in large insulated boxes. The boxes were then reused to bring ice on the return trip (Anon, 1994). [Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, A socio—economic evaluation of the commercial fishing industry in the Ballina, Clarence and Coffs Harbour regions, 2009]

o   The commercial industry in Northern NSW provides about one-third of the product (fish) landed in the whole of NSW.

o   An assessment of fish stocks in NSW indicated most fisheries are probably sustainable but that there should be no expansion of catches.

o  The economic modelling results demonstrated that the industry provides quantifiable economic benefits to the Northern NSW region in the form of output, income, employment and value added (gross regional product).

o  The combined harvesting and processing sectors of the industry in Northern NSW provided total flow-on effects of $216 million derived from output, $36.1 million in income, 933 employment positions and $75.5 million in value added.

o   Two-thirds of the money generated by the operation of the industry is spent in the local and regional economies.

o   Commercial fishing activity in the Clarence River occurs in the Estuary General and Estuary Trawl Fisheries.

o   The ocean fleet has home port facilities in both Yamba and Iluka.

o   The Clarence River Fishermen's Co-op operates two depots with Maclean primarily processing catch from the river fishery and Iluka processing catch from the offshore fishery.

o   Ocean Hauling was one of the earliest fisheries to be utilised on the beaches in the Clarence district and continues to be an important fishery in the area.

[Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, 2009 & Clarence Valley Council, 2016]

o   In 2010 Clarence Valley Council estimates that the commercial fishing industry is now worth over $92 million and generates over 430 jobs, while the recreational fishing industry which forms a large part of the $280 million tourism industry in the Valley generates much of the economic base of Yamba, Iluka and Maclean.

o   Due to tourism Yamba and Iluka regularly double their population during major holiday periods and many retired and family holiday makers are thought to be drawn to the area by fishing and other recreational opportunities on the river.

o   Commercial ocean fish and crustacean species both breed and feed in the Clarence River estuary system.

[J.M. Melville, Submission to the Inquiry into the impact of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on Regional Australia, No. 177, December 2010]

All the major economic sectors in the lower Clarence Valley are dependent to a considerable extent on understanding and protecting the estuary’s and floodplain’s natural processes and values…..

The outstanding threat nominated by the Maclean group was population growth and urban development, particularly where this is located close to the estuary. This is an interesting result, given that the Clarence overall is not an urbanised waterway. It may reflect the rapid changes that are occurring in Yamba, and the view in the community that further growth in this area will require major sustainability issues to be addressed. The appropriate growth rate and style of development in Yamba has been a major source of discussion for residents in the lower Clarence, especially in response to Council’s interpretation of the results of its community survey on the future of Yamba. Several other frequently nominated threats were examples of the types of threats that are associated with poorly managed urban growth that exceeds the capability of the natural system. Declining health of the estuary (from any cause) was perceived as a major threat by the lower Clarence community, acknowledging the high economic dependence on estuary health in this area.

[DLWC, Umwelt (Australia Pty Ltd, 2003, Clarence Estuary Management Plan: The Clarence Estuary - A Valued Asset]

The Clarence Valley Local Government Area’s Gross Regional Product in 2015 was estimated at $1.73 billion, which represents 0.4% of the state's GSP (Gross State Product)