LAST week (22/10/2025) NOTA reported pool users’ dismay about the chopping down by MidCoast Council of two mature shade trees at Gloucester Olympic Pool, and their concerns that more trees might be felled, leaving little shade. Since that report the Council has explained why the trees were cut down and its plans for the future […]
Water Night to raise awareness of water waste and sustainability
WATER Night is on again in 2025 and households across the MidCoast are being encouraged to get involved in the awareness-raising event. Each year, Water Night asks Australians to turn off their taps between 5pm-10pm on Thursday 23 October to highlight just how regularly and mindlessly people reach for their taps, and in the process, […]
Old church, new vision in Stroud
The newly renovated Stroud Church. The newly renovated Stroud Church. FORMER ABC weather presenter Graham Creed and his partner Bridgit English have given one of Stroud’s most treasured landmarks a new lease on life, transforming the 1887-built St James Presbyterian Church into a striking blend of heritage and contemporary design. The couple purchased the deconsecrated […]
Seasonal flights to Tasmania launched from Newcastle
DIRECT seasonal flights will launch between Newcastle and Hobart, connecting the two cities for the first time. Served by Jetstar’s Airbus A320, the new service will start on 2 December 2025 and run three times a week – every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday – until 21 April 2026. The seasonal flights will return each summer […]
Gloucester’s Axel Zimmerman-Davison placed in Australia’s top two percent in spelling bee competition
TEN-YEAR-OLD Axel Zimmerman-Davison is unmistakably an Einstein lookalike with his untamed shock of blonde hair. The pair may also have brains in common, with Axel recently placed in Australia’s top two percent in the ICAS Assessment for Spelling Bee. The test is a series of voluntary academic challenges designed to test students’ thinking and celebrate […]
Add your voice to the CWA’s annual women’s survey
COST-OF-LIVING pressures and the impact on access to basic needs like health services is one of the key issues emerging from the Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW Annual Women’s Survey. The survey is now in its second year and is currently open to all women in communities across the state. “Last year’s survey really […]
Farm Firefighting Vehicles are commonly small trucks, utes or trailers with fixed water, pumps or fire management equipment, kept on farms to be rapidly deployed in the event of a fire.
Farm fire vehicle scheme launched after series of trials
FARMERS and rural landholders can now register to use Farm Firefighting Vehicles (FFVs) to respond to emergency bushfires near their property. On Wednesday the NSW Government launched a conditional registration scheme to enable typically unregistered FFVs to be used legally and under the protection of insurance. FFVs are commonly small trucks, utes or trailers with […]
Six injured in Davis Creek rollover
SIX people were injured in a buggy rollover at Davis Creek west of Barrington Tops on Sunday. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was among a large contingent of emergency services called to the site, on a farm near Aberdeen, around 2pm on 5 October. A woman aged in her sixties had suffered arm injuries and was […]
Koala monitoring to begin at Bootawa Dam
MIDCOAST Council is assessing the health of the koala population within the Bootawa Dam area with key research partners including the Koala Health Hub at the School of Veterinary Science of The University of Sydney. Starting this spring, qualified wildlife handlers will catch, collar and tag koalas in a bid to understand the following points: […]
Each year between October and April Council works with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to undertake monitoring in our waterways.
Council releases waterway report card
MIDCOAST Council has released its annual Waterway and Catchment Report Card. Water sampling is undertaken across the LGA’s six major catchments – Manning River Estuary, Wallis Lake, Karuah River and The Branch Estuary, Myall Lakes, Kappinghat and Smiths Lake – to check in on their health and allow for a greater understanding of the patterns, […]
