Making decisions together

At Tweed Shire Council, we share the community’s passion and pride in the Tweed. We are committed to work together to preserve the Tweed lifestyle, our natural environment and make better decisions as a community-led Council.

We welcome the combined experience, imagination and common sense of the Tweed community to guide Council decision-making. As a community, we will grow and learn from each other and, in turn, Council decisions will be more aligned to community aspirations.

News Feed

Jack Chard Park family fun day postponed

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The Family Fun Day at Jack Chard Park, scheduled for Saturday 21 March has been postponed and will not proceed this weekend. The event was being held to encourage the community to view and comment on draft concept plans for the park while enjoying a day of fun activities with their families.
Council continues to monitor the coronavirus advice provided by Australian and State health agencies and will consider hosting the event at a later date.
Manager Parks and Active Communities Stewart Brawley said Council’s Parks and Active Communities team had partnered with St Joseph’s Catholic School to include children in the park planning process and hopes to keep this momentum up by encouraging children and their parents to vote online.
“We are looking at developing an online survey on Council’s Your Say Tweed engagement website, where people will be able to view images of the proposed park upgrades and vote on their favourite option,” Mr Brawley said.
While an online engagement does not include a free BBQ and children’s activities, it will allow members of the community of all ages to vote for their preferred design choice, while offering the 160 people who had booked free tickets for the family fun day, an alternate way to have their opinion heard.
Council will advertise the Your Say Tweed engagement page in the coming weeks. In the meantime, why not sign up to have your say on a number of Council projects at www.yoursaytweed.com.au/register

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Customers encouraged to call or use online services

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Council has not closed its customer service offices at Tweed Heads or Murwillumbah at this stage due to the impact of coronavirus. However, for the general safety of our employees and customers, Council is encouraging people to make contact via phone on (02) 6670 2400 or use Council’s wide range of online services rather than attending in person.
In addition to measures to protect Council employees, some of the ways it is providing safer physical spaces for Council customers include:
• additional cleaning of surfaces in Council customer spaces
• take-home/single use pens
• providing hand sanitiser and cleaning instructions
• cleaning of all EFTPOS machines after each transaction.
For more information call Council on (02) 6670 2400 or go to www.tweed.nsw.gov.au

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Tweed Shire Council cultural facilities close

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Council has closed its cultural facilities in response to the Coronavirus emergency. This includes libraries, Gallery and museum facilities.

The facilities will be closed for two weeks from 17 March, with the closure reviewed on a week-by-week basis after that. All associated events and public programs during this period have been cancelled or postponed.

The closures affect:
· Richmond-Tweed Regional Library branches at Tweed Heads, Kingscliff and Murwillumbah
· Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre and Gallery DownTown in Murwillumbah
· Tweed Regional Museum at Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Uki.

Council’s Director Sustainable Communities and Environment Tracey Stinson said Council had a duty of care to its cultural facility patrons and the community.

“We made this decision because we have a relatively high proportion of our population over the age of 60 and many of these residents who are more likely to be vulnerable to the effects of Coronavirus use our facilities as patrons and volunteers,” Ms Stinson said.

“There are 6000 visits to our library branches a week and 600 per day visit the Tweed Heads library alone.

“Add to that the 2500 people who visit the Tweed Regional Gallery weekly and you have a large group of people coming together – many of whom are in the vulnerable age bracket.

She stressed that no staff members at any of the affected facilities had been diagnosed with Coronavirus.

“Closing these facilities are a precautionary measure aimed at protecting staff and slowing the spread of the virus within the community,” she said.

Staff will continue to work at the facilities during the closures on behind-the scenes projects.

All library patrons are also advised that there will be a waiver on any library books due for return during the closedown period.

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Tweed Shire Council taking steps to keep community and staff safe

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As the global situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to develop, Tweed Shire Council is taking all necessary precautions to keep the community and staff safe.

Mayor of Tweed Katie Milne said Council was closely following advice from federal and state health authorities.

"To ensure that Council is prepared and able to respond quickly to the progress of the virus within the workplace and the local community, we have established a planning group with members from across the organisation, which first met on Monday," Councillor Milne said.

"Apart from measures to keep our staff safe, we have taken a number of steps to assist safety in the community."

These include:
- Posters in public spaces to provide support and advice on hand washing as well as directions to relevant government websites for more information.
- Additional soap in some high-traffic public toilet blocks.
- A link to the NSW Health website from Council's website www.tweed.nsw.gov.au
- Links for further information on the Emergency Dashboard https://emergency.tweed.nsw.gov.au/
- Advising the Tweed community of relevant updates on Coronavirus through media releases, social media, the Tweed Link and Council's website
- Some Council-run events may be postponed. Search 'Tweed Shire Council' on Eventbrite for updates.
"We are also taking actions to focus on the health of our community when they visit our offices, including: additional cleaning with appropriate products at customer service counters; hand sanitisers at public entry points at our facilities; and advising members of the community where to find helpful information when they phone Council whether during the day or when contacting our after-hours service," she said.

Businesses, schools and aged care facilities who have concerns about what the Coronavirus means for them can find specific information and resources for each sector at
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx
"One of the key recommendations from health officials is that people maintain good hygiene practices, with 20 to 30 seconds of warm soapy hand washing regularly. Self-isolate when unwell and if concerned, seek medical advice," Councillor Milne said.

"It's also a good idea to reconsider how we greet people, using others ways to say hello rather than shaking hands.
"Overall, the best advice we can give our local community is to stay up to date with information from credible health and government authorities."
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Community representatives receive briefing ahead of exhibition

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Representatives of resident and ratepayer groups, business and industry groups and environment groups received a briefing on the upcoming exhibition of the draft Local Strategic Planning Statement at a special edition Stakeholder Forum held in Tweed Heads recently.
The draft Tweed Local Strategic Planning Statement, ‘the Statement’, sets out the 20 year vision for land-use planning in the Tweed. It describes the special characteristics that contribute to the Tweed’s local identity, the shared values the community want to maintain and enhance, and how growth and change will be managed into the future.
The Statement sets clear planning priorities required to support our community’s social, environmental and economic land-use needs into the future, including where these are best located and when they will be delivered. To meet the community’s future vision, it also outlines short, medium and long term actions to deliver on these priorities.
The draft Statement will be on exhibition for public comment from Tuesday 3 March 2020 to Friday 3 April 2020.
Could the police, ambulance or fire brigade find your house in an emergency?

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In an emergency minutes matter and making your property number visible from the street could be the difference between life and death. Local police report that they have great difficulty locating addresses in some areas of the Tweed because property street numbers are either missing or obscured.
Property owners are responsible for displaying the correct house number on their building or fence fronting the street. In fact, they have a legal obligation to do so (Section 124 Para 8 of the Local Government Act 1993).
House number tips
1. To help residents access house numbers and reduce waste, Council has a limited number of second-hand metal number plates to give away. These are old rural roadside mailbox stock of variable quality, but they are large (100mm high) and legible. House numbers can be fixed to a suitable surface using glue, nails or metal screws. Present your rate or water notice confirming your street address to secure your house number at Council front counters at both Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah (numbers are limited) .
2. Street number plates and number stencils are also available at many commercial outlets. Make sure to select numbers that can be easily seen and read from the street.
3. You can also paint your street number on the vertical or front sloping face of the kerb in front of your home. Please note if the kerb is damaged or removed and replaced at any time, you may need to paint the number on again.
Thank you for having your say in 2019

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In 2019 many people in our community had their say to make sure that the community's voice was heard. Feedback from the community on projects that affect them is essential to ensure that Councillors can consider this in making their final decisions.

Here's how the Tweed community had their say on Council projects (non-DA) in 2019.
Rain delivers reprieve from harsher water restrictions

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Water restrictions in Tyalgum could be lifted as early as tomorrow after weekend rain filled the newly refurbished village weir.
Across the rest of the Tweed, Level 2 restrictions will remain in effect but the move to Level 3 restrictions has delayed by at least 10 weeks.

"Falls of up to 180mm in the catchment have given us the reprieve we so badly wanted," Manager Water and Wastewater Anthony Burnham said. "But we are not out of the woods yet and need good follow-up rain to fill Clarrie Hall Dam."

The weekend rain lifted the water level in the dam from 68 per cent on Friday to 79 per cent today and the Tweed River and its feeder creeks are flowing again.

"With the height of the Tweed River now at 1.2 metres at Bray Park Weir, we are no longer reliant on releases from the dam to supply drinking water to the community.

"But the rain in the catchment has now stopped and there is no more forecast for this coming week so we are still looking at life under Level 2 water restrictions for some time yet."

Mr Burnham said that further rains should deliver greater run-off into the dam and waterways as the thirsty soils would have soaked up much of the weekend rain.

Today Council begun work to get the Tyalgum Water Treatment Plant back online as the newly refurbished weir is full.

"We are working to lift all water restrictions in Tyalgum by as early as tomorrow but the restriction on carting water from that supply will remain in force."

Council has been tankering water to Tyalgum from the main town water supply since early November after the village weir level fell very low and the quality of the raw water was no longer suitable for treatment.

Taking advantage of the time offline, Council sought urgent approval to undertake improvement and essential maintenance works at the weir.

Workers excavated 1.5 metres of silt out of the bottom of the weir, restoring the weir pool to its original footprint.

They stabilised the weir banks with rocks to prevent further erosion around the extraction inlet structure and to the adjacent land.
Tweed urged to get back on track and save water now

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Tweed residents are urged to re-focus on saving water after the holidays to ensure the Tweed's drinking water supply lasts as long as possible.

Manager Water and Wastewater Anthony Burnham said up to Christmas the community responded well to Level 2 water restrictions (and Level 4 in Tyalgum) but since then consumption has been rising again.

"On our current trajectory, we will be introducing Level 3 water restrictions in early February and then the severest Level 4 restrictions by the end of February," Mr Burnham said.

"This timeline strongly demonstrates the very serious situation the Tweed faces and should prompt everyone to heed our call to action and save water now.

"We need to get back on track quickly as we cannot afford higher levels of water use as we only have one small dam supplying the entire community. Currently Clarrie Hall Dam is at 70.8 per cent capacity and falling nearly two per cent a week."

Mr Burnham said while Council would continue to promote and inform the community on what water uses were banned or limited under Level 2 restrictions, it would now ramp up compliance and enforcement actions.

"If anyone breaches the current water restrictions, they can expect a polite notice in their letterbox once. Any further breaches, they can expect a fine of $220 every time," he said.

Bureau of Meteorology figures have confirmed 2019 the driest year on record at Bray Park, with only 716.7mm of rain recorded, less than half the average of 1571mm. In 2002 when the Tweed last went to Level 4 water restrictions, the annual rainfall was higher at 767.5mm for the year.

Since records began there have only been five other years when the recorded rainfall at Bray Park dipped below 1000mm: 2002, 767.5mm; 1986, 846.0mm; 1915, 863.0mm; 1902, 742.6mm; and, 1885, 754.0mm.

The bureau also has confirmed that soil moisture levels are very low (heading towards the one percentile), suggesting that any rain received will be taken up by the soil and result in little to no run-off to replenish the water supply. What is needed is significant steady rain.

The outlook is poor, with the bureau forecasting a 35 to 40 per cent chance of receiving median rainfall or above from February to March - and only a 50 per cent chance of getting just 70 per cent of that amount.

On the temperature front, the bureau forecasts an 80 per cent chance of higher than median temperatures.
"These statistics and forecasts are evidence that the Tweed is in the grips of a prolonged and serious drought," Mr Burnham said.

"While we did receive 59mm in the catchment on Christmas Eve which allowed us to stop releasing water from the dam for three days, we are again releasing water every day to meet demand and the dam level is continuing to fall."

To find out how to save water and what the water restrictions mean for you, visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/savewaternow
Mayor launches Save Water Now education blitz

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Tweed Mayor Cr Katie Milne today launched a massive education campaign to promote the message to Save Water Now by reminding residents that 'we're all in this together'.

Making her pitch to Christmas shoppers in person at Tweed City, Cr Milne urged everyone to get on board and make it a fun challenge to save as much water as possible.

"We are hoping on average everyone can save at least 50 litres of water per person per day," Cr Milne said.

"Fifty litres is only five normal household buckets. We would love you to save much more if you can."

Willow the Water Drop and Council officers assisted Cr Milne to hand out shower timers, mailbox and bumper stickers and a handy card about the level 2 water restrictions and how to save water in both the yard and the house.

"It's amazing how little water you can actually get by on," said Cr Milne. "Why not set up a competition between family members, friends or neighbours in your street to see who can save the most.

"We need everyone to pull together to reduce our use and save our limited supply.

"The dam is losing water much faster than predicted and significant rain is not predicted for months.

"Please forget about buying water using toys this year, but do spare a little for our thirsty wildlife by putting a small bowl of water in a strategic place in your garden."

The campaign will continue at Tweed City through to Sunday 15 December, before moving to The Pottsville Neighbourhood Centre and a street walk on Monday 16 December.

On Tuesday 17 December the Save Water Now campaign will be at the Kingscliff Shopping Village and on Wednesday 18 December at the Sunnyside Shopping Centre in Murwillumbah.

The campaign then returns to Tweed Heads on Thursday and Friday 19 and 20 December when it will set up at Tweed Mall, before returning to Tweed City on Saturday and Sunday 21 and 22 December.

Shoppers are urged to take the time to chat to the Save Water Now team about what they can do to save water.

For more information on level 2 water restrictions and ways to save water, see www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/SaveWaterNow and www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/WaterRestrictions.

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