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September 7, 2026
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Peter Noble puts Bluesfest site up for sale

The Echo - 0
Following the cancellation of the 2026 Bluesfest and subsequently two Bluesfest companies going into administration, the site has now been listed for sale.
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Local News

Short-stay boost for Ballina hospital, but bigger service gaps remain

The Echo - 0
Ballina District Hospital is set to get a new four-bay emergency short-stay unit before the end of the year, providing a modest boost to a hospital that remains limited in the range of specialist and higher-level care it can provide.
Read more
Local News

Ewingsdale Rd pedestrian crossing back on the agenda

Paul Bibby - 0
The developers behind the massive West Byron housing project are back for round two in their bid to install a pedestrian crossing on Ewingsdale Road, just weeks after councillors rejected a traffic-light version of the proposal.
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Local News

Chris Cherry bows out of Tweed mayoralty after six years

The Echo - 0
After six years steering Tweed Shire through floods, fires, border closures and a cyclone, Mayor Chris Cherry has decided it is time to hand over the reins.
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Local News

Back on track: major plan calls for fresh rail trail funding bid

Paul Bibby - 0
A fresh State and Federal funding bid to complete the Northern Rivers Rail Trail should be launched following the failure of a $42 million application earlier this year, according to a major new blueprint for the region’s economic future.
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Local News

Save Wallum judgment to be handed down on Monday

The Echo - 0
On Monday, 7 September, the community is invited to come together at Bayside Park, Brunswick Heads to hear Federal Court Justice Perry deliver judgment in the Save Wallum case.
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Local News

Plastic pollution goes under the microscope at Lennox

The Echo - 0
Plastic has become such a permanent fixture of modern life that avoiding it can feel a bit like trying to dodge sand at the beach.
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Local News

Byron’s ‘great walker’ takes out Wollumbin Art Award

The Echo - 0
A much-loved Byron Shire character has helped carry artist Stephen Bird to the top prize in this year’s Wollumbin Art Award.
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Local News

Mullum Primary basketball team bounces their way to state championships

Aslan Shand - 0
Mullumbimby Public Schools PSSA boys basketball team has made it to the NSW state finals and will be heading to Sydney on Monday, 7 September and they are asking for a bit of a hand to get there. 
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Byron Echo

We don’t just need more housing: we need it where it’s needed most

Sunil Badami - 0
With news that the last of Byron Shire’s pod villages will be closed by the end of the year, both residents and the wider community are asking: where will they go in a region where vacancy rates are less than 0.5 per cent?
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Local News

Byron’s beachfront playgrounds could be about to get serious

Paul Bibby - 0
For generations of Byron kids, a trip to Main Beach has meant sand, waves, ice cream and, if they were lucky, a quick skip through the playground.
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Local News

$304m Clarrie Hall Dam raising clears major hurdle

The Echo - 0
The Tweed’s $304 million plan to more than double the capacity of Clarrie Hall Dam has cleared a major planning hurdle, as the region races to secure enough water for its growing population.
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Local News

Knife and saw allegedly seized after Ballina airport security breach

The Echo - 0
A man accused of forcing his way into a restricted area at Ballina Byron Gateway Airport before allegedly assaulting a police officer will face court this week.
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Local News

Refugee story comes home to Federal

The Echo - 0
A story which began with a $200 donation and a two-room refugee school in Indonesia will arrive at Federal Hall this month, accompanied by two of the people who helped bring it to life.
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Local News

Celebrating 120 years of the Billinudgel Pub

Aslan Shand - 0
The Billinudgel Pub has stood its ground through floods, fires and more for the last 120 years and the unveiling of three recreated historic mirrors on the front verandah last Friday kicked off the celebrations.
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Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Warning: Choking Hazard

Mandy Nolan - 0
There is no safe way of choking someone.
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Articles & Columns

Honeyeaters of the Wallum

Byron Bird Buddies - 0
To the untrained eye, Wallum might appear to be a chaotic tangle of vegetation intersected here and there by foot-made pathways through the sandy soil. But this surface view belies the intricate and complex web of life woven over epochs.
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Local News

New film society for Murwillumbah

David Lowe - 0
In exciting news for lovers of fine cinema across the Northern Rivers, the Regent Film Society has just launched at Murwillumbah's historic Regent Cinema.
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Local News

Big weekend coming up for NRAS

The Echo - 0
Saturday 5 September is the monthly Adoption Day at the NRAS Rescue Shelter, at 61 Piper Drive, Ballina from 10am to 1pm.
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Local News

Reimagining the future of South Murwillumbah

The Echo - 0
South Murwillumbah locals are being called on to shape a new vision for their neighbourhood, with public consultation taking place this September to reimagine how flood-impacted land can serve the community into the future.
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Local News

Ballina conference puts water security in spotlight

The Echo - 0
Water security for rural, regional, and remote communities will take centre stage at the 2026 Water Management Conference being hosted by Local Government NSW in Ballina from 2-4 September.
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Local News

Local artist at Ground Zero for 9/11 memorial

Eve Jeffery - 0
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks changed the way we experienced terrorism, Ground Zero 360 Remembrance will open at the historic New York City Fire Museum in Lower Manhattan.
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Local News

Protecting forests – no perfect solution

Jan Barham - 0
The current challenge is the delivery framework for the Greater Koala National Park and the NSW ALP promise is now contingent on its proposal to the federal government for the protection of state forests under the Improved Forest Management Method using Australian Carbon Credit Units which feels abhorrent.
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Local News

Future of the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital under threat

Aslan Shand - 0
The Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital is calling for urgent support as ongoing underfunding threatens the region’s only purpose-built wildlife hospital at a time when local wildlife need it more than ever.
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National News

Single-use paper cups release microplastic particles into your coffee

The Echo - 0
A team from The University of Queensland (UQ) has examined single-use cups lined with fossil-based polyethylene (PE) or the biodegradable alternative polylactic acid (PLA).
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Local News

Dear Survivor…

Eve Jeffery - 0
A new art project requires interaction from its audience – photographer Jodie Harris is inviting people to write a 'Dear Survivor' letter as part of her Salt: Bearing Witness exhibition.
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Articles & Columns

Lessons from Secret Harbour

David Lowe - 0
Held by Labor since 1989, Pauline Hanson's One Nation has comfortably won the Western Australian state lower house seat of Secret Harbour in Saturday's by-election, sending shockwaves across the country.
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Local News

Licence required for e-bike riders in Queensland

Eve Jeffery - 0
The Queensland Police Service is continuing its statewide focus on road safety through Operation Yankee Surety, as licensing requirements for e-mobility device riders commence today.
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National News

Greens urged to back pathway to end native forest logging

The Echo - 0
Some of NSW’s most respected and long-standing forest campaigners and scientists have today urged the Greens not to support the Nationals' attempt to disallow the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) method.
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Local News

Ballina Council makes decision on Ross Lane

David Lowe - 0
With the absence of all four of its progressive councillors for various reasons, Ballina Council pushed ahead with its agenda at yesterday's monthly meeting, including a decision which is likely to close Ross Lane for months while the road is upgraded.
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Local News

Appeal to locate man missing from Broadwater

The Echo - 0
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate a local missing man.
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National News

Disastrous levels of sexism and misogyny in Australian schools

The Echo - 0
Monash University has conducted the largest Australian survey of teachers to examine their experiences of sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment in schools.
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Local News

Lismore fun run will be bigger than ever

The Echo - 0
The much-loved Darrel Chapman Fun Run will return to Lismore on Sunday 30 August, with runners and walkers set to start the event on Woodlark Street once again.
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Local News

Safer roads for North Coast

The Echo - 0
Richmond MP Justine Elliot has announced that the Albanese government is delivering more than $4.6 million in federal funding from the 2026-27 Black Spot Program to improve road safety at four sites across the North Coast.
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Editorial

Editorial – Drug-checking saves lives

Aslan Shand - 0
No-one would tolerate killing six teenagers with methanol-laced alcohol in Australia, as occurred recently in Laos. But in Australia, you can’t check your drugs to see if they’re safe.
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Local News

Bangalow community rallying for the Bowlo

Aslan Shand - 0
A major town rally for Bangalow is planned for Saturday, 19 September at 2pm as the next phase of action to have the Bowlo reopened and back in community hands.
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Local News

Can you help our rainbow community find a home?

Paul Bibby - 0
For four years Queer Family Inc has lived the perilous life of a homeless community organisation – bouncing from one temporary venue to the next, sometimes without anywhere to stay at all.
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Local News

Climate science meets art at Lismore Gallery

The Echo - 0
Climate change conversations filled with graphs, reports and grim headlines can be enough to make even the hardiest soul want to hide under the doona. This Sunday, Lismore Regional Gallery is trying a different approach to discussing the issue.
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Local News

Two charged over alleged Ballina machete attack

The Echo - 0
A man and woman have been charged after a 22-year-old man was allegedly attacked with a machete in central Ballina on Sunday night.
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Local News

Troubled Hastings Point sewage plant upgrade goes back to the community

The Echo - 0
A long-running battle over the future of the Hastings Point Wastewater Treatment Plant has entered another round, with Tweed Council putting its preferred upgrade option back before the community.
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Local News

Call to keep Bangalow Showgrounds in community hands

Aslan Shand - 0
The Bangalow Park Trust, a volunteer community group that have successfully run the Bangalow Showgrounds since at least the 1950s, say they just want to get on with managing the showgrounds and don’t want Byron Shire Council to take over their role.
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Local News

Mullum water investigation comes with $322,000-plus price tag

Paul Bibby - 0
Byron Council faces a bill of at least $322,000 to complete the next stage of its long-running investigation into Mullumbimby’s future water supply, as it simultaneously prepares the ground for a possible 35 per cent increase in general rates.
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Local News

Woman charged after body located – Ballina

The Echo - 0
A woman has been charged after the body of a man was allegedly located on a property near Ballina.
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Local News

Peter Noble puts Bluesfest site up for sale

The Echo - 0
Following the cancellation of the 2026 Bluesfest and subsequently two Bluesfest companies going into administration, the site has now been listed for sale.
Read more
Local News

Short-stay boost for Ballina hospital, but bigger service gaps remain

The Echo - 0
Ballina District Hospital is set to get a new four-bay emergency short-stay unit before the end of the year, providing a modest boost to a hospital that remains limited in the range of specialist and higher-level care it can provide.
Read more
Local News

Ewingsdale Rd pedestrian crossing back on the agenda

Paul Bibby - 0
The developers behind the massive West Byron housing project are back for round two in their bid to install a pedestrian crossing on Ewingsdale Road, just weeks after councillors rejected a traffic-light version of the proposal.
Read more

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