A contentious $300 million proposal on State Significant Farmland (SSF) next to the Tweed Hospital has been recommended for approval by The Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP). The Cudgen Connection decision came in late yesterday, after years of deliberations, opposition and political commitments to protect the SSF. It is located at 741 Cudgen Road.

Hundreds of transport workers are protesting nationally at Aldi stores as the Transport Workers' Union highlights dangerous practices in the supermarket’s transport supply chain, from lack of maintenance on vehicles to underpayments and worker injuries.

It is a fusion of local and international art, music, performance, food, and thought that will be coming to you in Bagalow as part of the inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival across four days from 8 to 11 October.

The Echo loves your letters and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, send us your epistles.

A giant petrel found near Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, was confirmed positive on the weekend for H5 high pathogenicity (H5 bird flu) avian influenza in laboratory tests by the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.