#coffsharbour — Public Fediverse posts

Idyllic rural NSW is a hotspot for motor neurone disease

"Our recent mortality paper shows that if you live in rural and regional Australia, you are 40 per cent more likely to die from motor neurone disease. This cannot be genetic."
"Much attention will be focused on MND hotspots which include regional centres such as Griffith, Leeton, Wagga Wagga and Narrandera in the Riverina where rates of the degenerative illness are estimated to be five to seven times the national average. Other areas of concern include Tamworth, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-01/mnd-notifiable-disease-starts/107097432
#environment #diseases #MDN #NSW #CoffsHarbour #PortMacquarie #RuralNSW #MidNorthCoast #water #pollution #ExtremeHeat #runoff #HABs #pesticides #epidemiology

Making hostile spaces The dispersal of non consumers

* At an intersection of numerous car parks, retail industry and an amusement industrial complex in Coffs Harbour there is a small green space with benches and birds. People and birds rest there and have their lunch.

Some time ago the amusement & drink giant piped ongoing unpleasant, loud music over the small green island and the abundant car parks.

The intention of the outdoor speakers distributing noise pollution is/was to engage in then 'dispersal' of ‘loitering' non customers.

This loud and repetitive ‘music’ is also known as "aggressive" or "defensive" architecture. This design in mostly public spaces is intended as a form of 'organised abandonment' (Ruth Wilson Gilmore) of the poor and the unhoused.

Often the exclusionary design acoustic ('steady-state spam’) is combined with other anti homeless devices (anti-homeless spikes furniture) which function to keep members of the public out of public spaces.

With increasing inequality, that is non spending consumers, the system is increasingly employing hostile practices. Privately owned public spaces such as walkways, plazas, arcades and small parks have to ensure the safety of their customers and staff. Non-consumers have no place in this scheme.

* "Woolworths has installed outdoor speakers at its Darwin city store to play the supermarket's 'Fresh Food People' jingle on repeat in a bid to deter loitering.” >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/darwin-city-woolworths-looping-jingle-anti-social-behaviour/107073330
* "The NSW Police Force is currently running an Australian-first trial in Moree (an area with a high Indigenous population) using rooftop drones to "fight crime" in the area, controlled by people hundreds of kilometres away at Bankstown Airport." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-26/automation-and-repression-the-two-go-hand-in-hand-daron-acemoglu/107063582
#HostileArchitecture #PublicSpaces #inequality #privatisation #ShoppingCentres #dispersal #FirstNationsPeoples #biopolitics #surveillance #CCTV #PervasiveTechnologies #UAVs #NoisePollution #IndigenousPeoples #DesignApartheid #governance #CoffsHarbour

Focus on Coffs Harbour and Nambucca Valley

"NSW modern slavery report calls for urgent reform to protect migrant workers."

"A NSW parliamentary report into modern slavery has detailed "harrowing stories of mistreatment and harm..The report asked the government to investigate allegations of systemic labour exploitation in Coffs Harbour and the Nambucca Valley."

"NSW Anti-slavery commissioner Dr James Cockayne said in a statement the report was "informed by evidence from almost 100 witnesses across NSW, including victim survivors of modern slavery, and 60 submissions"." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-06/nsw-anti-slavery-report-urgent-reform-to-protect-migrant-workers/107003130
#exploitation #PALM #MidNorthCoast #HorticulturalIndustry #blueberries #CoffsHarbour #NambuccaValley #food #harm #slavery #plantations #regulation

Motorised bikes
First they put e-bikes on the market, then it is a long wait for regulation of illegal high-powered 'motorbikes' on shared pathways and beaches.

There has been "...alleged antisocial and criminal behaviour involving a group of youths riding e-bikes in the Moonee and North Sapphire Beach areas."

"The claims echo concerns being raised in communities right across the state. For many locals, the issue isn’t just legality. It’s safety on shared pathways residents once felt confident using every day." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/technology-outpaces-the-law-on-e-bikes
#pedestrians #motorists #Ebike #safety #regulation #beaches #MooneeBeach #NorthSapphireBeach #Sawtell #CoffsHarbour #NSW #MotorVehicles #MobilityDesign #ActiveTansportInfrastructure
#MidNorthCoast #SapphireBeach #NorthSapphireBeachPlayground #parenting #AntisocialBehaviour #DissocialBehaviours #crime

The Blueberries of Wrath on the mid-north coast of NSW
Bitter fruit: the dark underside of the booming NSW blueberry industry

"Blueberry farms have become an increasingly common sight across the rolling hills of the NSW mid-north coast...The number of people in need of ... support points to a dark underbelly of exploitation in the blueberry industry that authorities appear incapable of dealing with...It’s semi-organised crime, that is how I would describe it. "

"A NSW parliamentary inquiry into modern slavery is currently investigating worker conditions."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/04/nsw-blueberry-industry-farm-labour-loopholes-dark-underside
#food #workers #slavery #plantations #exploitation #AgriculturalIndustry #plantations #CoffsHarbour #MidNorthCoast #NSW #LabourLaw #regulation #PALM #Pacific

Environmentalist Mark Graham barred from Forestry Corp offices after protest

"Justice Richard Weinstein granted bail on the condition that Mr Graham not travel within half a kilometre of the Forestry Corporation offices."

"Justice Weinstein remarked that a Forestry Corporation vehicle was akin to "a red flag to a bull" for the defendant. It's a very volatile situation up there."

"Mr Graham will return to Coffs Harbour Local Court on September 17."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-20/environmentalist-mark-graham-bail-coffs-harbour/105587574
#LoggingAndLandclearing #NSWLogging #LoggingImpacts #biodiversity #CoffsHarbour #climatedisruption #ProtectProtest

Along the NSW and Queensland coast there are stunning beaches lined with multi-million-dollar homes and polluted creeks

"Burgess Creek runs from Noosa Junction to the beachfront. Burgess Creek runs 5 kilometres from heavily commercialised Noosa Junction to the otherwise idyllic beachfront, and contains signs warning against swimming and human consumption. Burgess Creek does contain treated sewage effluent. Signs indicate "creek water contains treated sewage effluent", but compounding issues include fertiliser run-off, historic landfill sites, erosion, invasive flora, animal excrement and household run-off."

"When they took the sewage out to sea, it was a revelation because there was no more crap coming back on to the beach."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-02/burgess-creek-bondi-solution-for-brown-water/105594070
#sewage #pollution #sprawl #NSW #coast #sanitation #SewerSystems #crap #waste #runoff #wasteland #weeds #creeks #rivers #water #wildlife #Noosa #CoffsHarbour #beaches #civilisation
Images: Coffs Harbour Jetty Dune care and a polluted creek for wildlife.