#coffsharbour — Public Fediverse posts

The creeping extinction of koalas

A vigil will "mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July. Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area."

"...We are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

"Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony. He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come."

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-dundee-to-hold-vigil-outside-parliament-house
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #NSWLogging #FCNSW #PineCreek #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #CoffsHarbour #Sawtell #roads #SloMoExtinction #NSW #loss

The creeping extinction of koalas

A vigil will "mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July. Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area."

"...We are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

"Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony. He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come."

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-dundee-to-hold-vigil-outside-parliament-house
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #NSWLogging #FCNSW #PineCreek #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #CoffsHarbour #Sawtell #roads #SloMoExtinction #NSW #loss

The creeping extinction of koalas

A vigil will "mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July. Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area."

"...We are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

"Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony. He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come."

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-dundee-to-hold-vigil-outside-parliament-house
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #NSWLogging #FCNSW #PineCreek #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #CoffsHarbour #Sawtell #roads #SloMoExtinction #NSW #loss

The creeping extinction of koalas

A vigil will "mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July. Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area."

"...We are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

"Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony. He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come."

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-dundee-to-hold-vigil-outside-parliament-house
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #NSWLogging #FCNSW #PineCreek #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #CoffsHarbour #Sawtell #roads #SloMoExtinction #NSW #loss

The creeping extinction of koalas

A vigil will "mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July. Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area."

"...We are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

"Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony. He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come."

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said." >>
https://coffscoast.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-dundee-to-hold-vigil-outside-parliament-house
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #NSWLogging #FCNSW #PineCreek #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #CoffsHarbour #Sawtell #roads #SloMoExtinction #NSW #loss

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

“They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded."

"Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859."

"By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring.Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest."

“Peri-urban areas have become a breeding ground because it is more difficult to have people control them there, mainly because the rabbits can be under buildings, for example, or in gardens." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/rabbits-austraila-population-native-species-threat
#biodiversity #wildlife #pests #EuropeanLegacy #CoffsHarbour #PeriUrbanAreas #pets #NSW #SettlerSociety
#Image: Pet bunny with own real estate at Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour. Many (ex-pet) rabbits hopping around the CBD.

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

“They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded."

"Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859."

"By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring.Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest."

“Peri-urban areas have become a breeding ground because it is more difficult to have people control them there, mainly because the rabbits can be under buildings, for example, or in gardens." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/rabbits-austraila-population-native-species-threat
#biodiversity #wildlife #pests #EuropeanLegacy #CoffsHarbour #PeriUrbanAreas #pets #NSW #SettlerSociety
#Image: Pet bunny with own real estate at Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour. Many (ex-pet) rabbits hopping around the CBD.

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

“They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded."

"Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859."

"By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring.Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest."

“Peri-urban areas have become a breeding ground because it is more difficult to have people control them there, mainly because the rabbits can be under buildings, for example, or in gardens." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/rabbits-austraila-population-native-species-threat
#biodiversity #wildlife #pests #EuropeanLegacy #CoffsHarbour #PeriUrbanAreas #pets #NSW #SettlerSociety
#Image: Pet bunny with own real estate at Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour. Many (ex-pet) rabbits hopping around the CBD.

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

“They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded."

"Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859."

"By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring.Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest."

“Peri-urban areas have become a breeding ground because it is more difficult to have people control them there, mainly because the rabbits can be under buildings, for example, or in gardens." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/rabbits-austraila-population-native-species-threat
#biodiversity #wildlife #pests #EuropeanLegacy #CoffsHarbour #PeriUrbanAreas #pets #NSW #SettlerSociety
#Image: Pet bunny with own real estate at Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour. Many (ex-pet) rabbits hopping around the CBD.

Rabbits are the biggest threat to Australia’s native species. Why are their numbers booming again?

“They can get to incredible numbers and you see the whole landscape gets denuded."

"Though they were introduced on the first fleet during the British invasion in 1788, research has traced the species’ continent-wide spread to one consignment of 24 rabbits brought in to the country by settler Thomas Austin in 1859."

"By the 1920s, rabbits had reached plague proportions with estimates numbering them in their billions. More recent counts put the current population at closer to 200 million but the true number is unknown as there is no formal monitoring.Their impact on the landscape has been measured. One study found rabbits were having negative effects on 329 threatened species in Australia – more than any other invasive pest."

“Peri-urban areas have become a breeding ground because it is more difficult to have people control them there, mainly because the rabbits can be under buildings, for example, or in gardens." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/14/rabbits-austraila-population-native-species-threat
#biodiversity #wildlife #pests #EuropeanLegacy #CoffsHarbour #PeriUrbanAreas #pets #NSW #SettlerSociety
#Image: Pet bunny with own real estate at Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour. Many (ex-pet) rabbits hopping around the CBD.

NSW Greens MP pleads with federal colleagues not to back National party motion to block #koala park deal. >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/08/nsw-greens-mp-pleads-with-federal-colleagues-not-to-not-to-back-national-party-motion-to-block-koala-park
#biodiversity #NativeForest #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #climate #FossilFuels #pollution #offsets #con #regulation #CoffsHarbour #NSWLogging #ClimateFiasco

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

Vulnerable workers bearing the cost of providing Australia with cheap food

"Across Australia's fruit and vegetable industry, Fair Work Ombudsman investigations have repeatedly uncovered widespread non-compliance...: systemic worker exploitation, forced labour, debt bondage and, in some cases, human trafficking and servitude."

"In Coffs Harbour, 61 per cent of growers and labour hire companies inspected were found to be breaching workplace laws, including underpaying workers. The figure rose to 72 per cent in the Riverina and 83 per cent in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley....Oz Group, a co-operative representing more than 140 berry growers across NSW's Mid North Coast, said in its 2020 statement it "does not accept any form of slavery-like practices within the co-operative or throughout its supply chain".However, in its 2025 statement, the co-operative said, "addressing modern slavery requires ongoing effort and collaboration" and it remained "committed to continuous improvement"." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-04/australias-hidden-modern-slave-labour-workforce-exposed/106968610
#exploitation #work #ForcedLabour #food #slavery #CoffsHarbour #HorticulturalIndustry #governance #regulation #ModernSlaveryAct #TokenisticLaw #NSW #MidNorthCoast #blueberries

Sapphire Beach housing

"Flames swept through Coffs Harbour's most expensive house on Tuesday night, just weeks after the vacant headland home was approved for demolition...Under approved plans, the sprawling 15-bedroom, 15-bathroom home with a 7-car garage would be replaced by a contemporary home of the same floor space."

"The luxury beachfront property (had) fallen into disrepair and the station officer on scene spoke to the police officer, who said it's known for vandalism and sort of progressed down to arson." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-22/two-fires-one-night-sapphire-beach-mansion/106944642
#housing #demolition #arson #CoffsHarbour #SapphireBeach #NSW

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

Malnourished and sick kangaroos, isolated by urban sprawl on New South Wales's Mid North Coast

"...The kangaroos were chronically malnourished because they could not find enough to eat in an area bordered by ocean, the nearby Emerald Beach settlement, and the Pacific Highway. Our theory is that ongoing development … the M1 being upgraded and an increase in suburban dwellings, that this population is isolated." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-24/sick-kangaroos-coffs-coast-look-at-me-now-headland/106597450

First the thylacine, the others a bit later...

#biodiversity #wildlife #EasternGreyKangaroos #habitat #kangaroos #marsupials #CoffsCoast #CoffsHarbour #LookAtMeNowHeadland #EmeraldBeach #sprawl #tourism #PacificHighway #roads #harm #MidnorthCoast #StarvingWildlife

Image: Coastal sprawl - No place for endemic wildlife on the Mid North Coast of NSW

Highway expansions and road widening
How America (Australia) Can Break Its Highway Addiction

"After a century of rampant roadbuilding, the U.S. highway network is ubiquitous, dominating the American landscape in bucolic rural settings as well as dense urban ones. Rather than being a tool for mobility, it has become a monument to an auto-centric lifestyle that fouls the air and depletes the public coffers. Neither the country nor the planet can afford to keep expanding it."

"At the federal level, even asking questions about the collective climate impact of highway building appears verboten."
>>
https://slate.com/business/2024/08/construction-traffic-cars-driving-transportation-highway.html
#Sprawl #roads #highways #expansion #cars #automobility #industry #asphalt #Motordom #MobilityDesign #ClimateBreakdown #pollution #NSW #CoffsHarbour #bellingen #GlenifferRoad

The tyranny of automobility and sprawl

While the Bellingen /Gleniffer area is transitioning from an ‘idyllic tourist town’ into a ‘normal Aussie suburb’ (of Coffs Harbour), road congestion gets everyone stuck in traffic.

Car dependent motorists in their SUVs and bloated oversized trucks demand more and wider roads, larger car parking and a right to pothole-free roads for their 'sports utility vehicles’.

Extreme commuting for the necessaries of life are conducted in big private vehicles powered by fossil fuel. An aggregate of ugly big-box stores (large format retail, Coffs) with hostile giant car parks deliver what consumers desire. These consumption hubs are mostly inaccessible to pedestrians and can be dangerous ‘non-places’ (Marc Augé).

The mobility design of old school traffic engineers responds to the sprawling expansion with more of the same: more roads, wider roads and bypassing the last bypass. They call it ‘upgrades’.

As the latest $2.2 billion highway or forest road ‘upgrade/s’ are blasting their way through the landscape, they are silent about the ‘public bads’: the destroyed biodiversity habitat, the downgraded neighbourhoods, the violence and the polluted biosphere.

The ‘normality’ of automobility, or the 'car in the head' in petromodernity together with regulatory inertia make a transition to alternative land uses, energy systems, mobilities and ways of being a challenge.

#sprawl #suburbia #mobility #cars #roads #JevonsParadox #externalities #automobility #pollution #biodiversity #ClimateExtremes #FossilFuels #Petromodernity #GlenifferRoad #CoffsHarbour #Bellingen #SettlerSociety #liveability