Letter to the Editor: Reflection on the final weeks of 2025

DEAR News Of The Area,

ANOTHER year has come to an end, and it has been, once again, a big one for us all.

I would like to reflect on the last few weeks for a moment.

After serious rains and floods in autumn, summer has brought an unsettling return to bushfire season with the blazes starting between Bulahdelah and Nerong.

Several properties have been lost, and, most tragically of all, the life of a NPWS firefighter was also taken.

To ensure these losses are not in vain, we can all return to a heightened mindfulness of our environment and its realities, and the utter necessity of preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best.

I volunteered as an RFS firefighter in early December, and witnessed the devastation along the highway and the Bucketts Way, but am also aware that I have been nowhere near the worst of it, while many brave volunteers and professional firefighters have spent days on the frontlines.

In the last few weeks, it has been a genuine honour to represent MidCoast Council at the official sod-turning of the new SES Stroud headquarters (which has been a long time coming!) and as I know several SES Stroud members personally, and the enormous area they cover, I am only too glad to help in my smallest of ways to get them modern facilities they deserve.

The local public and high schools have also graciously invited me to their Presentation Days, at which I witnessed the academic and sporting achievements of our local students.

The experience has also made me more aware of several realities facing our kids and families, such as the hazards of commuting between towns during a fire event, and I hope to become even better acquainted in 2026.

2026 promises to be another massive year, and as a community, I know we will help each other, reach out when needed, and celebrate together again this time twelve months hence.

Sincerely,
Cr Thomas O’KEEFE,
MidCoast Councillor.