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 […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I WRITE regarding the story titled “The secret star maps of moths”, published in NOTA on 4 December 2025. After reading this delightfully written article I will now look at moths in a completely different way. Such tiny and very beautiful creatures that flutter almost silently into our homes. The […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I AM an older parent and have accepted the fact that my children and wife come first in regards to IT requirements and usage. It is only natural that, like a musical instrument, the more practice means the more expertise. However, why may it be that when I look for […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I REFER to the recent letter from Charles Hemming, in which he links the increasing amount of renewable energy in the grid to what he terms as the likely demise of the Tomago Aluminium Smelter. This assertion is not true. All of the smelter’s electrical power is currently supplied by […]

DEAR News Of The Area, THE likely demise of the Tomago Aluminium facility without government subsidy is due to rising electricity costs with the increasing proportion of renewables (actually weather-dependent intermittents) in the electricity grid. The mantra: ‘renewables are the cheapest form of energy’ is a delusion of the energy-illiterates. Sunbeams and breezes are there […]

DEAR News Of The Area, LAST Wednesday, I attended the ‘drop-in’ community consultation at Hawks Nest Community Hall for the proposed Sanderling Avenue beachfront development, located between Hawks Nest Golf Club and Bennetts Beach (Lot 1, DP 1234229). This is the same development that was the subject of the 2021 Four Corners episode ‘Obeid Inc.’ […]

DEAR News Of The Area, THE incessant return of heavy rains may trigger fresh memories of the devastating floods experienced around the north of the MidCoast Local Government Area (LGA). It has come to my attention, however, that there are people who have been suffering in silence with their own flood-related issues right here in […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I DON’T think that the fish kills in the Myall Lakes are attributable to the partial blockage of one of the channels around Corrie Island. Major fish kills always follow major flooding. In 1948, scientists estimated that there were 50,000 boxes of dead fish around the lakes. Throughout the 1970s, […]

DEAR News Of The Area, DURING a recent meeting with Port Stephens Council, regarding our local dirt roads at Swan Bay, at which 18 residents attended, Council made it abundantly clear they are now only undertaking road repairs based on a quick temporary fix and not repairing them properly. They say it is done this […]

DEAR News Of The Area, LAST Monday night, I attended an industry seminar down in Martin Place in Sydney with the Australian Institute of Energy (AIE) and electrical industry professionals. I’m a member of the AIE Newcastle branch and this seminar was called “The Challenge of Social Licence in the Energy Transition” which was basically […]