Cotton Australia, CottonInfo, and the NSW Government’s Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) invite growers, irrigators, farm managers, service providers to an upcoming workshop at Narrabri.

The event will be held at the Narrabri Bowling Club on Friday, December 4, from 10:30 am to 1:30pm.

Registration is essential and those interested should contact Cotton Australia Regional manager (Namoi, Gwydir, Walgett and Bourke) on phone 0448 094 883 or email PaulS@cotton.org.au

A GROUP of Gamilaraay people from Moree travelled to Narrabri and Tamworth to take a stance against Coal Seam Gas (CSG).

A "Big Picture" event was held to show opposition to CSG developments in NSW was held in Narrabri on Sunday.

Organised by People for the Plains, Lock the Gate and a group opposed to CSG, the event attracted about 200 people.

Weekend wrap up.
Narrabri speedway hosted the Amca Country Cup round 1 and round 1of Newcastle Street Stocker Series as well as our supports.

Click heading to read more and see the winners.

Festive drinks in the court yard to open our Christmas exhibition with Guest Artist Doug Weirs from Tamworth Lead lighting. 

Exhibition showing until 8th December.

Christmas Raffle 1st prize lead light mirror won by Charles Radford 

2nd prize $100 gift voucher from Relish won by Peg Tapscott 

3rd prize bottle champagne won by Joan McMicking .

Narrabri has even been named as one of the top 10 hotspots for the disease, with 22 cases in the past few months and Tamworth vets treating more dogs in recent weeks. 

Tamworth Veterinary Hospital’s Dr Jess Bourke said they had two or three cases last week, with some of them having to be euthanased.

“There never really seems to be a break from (parvovirus), but we have had a bit of a surge recently,” she said.

The only way to stop your dog from getting the virus is to vaccinate them and ensure they have their annual booster. 

THERE would be thousands of families living along dirt roads throughout the state who are hoping their road won’t be missed in the state government’s Fixing Country Roads program.

But there wouldn’t be as many whose road had changed from regional status to a shire road such as the Bugilbone Road section of the Baradine-Collarenebri Road between Burren Junction and Pilliga which was downgraded a few decades ago.

“It is considered as one of the worst and most dangerous roads within the Walgett shire according to the Burren Junction community, says Marney O’Brien, “Nunkeri” on the Pilliga end and Philip Powell, “Lochmohr”, north of the Namoi River, Burren Junction.

A door has closed on a significant chapter of Noreen Boehm’s life after stepping down from her position as manager at Boggabri Home and Community Care.

Noreen’s care for her charges extended way beyond the call of duty as she organised bus trips to many tourist attractions and the very popular musicals in Singleton.

She started out on January 6, 1997, working 10 hours per week to incorporate the current Meals on Wheels (MOW) service into a Home and Community Care (HACC) Multi-Service Outlet pilot program.

“The initial service provided for Meals on Wheels, respite care and community transport,” Noreen said.

A SMALL number of protesters blockaded Santos contractors in the Pilliga forest for three hours on Tuesday and vowed the protest was the first of many to come.

Santos said it had commenced routine maintenance activates at the coal seam gas (CSG) pilot wells at Dewhurst South in the Pilliga to "ensure the ongoing efficient and safe operation of the wells".

Local residents noticed a convoy of trucks, including a workover rig, moving through the forest on Monday afternoon.

Three men held the convoy up for about an hour by sitting on the road, but left when police were called.

Coonabarabran protester Brett Sanders-Hopkinson said eight people took part in a protest organised at short notice.

"This is just the beginning of stopping Santos' work we'll be more organised now that we know activities in the Pilliga forest have resumed," Mr Sanders-Hopkinson said.

"Our protest today is a tiny taste of what Santos can expect at every step in its efforts to establish the CSG industry in our region."

The bush fire is being Controlled by the Forest Corporation in control of the situation

The state's Environmental Defenders Office has launched legal action against the State Government and Santos, over the approval of a waste treatment facility near Narrabri.

The application for a waste water treatment plant at the Leewood facility should have been viewed as outside the scope of exploration and therefore required to face a higher level of development scrutiny, according to the EDO and its client, Narrabri-based group People for the Plains.

Under State planning laws, some CSG exploration works are exempt from requiring development consent but the EDO's Principal Solicitor, Sue Higginson, said this development should not have been exempt.

She said the approval processes are significantly different.

"The process that's been applied to this development required a less onerous environmental assessment," she said.

"It also didn't provide for the full public participation that, had it gone through the full and rigorous legal assessment and procedures, we say ought have been applied."

A NARRABRI anti-coal seam gas group is taking the energy giant Santos and the state government to court over the approval of the Leewood wastewater treatment plant in the Pilliga forest.

People for the Plains will argue the approval given to the CSG wastewater treatment plant last week is invalid.

CSG explorations works are exempt from requiring development consent under NSW planning law, but the group will argue the plant is not for the purpose of CSG exploration and required separate development consent.

They will be represented in the NSW Land and Environment Court by the NSW Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).

Principal solicitor of EDO NSW, Sue Higginson, said the case is about ensuring proper laws and development assessment processes are followed in approving such development.

It was billed as a "Big Picture" event to show opposition to coal seam gas developments in NSW and many turned out to do just that in Narrabri on Sunday.

Organised by People for the Plains, a group opposed to CSG, the event attracted about 200 people.

The family-themed day featured a barbecue, activities for the kids and music by local artist Sarah Leete, but the main feature was hearing speakers against CSG developments.

The crowd, which among others included Narrabri Shire councillors Bevan O'Regan and John Tough, also heard about experiences of landholders in Queensland.

PREMIER Mike Baird toured the sites of two proposed coal mines during his visit to the region last weekend.

Mr Baird visited the site of BHP’s proposed underground mine at Caroona and the Shenhua mine site at Breeza with a number of representatives from protest groups.

It was the premier’s third visit to the Liverpool Plains since becoming premier, and he told The Leader on each occasion he had been “struck by the beauty and importance of the area”.

A Yarrie Lake family has had an ordeal that would frighten anyone - and now they’re raising awareness in the hope that it won’t be such a shock for others.

The ordeal happened in August when Cameron Speer, then 10, was at a camp at Gulgong with Wee Waa Public School.

His mother Kerry got a phone call from the school.

“The teacher told me he had collapsed,” she said.

Cameron was taken to Dubbo Base Hospital.

A major police operation near the Queensland border has led to the arrest of a Narrabri man after he was caught with, and was allegedly driving under the influence of, crystal methamphetamine.

It was part of Operation Northmore XII, a traffic operation which involved several Narrabri Shire police officers at Boggabilla last week.