DEAR News Of The Area, Thank you to Karin Matthews for her summary of what some of the Nambucca Valley candidates were standing for in the current election (‘Meet the Candidates’, Karin Matthews, Opinions and Letters, p16, News Of The Area, November 26 Edition). As I am absent from the area I

  DEAR News Of The Area, DUE to the COVID-19 pandemic, my wife and I have not been able to see our young grandsons in the flesh for the past two years. Many families find themselves in the same situation, and we all wish that it were not so. Yet we can console ourselves

  DEAR News Of The Area, THIS was local Labor’s first tilt at the local government election in Bellingen Shire. We have created a base upon which we can grow. In so doing, we learned a lot. We’re appreciative of the support we received across the shire. There are many well-entrenched personal and geographic loyalties that

  DEAR Jasminda, After 20 years, I still don't like my partner coming in to talk to me when I am using the bathroom. I feel as though this is a sacred time and space and even though we've seen each other in every imaginable situation, privacy is still warranted. Madelaine R.   Dear Madelaine, For me

  WITH Covid, spiralling debt, climate change, and the China issue; interesting times is an understatement. But locally D Day is 4 December, when the residents of this shire will vote to elect a new council. Hopefully we elect a group representing a cross section of the community. A group who are non-political, possess

  DEAR News Of The Area, IF YOU have been down Ridge Street recently you will see that the Small Hall of the Nambucca Community and Arts Centre (NCAC) has been completely demolished. In its short lifetime it served a multitude of community groups very well and was in excellent condition – it

  DEAR News Of The Area, ANYONE who has observed fuel prices in the Coffs Harbour region over the past ten or more years will not be surprised there is very little competition amongst the thirteen petrol stations. Prices rise almost immediately when oil prices rise but most are very reluctant to drop

  DEAR News Of The Area, I TEACH my grandkids about preferential voting by telling them about a family of ten who can only buy one tub of flavoured ice cream. Three in the family want liquorice ice cream, one likes strawberry, two like vanilla, two like chocolate and two like caramel. Seven in

  DEAR News Of The Area, I WRITE in reply to your interview with current Mayor Rhonda Hobin (‘Virtual vs physical: community hub thoughts’, p6, Nambucca Valley News Of The Area, November 26 Edition). I would like to respond with the following points. Virtual use of computers to source the internet for service information

  DEAR News Of The Area, I ALSO attended the meet the candidates at the showground meeting and was unimpressed with some of the candidates. The main problem I have is, do we really need politics in local government? We have enough problems with them in State and Federal politics without bringing them into