Ballina Shire

The Council expressed deep concern over the closure's impact on residents relying on firewood for winter heating, as well as the heightened bushfire risks caused by accumulating timber fuel loads.

Breaking news out of Ballina Shire Council this week with General Manager Paul Hickey announcing his retirement after nearly two decades with the Council.

His decision was announced at a Council meeting yesterday and reported by the Ballina News Daily.

Mr Hickey has held the top job for more than 10 years.

And during that, talking to a lot of people, we came up with the idea of a single agency or authority to have responsibility for the whole catchment and a legislated requirement to improve the health of the river.

Not long after that, Ballina Council resolved a motion to request the appointment of an independent commissioner.

And we thought, well, Commissioner, Agency, Authority, same thing, so we'll support that.

We had meetings with the Minister for Water in Parliament House.