Lismore's CBD feels the pinch of dollar drain

Interesting story in the Lismore Northern Star about the challenges facing retailers in the Lismore CBD where retail sales are down. Part of the problem is apparently due to a revamped Lismore Shopping Square, but Lismore also faces a broader problem.

According to Lismore Unlimited president Phil Hanlon. Lismore shopper dollars are being lured away from its CBD not just by a revamped Lismore Shopping Square, but to a Gold Coast made more accessible by improved roads. “You can be at Robina or Pacific Fair in an hour and a half and shop all weekend – you can’t shop in Lismore all weekend,” he said.

Mr Hanlon suggests that the dollar drain was more dramatic than most people realised, estimating between $200 million and $300 million crossing the NSW/Queensland border from the Northern Rivers each year.

Pressure on Lismore has also also came from the coast where, over the past few years, retail business between Lennox Head and Byron Bay had doubled.

Lismore is fighting back, trying to reach the 750,000 people living just over the border in Queensland. But it's not easy.

I found the story interesting in its own right, but also because it illustrates some of the changes taking place in New England, changes that help explain New England's relatively poor economic performance together with the decline in its sense of self-identity.

Our problem is that New England is squeezed, cannibalised, between the growing Sydney and Brisbane conurbations.

In an earlier story I spoke of the way in which Newcastle in the south was now being treated by the Sydney Government as simply another part Greater Sydney. This story shows the fragmentation process in the north.

Like Mr Hanlon, when I was chair of Tourism Armidale I used to talk about the opportunities offered by the big population concentrations to the north and south of Armidale. But it's very hard to do anything meaningful to fight back when everything has to be done at an increasingly fragmented local level.

Technorati Sucks - Day 363

This is one of a continuing series of posts.

It is now 363 days since Technorati has updated this blog. This is not the only blog of mine that this has happened too.

This blog presently rank's 3,260,072 in the world. I have pinged them and recently emailed them. But they won't update.

I need to do something.

I assume that someone from T scans the web. So what I am now doing is this. Each day I will ping them. Each day that they fail to update I will run another Technorati sucks post. Let's see how long it takes them to pick it all up and do something about it.

In T's words:

Thanks for the Ping!

Technorati will now check newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com for new content. You can bookmark this page and return to it to notify Technorati of updates.

Update - 24 May Day 366

Still no luck with Technorati, I fear.

Great Northern Railway - End of the Line continued: Wallangarra Railway Station

This photo shows the Wallangarra Railway Station. Yes, Neil, I still use the term railway station.

The Sydney train came in on the right. Passengers then carried their luggage across to the Queensland train on the left. This station was the main rail junction point between NSW/New England and Queensland for almost eighty years.

Technorati Sucks - Day 362

It is now 362 days since Technorati has updated this blog. This is not the only blog of mine that this has happened too.

This blog presently rank's 3,260,072 in the world. I have pinged them and recently emailed them. But they won't update.

I need to do something.

I assume that someone from T scans the web. So what I am going to do is this. Each day I will ping them. Each day that they fail to update I will run another Technorati sucks post. Let's see how long it takes them to pick it all up and do something about it.

End of the Line - the Great Northern Railway

In an earlier post I looked in a preliminary way at the history of New England's railways.

This photo looks south across the border from Queensland and shows the end of what was once the Great Northern Railway.

Just to the right of the photo, the Queensland railway lines still cut through the road.

Unlike the New South Government which simply abandoned the lines, Queensland has kept its tracks open.

New England Beer - Murray's Craft Brewing Co

In my last post I commented on the demise of the Grafton brewery. I have now discovered a new New England beer. My thanks to the Australian Regional Food Guide for alerting me to it.

In an earlier story on Slim Dusty I referred to his classic song The Pub with no Beer. The pub in question was located at Taylor's Arm (population 50) on New England's Mid North Coast.

I now find that Murray ’s Craft Brewing Co. was launched in December 2005 and is based at the Pub With No Beer. The unconventional brewer has quickly gained a reputation for brewing distinctive and adventurous beers, with the world class quality of its ales recognised not only through a fast-growing following of beer lovers, but also through beer awards.

Murray' s Craft Brewing Co. has won Silver medals for both its entrants in this year’s Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) - Murray’s Nirvana Pale Ale and Murray’s Sassy Blonde.

With results announced in Melbourne last Thursday, the AIBA is Australia’s most prestigious beer event and the second largest awards of its type in the world. The awards were established in 1987 to reward excellence in the field of brewing and to assist in the promotion of the Australian brewing industry. A renowned barometer of diversity in beer brewing across the world, the 2007 event attracted 941 beers from a record 189 exhibitors across 39 countries.

Murray's Nirvana Pale Ale won Silver in the American Style Pale Ale class and Murray's Sassy Blonde, a Belgian-style Pale Ale believed to be the only beer of its kind brewed in the southern hemisphere, took out a Silver medal in the Other category of Packaged Ales.

The AIBA accolades follow two medal wins at the inaugural Sydney Royal Beer Competition, announced in February this year, which saw Murray's Nirvana Pale Ale receive a Silver medal (the highest award issued), and Murray’s Sassy Blonde a Bronze medal.

"The Silver medals are a great result for our little brewery, given the standard of competition this year. We’re especially thrilled to have our Sassy Blonde recognised at this level among its international peers. We’ve come a long way in just 18 months," says Assistant Brewer, Shawn Sherlock.

You can get a feel for the brewery from this you tube item.

You can buy the beer at the pub or by order. Details can be found on the Murray's site. This also includes a beer blog.

New England Beer - Grafton

Photo: Grafton Brewery

Each Australian state has its own beer or beers. Grafton was the closest thing that New England had to a local beer.

The Grafton Brewing Company was founded as an unlisted public company to provide a New England beer. My grandfather was a small shareholder.

When I first started drinking beer I started with Grafton bitter. Grafton was an acquired taste. Even today I find most beers too sweet on the palate.

The company was never very profitable. It was hard to break in when so many of the pubs were owned by the Sydney breweries. Finally, Tooheys took Grafton over, hence the Tooheys on the sign in this photo.

Initially Tooheys maintained the brew. Then in the way of the world they did away with it in favour of their own brand and mix.

Sadly, it happened while I was away from New England. One day there was Grafton. Then when I came back next it had gone. I never had a chance to drink a final drop in farewell.

A Short Break

I am taking a short break from posting to allow me to catch up on some other things, to recharge my batteries.

New England Australia - Newcastle's decline

I think that many Newcastle people would be surprised by the heading of this post. But it's true.

Growing up, those in country NSW used to refer to NSW as Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong. Now NSW should be written nSw.

Growing up, Newcastle was NSW's second city, the biggest city in New England. It had a unique and distinct place. That place is going.

The use of language by the NSW Government and the Sydney media shows this clearly.

I was surprised during the last elections to find that the Sydney Morning Herald included the Lower Hunter in its central coast election maps. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. But then I found a series of NSW Government maps that simply showed Newcastle as part of Greater Sydney.

We can see this in the NSW State Plan where Newcastle is treated as one of Sydney's ring cities.

Newcastle people really need to watch this or the place will become just another Sydney suburb.

New England's Aborigines - the Birpai: web references

Photo: ABC Mid North Coast. Coorah Canugan Badu Exhibition Closing Ceremony. Kattang Dancer Joe Archibald on the hunt for some honey. In the background playing the didge is one of the exhibition's curators Birpai man Stephen Donovan.

In an earlier post on visitors to this site I mentioned the visitor who searched on the Birpai, the Aboriginal people occupying the Hastings and Manning River Valleys.

I also said how disappointed that visitor would have been by the results. So for his/her sake as well as my own, I thought that I would do a brief post pulling together some of the web references on the Birpai. I can then use this as a base to do a fuller post later.

First, as a general comment, while those in the Hastings Valley say Biprai, those in the Manning Valley often refer to the Biripi. They are the same people. As a second general comment, there are a lot of fragmentary glancing references that make a full search difficult.

AIATSIS has a 2003 list of references on the Birpai language and people, although I find the lay out complicated.

The Greater Taree City Council has a very useful heritage section on the Birpai. The Kendall site contains a short summary. There is a another very useful page on the Tobwabba site that deals with the Worimi and Biripi and sets a historical context. The Great lakes museum has a short page on early contact with Europeans. A related Great Lakes page can be found here.

The Timbertown site also has a useful page focused on the use of wood. The site page includes a list of references and also provides an introduction to the Dick photographic collection. Even though the photos were staged, this is by far the best collection of photos on traditional Aboriginal life in New England.

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has an interesting page that provides a snapshot of the position of the Birpai people in 1998.

Another interesting snapshot is provided by the minutes of the Purfleet community meeting. The NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs Two Ways report on the North Coast sets a general context on current Aboriginal conditions on the broader North Coast region.

Arts Mid North Coast has a useful page giving contact details for various Aboriginal organisations.

The booklet prepared after the construction of the Cowarra dam contains some limited information. The Dooragan National Park Management Plan (July 2004) has some material including the story of the three brothers. Another short National Parks reference can be found in the material on the Barrington tops.