Geraldton is a Biodiversity Hotspot

Biodiversity - Noun:The variety of plant and animal life in the world, or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable. Oxford English Dictionary

The Geraldton area is one of only 34 of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, and is of very high biodiversity value. However it is under significant threat.

The City of Greater Geraldton and the Shire of Chapman Valley are seeking community support to maintain this important and desirable habitat, through a survey to develop private landholder incentives to preserve Geraldton’s ranking as a biodiversity hotspot.

City Senior Environmental and Sustainability Officer, Robyn Nicholas, said the two local governments’ policies and strategies show a commitment to environmental values, and to halting and reversing the observed trends towards collapse of local ecosystems.

“The City has developed a Local Biodiversity Strategy, which can be found on the City’s website under town planning then public consultation on www.cgg.wa.gov.au, to address some of the issues and the values of which historically have been hard to quantify,” she said.

“However, more recently concepts including ecosystem services, triple bottom line, sustainability indicators, natural asset management and carbon price have helped to identify the value of such areas.

“The development of the strategy included substantial community and stakeholder engagement, and to achieve the vision, will need stronger action from government and must provide for stronger support for local community groups and private landowners.

“Indeed an action from the strategy is to develop and support an incentives program for private landholder conservation,” said Ms Nicholas.

“We would like private landholders’ thoughts on how to encourage the retention, protection and management of this vegetation on private land by encouraging them to complete a survey and be in the draw to win 50 local provenance seedlings valued at $165 each.”

To discover how this program could work the City is encouraging private landholders to complete a survey which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K8FWC2P and closes on Thursday July 24, 2014. You could get the chance to win two prizes of 50 local provenance seedlings valued at $150 each.

For more information contact Robyn Nicholas on 9956 6629 or robynn@cgg.wa.gov.au.

Batavia Motor Inne might finally get finished

The City of Greater Geraldton has issued a new building permit for construction to start once again on the Batavia Motor Inne site that has been left derelict for more than five years. The original building permit lapsed in December 2013 due to lack of progress on site and an intent to issue a demolition notice was issued by the City.

The owners have been working through the outstanding issues with their project team and this time utilised a private certifier/fire engineer over the past six months to come up with a compliant Certified Building application.

City CEO, Ken Diehm, said the building permit has been tied to the construction timetable.

“The building permit has been conditioned to ensure that construction is continuous and timely,” he said.

“Work stalled towards the beginning of last year and was to resume in February this year but it didn’t happen. Enough is enough.

“Council has had enough of derelict buildings in the City, and if the conditions of this permit are not adhered to, or work stops without a valid reason, the City still has the option to issue a demolition order,” said Mr Diehm.

He said he expects the proponent to apply for incentives as part of the CBD Revitalisation Program adopted by Council in May 2014 to drive desirable redevelopment in the CBD, which could see a periodic rates exemption.

“If the proponent seeks concessions under the CBD Revitalisation Strategy they would be the second company to do so, and would mean the incentives program could prove an effective tool to revitalise our City,” said Mr Diehm.

Work is expected to start in the next two weeks and the anticipated completion date of the 78 room accommodation and function centre is May/June 2015.

Herald Build Pty Ltd is the company undertaking the refurbishment and a nominated building supervisor will manage the project, with a local foreman based permanently on site.

Have Your Say: Bring back the cane?

Photo Credit: szeke via Compfight cc

In quite a bizarre move the head of the Abbot government's national curriculum review has supported the idea of reintroducing corporal punishment into schools.

Kevin Donnelly said on Tuesday that "corporal punishment was effective during his childhood and still has some merit" (Sydney Morning Herald). 

Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm has also supported the idea, saying "schools should be free to manage their own affairs," (9 News). 

This reasoning comes as more students are being suspended than ever before across Australia, with over 18000 NSW students were suspended in 2012 - 1300 more than in 2011 (Sydney Morning Herald).

The Greens are up in arms at this startling new proposal, calling for Mr Donnelly to be sacked from the curriculum review panel.

What are your thoughts on this controversial topic?

Do students need more discipline in schools? Are parents letting their children get away with too much?

Or is the idea of corporal punishment a ridiculous proposal in today's society?

Mumbida gives tourists a wind energy close up

With a quiet, sweeping whoosh, a new tourist attraction with some considerable drawing power has been added to Geraldton’s already diverse choice of things to see. Thanks to the generosity of Mumbida Wind Farm, visitors can now get up close and personal to a massive wind turbine blade, complete with interpretive signage and information for the statistics buffs, at the City of Greater Geraldton’s Renewable Energy Hub located on the crest of the escarpment on the Walkaway-Nangetty Road.

Mumbida Wind Farm representatives officially handed over their contributions to the visitor hub to the City of Greater Geraldton yesterday (Tuesday July 8).

Hugh Webster, General Manager of Mumbida Wind Farm, said he was pleased to be able to donate the blade and interpretive signage for visitors to enjoy.

City Mayor, Ian Carpenter, thanked Mumbida for their generosity in donating theblade and signage.

“Wind farms generally attract a lot of interest and it is wonderful to have this hub for visitors to get this close to a blade and realise their true size and discover more about how wind farms operate,” he said.

Mumbida Wind Farm is a 55 MW renewable energy project developed by joint venture partners Synergy and Infrastructure Capital Group. The wind farm, located 40km south east of Geraldton, consists of 22 turbines which stand 85 metres tall, dotted across the undulating landscape. The Water Corporation purchases 100 per cent of the renewable energy generated by Mumbida Wind Farm to offset the energy requirements of the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant.

Mumbida Wind Farm was officially opened on September 27, 2013 with a total project cost of $200 million. The blades are made of composite fibreglass, weigh 9.5 tonnes and are 48.7 metres in length.

All smiles for an upgraded tourist attraction with the handover of the City’s Renewable Energy Hub at Walkaway: Phil Melling, Director Sustainable Communities; Brian Robartson, Manager Economic, Tourism, Property Development; Ken Diehm, City CEO; Rebecca Tuesley, Coordinator Tourism and Geraldton Visitor Centre; Ian Carpenter, City Mayor; Mark Bennett, Natural Wind Service Manager, GE; Hugh Webster, General Manager, Mumbida Wind Farm; and Heidi Janetta, Project Administrator, Mumbida Wind Farm check out the new hub.

Pic Mumbida Wind Farm hub handover CC

HEAVENLY HIGH TEA

HEAVENLY HIGH TEA 16TH AUGUST 2014 CATHOLIC CENTRE TICKETS $ 30

AVAILABLE: From July 23rd Bishop’s House Maitland St If you have vintage crockery that we can borrow please let us know. We would also like donations of bottles of perfume you no longer want (open and partially used is OK)

Phone Jane Rowe 9938 3643

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JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY LIFE AND TIMES OF Mons. John Hawes 23rd August 2014 TICKETS $100 AVAILABLE AT THE BISHOPS HOUSE

BUS TRANSPORT, MORNING & AFTERNOON TEA, LUNCH Tour will depart from The Hermitage and visit Northampton, Mullewa and Kojarena.

Expert commentary will be provided by Fr Robert Cross, Archaeologist and Church Heritage Specialist

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CAR RAFFLE - $100 TICKET ONLY 1,000 TICKETS AVAILABLE

SELLING AT THE BISHOP’S HOUSE FROM 4TH AUGUST DRAWN 25TH OCTOBER TOYOTA RAV 4 AUTOMATIC GX WHITE AWD

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CHRISTMAS DINNER/DANCE DECEMBER 13 CATHOLIC CENTRE - GREAT ENTERTAINMENT

More details later. Perhaps this could be your Staff Christmas show?

Journey of Discovery

Journey of Discovery

Life and Architecture of Monsignor John Hawes

23RD AUGUST 2014 8:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

VISITING

• The Hermitage Geraldton
• Church & Convent Northampton
• Church and Priest’s House Mullewa
• Mass Rock Mullewa
• St James Church Kojarena

Expert Commentary by Fr Robert Cross Archaeologist & Church Heritage Specialist

Tickets $100 (Proceeds to St Francis Xavier Cathedral Precinct Project)

Available at Bishop’s House Maitland St 99 213221 Bus transport ∙ Morning tea ∙ Lunch ∙ Afternoon tea Included

Family Recognition

Would you like your family name to become a part of the history of St Francis Xavier cathedral?

On completion of the SFX Cathedral Precinct Project a Wall of Recognition will list the names of individuals, businesses and families that have contributed $10,000 or more to the Project. This will inform visitors to the Cathedral for the next 100 years and more of some of those people responsible for conserving this historic building.

It would be wonderful to have as many as possible of the names of the families and individuals that have made up the community of SFX Cathedral over the past 100 years represented.

Don’t let your family’s connection with this iconic Cathedral be forgotten!

Family members can contribute to the total individually and each receive a tax deductible receipt.

For more information contact the Campaign Coordinator Gerry Eastman 0417 912 997 info@sfxcathedralproject.com.au www.sfxcathedralproject.com.au

Business houses in the City

Do you realize how much more income garden tourists can bring into Geraldton, into your shop, Pub or business? Dr. Richard W. Benfield together with John and Linda Stanley of John Stanley and Associates, Australia gave a in depth view of the terrific cash income potential for our City that comes out of the pockets of visiting tourists. That is Garden Tourists.

They spoke to audiences at the African Reef Lodge that included the Geraldton Chamber of Commerce, City of Greater Geraldton representatives, Visitor centre people and tourism operators from local shires plus interested citizens. Later John Stanley spoke to a larger audience of the public at the Ocean Centre on marketing aspects of new technology.

Our unique wildflowers featured in Richards talk. He said it was difficult for him to find reference to our wildflower state on the net. He was speaking as a potential overseas tourist coming to look at our exceptional flora and fauna.

He gave an example of the power of flowers in regard to a small town in Texas USA that sowed the road verges with flower seeds and in the spring, while the floral bloom was on, over 300.000 people drove by to enjoy them.

His one and only book, titled ‘Garden Tourism’ tells a good story about a great subject, plants, gardens and why people visit them. It’s the first book to look into audiences, their behavior and economic impact. He gave an example of young people who may visit a theme park a few times in their life, but have a strong possibility of visiting gardens into the future. The huge data in this book gives managers tools to work with in the development of paying garden tourists.

John Stanley looks at Food Tourism and claims that the fasted growth in tourism is in the culinary sector. Covering farmers markets, taste tours, restaurants farm shops and more.

They worked with the people at the events to create ideas to draw up in the spirit of co-operation, how to tell the world about our wonderful flowers and sowed the seeds to build a botanic garden in City in the future.

Look up Richard on the net, Richard W Benfield. Central Connecticut University USA.

Shark washed up

Here's Jess Keily from GWN7's tweet.

4m Great White Shark washed ashore north of Geraldton. More on @GWN7News tonight 5.30! pic.twitter.com/akZeuH8TWf

— Jess Keily (@jesskeily) July 15, 2014

Mullewa Muster & Rodeo 2014 video

Mullewa Muster & Rodeo Promotional video from Cineport Pty Ltd on Vimeo.

Looks like the Mullewa Muster and Rodeo had another successful year. Check out this video from local film producers Cineport.

For more Muster info head to their website: www.mullewamuster.com

Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance sponsor this year's Mid West Economic and Resources Summit

ALLIANCE COMMITMENT TO MID WEST DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES

Continuing their longstanding support of the Mid West Economic and Resources Summit, the Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance (GIOA) have confirmed their partnership for the 2014 event, Blueprints for a Brighter Future.

The annual Summit is being hosted for the fifth time as an initiative of the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MWCCI). The region’s vital conference and cocktail function will provide industry professionals with progressive discussions and authoritative speakers addressing current issues on the economic outlook, and the industries, that drive the Mid West region.

Featuring high calibre speakers from the financial, resources and government sectors coupled with essential networking opportunities the event is expected to attract up to 300 delegates.

In addition to the guest speakers featured in each session, there will also be a number of highly informative panel discussions throughout the event, giving delegates the opportunity to observe a variety of viewpoints from industry experts.

MWCCI president Mr Trevor Lake says this event gives local business people exclusive opportunities to engage with, and take advantage of, future opportunities.

“This year’s Summit theme of Blueprints for a Brighter Future focusses on the principles of resilience, sustainability, diversification, conservation, innovation, competitiveness and development of sustainable communities”.

“We are delighted that the Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance have confirmed their ongoing partnership with our business community’s premier event.”

In addition to the GIOA, there are a number of organisations coming on board as sponsors of the Summit including the Mid West Development Commission, City of Greater Geraldton and the Department of Agriculture and Food with a limited number of sponsorship opportunities still available.

The sponsorship prospectus is available to download from the event website at www.mwers.com.au

Blueprints for a Brighter Future will be held on the 23rd September at the Queens Park Theatre, Geraldton.

$10,000 available to employers who hire certain mature aged workers

MORE SUPPORT FOR MATURE AGE JOB SEEKERS

The Government last Friday officially launched the Restart programme.

Restart provides a $10,000 incentive to employers to hire and retain mature age job seekers aged 50 and over who have been in receipt of income support for six months or more.

According to the government, the ageing population means increasing workforce participation is critical to our future prosperity, and the Government says that mature-aged workers have a valuable contribution to make to the workplace.

The Restart programme – worth $524.8 million over four years.

Other programmes currently running include:

• the revised Work for the Dole programme, which will be phased in across 18 higher- unemployment areas across Australia;
• Relocation Assistance to Take up a Job, to provide financial support to job seekers to move to areas where work is available; and
• Job Commitment Bonus, which will provide $6500 to young, long-term unemployed people if they get a job, and stay in continuous work and off welfare for two years.

For more information on Restart, contact a Job Services Australia provider on 13 17 15 or visit www.jobsearch.gov.au/provider or https://employment.gov.au/restart 

City staff get set to tread the boards for Foodbank

Think City of Greater Geraldton Council staff are boring pencil pushers with no personality?

Boy, are you in for a pleasant surprise on July 26 when City staff present a variety benefit concert to raise funds for Foodbank Geraldton, at 7pm at Queens Park Theatre.

Some amazing talent lurks amongst City staff who will entertain with music and comedy in the With a Little Help From Our Friends concert, so named to promote the idea of people helping others in need, and of course recognising help from well- known friends outside the City who will support the cast on stage.

Leading the friends will be Geraldton’s own very talented Mia Royce along with Aaron Willcox wielding some guitar magic.

City Mayor, Ian Carpenter said this voluntary initiative from City staff and friends shows great community spirit to raise funds for Foodbank. “Staff from across the organisation are volunteering their time, talent and effort, at no cost to the City, we are simply providing QPT as the venue. They are doing all the arranging and rehearsals in their own time,” he said.

“It will be an enjoyable night and City Councillors encourage the community to get into the spirit of the concert and support this great cause.”

City CEO, Ken Diehm, said it is wonderful to see the musical talents of City staff in a charity concert for Foodbank.

“All too often, we focus on our work, and it’s important to note that people have lives outside of work and people who are less fortunate require our support,” he said.

“It never ceases to amaze me the width and breadth of talent of our staff and I encourage everyone to come along and enjoy a fun evening of entertainment to help Foodbank. The generosity of City staff is to be congratulated – and it’s all for a good cause. Helping those in Geraldton who do not have the same opportunities as many of us do.”

The concert has received support from the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry - long supporters of Foodbank and local charities - with promotion to its members, and CBD Chamber members are separately holding a combined food and blankets donation day for Foodbank and the Salvation Army in the CBD on July 5.

With support from city centre traders, flyers for the With a Little Help From Our Friends City concert will be distributed to the public at that event.

In addition to concert box office proceeds being donated to Foodbank, food donation bins will be available in the QPT foyer on concert night. A feature of the night, to boost the fund raising effort, will be the auction of a beautiful Abrolhos pearl pendant, designed and crafted especially for the concert and generously donated by Chimere Pearls. Tickets for the concert are available from the Queens Park Theatre 9956 6662, the Civic Centre, 63 Cathedral Avenue, Geraldton, or online at www.queensparktheatre.com.au

The Spelt Project

 

Event: The Spelt Project magazine launch

Event Location: Bootenal Fantastic Tavern

Event Details: Amanda Rowland invites all to sample spelt bread and launch a real and e version of a magazine that documents life on a farm during the cropping season.

Thursday 17 July 5.30-7.30pm Who to contact for enquiries: Amanda 0459 991 627 Start Date and Time: 17 Jul 2014 05:30 PM Event Duration: 2 hours

Inside your computer: What is an SSD?

In  our last article http://everythinggeraldton.com.au/2014/06/25/how-healthy-is-your-hard-disk/  we discussed some of the downsides of  magnetic or mechanical hard disk drives and how to protect yourself from data loss. One of the recommendations was to replace your old hard with an SSD (Solid State Drive).

What ‘s wrong with  mechanical hard drives?

 Due to all the moving parts in a mechanical hard drive they are subject to progressive deterioration. This means that over time your computer can get slower, crash and potentially lose data.

What is an SSD?

SSD is an acronym for Solid State Drive. Unlike the mechanical Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) solid state drives have no moving parts, instead the data is stored on flash RAM microchips.

How do SSDs and HDDs compare?

• Power usage – SSDs consume less power than HDDs. This significantly extends laptop battery life
• Speed – The boot time of a Microsoft windows operating system running on a HDD is generally 30 – 60 second, SSDs can reduce this time to as little as 5 seconds. The average transfer speed of a HDD is 80MB/s in comparison to most SSDs that can reach speeds up to 500MB/s
• Noise – Due to the lack of moving parts SSDs emit no discernable sound. This makes them a great choice for home theatre systems and media centres
• Shock Resistance - SSDs are a good choice for mobile systems due to their resistance to drops, bumps and g-forces. Movement can have devastating effects on mechanical drives, especially while data is being written. SSDs can withstand up to 1,500 g during operation or 25 times that of a HDD
• Life Expectancy - HDDs have an average life expectancy of three to five years, that being said many fail long before this. Replacement of HDDs should be considered every 3-5 years, SSDs can last two to three times longer.

Find out more about SSDs here http://ocz.com/consumer/ssd-guide/ssd-vs-hdd

If you are looking to purchase a new computer, then ensuring it has an SSD is a great choice. SSDs also provide excellent “bang for your buck” if you are looking to upgrade your existing computer.

So, to conclude in the style of Daft Punk SSDs are "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"

By WATSON COMPUTERS

Learn to speak some Wajarri Wangga with 6 weeks of classes catering to all levels of learners

Wajarri Wangga

6-week language course for all levels

Learn to speak some Wajarri wangga with 6 weeks of classes catering to all levels of learners.

When: Saturday mornings 10:00-11:00 July 26 August 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30

Where: Bundiyarra Aboriginal Corp. Cnr Blencowe & Eastward Rds

Cost: Class $10; or Course $50 standard Course $35 concession Registration/

www.bundiyarra.org.au

Information: 9920 7900

Everyone welcome.

Yanayi gula wangga Wajarri irra!

Man caught after running from RBT

Monday night at approximately 9:44pm Police stopped a red Commodore for a random breath test on Abraham St, Karloo.

Whilst police were approaching the vehicle a male passenger opened a door on the vehicle and ran into nearby bushland.

Police searched the area, but ended up finding the man hiding in a house on Solomon Circle on another matter.

He was arrested and searched, and police say they found on him 10 aluminium foils containing approximately 6 grams of cannabis in his jeans pockets.

The 34 year old man from Ellenbrook will be charged with breach of bail, and possessing a prohibited drug.

Film - 'I am a girl'

 

Location: Bluff Point Anglican Church (239 Chapman Rd) Details: Women's Health Resource Centre and Chrysalis Support Service in conjunction with the Midwest Anti-trafficking group would like to present the showing of the film 'I am a girl'

Tickets are $10 and all proceeds go to supporting organisations, a light supper will be provided and a door prize up for grabs! Don't miss out on this poetic and observational feature length documentary where you will see remarkable, heart warming stories of resilience, bravery and humour.

Who to contact for enquiries: Chrysalis - 9938 0750 & Marie - 0438 986 194

Start Date and Time: 29 Jul 2014 05:15 PM

Duration: 2 hours

Opinion: Vehicle Rego Costs Increase

From an Everything Geraldton reader:

Just got my vehicle rego and it has gone up by almost one hundred dollars when the business rego has gone up a mere 15 dollars. Come on Mr Barnett fair go especially for the pensioner. R Pache

60 year old fisherman missing off Carnarvon

The AAP are reporting a search is underway for a 60 year old man who went missing on his way to a fishing trip at Islands off the coast of Carnarvon. A rescue plane and boats have been deployed to search for the man.

According to the reports, Police said it was believed the man left about midday on Monday to meet a friend off the Bernier and Dorre Islands, about 50km off the coast, but the man didn't arrive.