Premier indicates Hunter not likely to come out of lockdown as 14 cases of COVID are recorded

BY JARROD MELMETH

The NSW Premier has indicated that the Hunters lockdown will likely be extended as the region records 14 new COVID-19 cases.

Gladys Berejiklian stopped short of announcing it but, says it doesn't look like the Hunter will come out of lockdown.

The seven day stay at home order expires tomorrow and it doesn't look like the Hunter will know whether it will be extended or not.

Of the 14 cases recorded locally 11 are linked to existing cases while three remain under investigation by health authorities as they scramble to find the source.

Seven cases were in Newcastle, six in Lake Macquarie and one in Maitland.

A number new exposure sites across the Hunter have been added overnight by NSW Health including Queens Wharf Hotel, Honeysuckle Social, Central Charlestown Leagues Club, the 269 bus route from Booragul to Warners Bay, IGA New Lambton, Woolworths Marketown, Coles Waratah and Guardian Chemist Warners Bay.

For the full list of dates and times for any of the venues of concern, head to the NSW Health website.

State wide, NSW recorded 344 cases, of which at least 105 were infectious within the community.

Funding To Support Communities Impacted By Black Summer Bushfires

BY LAURA RUMBEL 

Like many other communities across New South Wales, Dungog and the Hunter felt the impact of the Black Summer bushfires. 

With almost $5 million available through Stage Two of the Bushfire Recovery fund, Dungog, Cessnock, Singleton and Upper Hunter Council areas will all receive funding to support bushfire recovery across their impacted communities. 

$900,000 dollars of the funding will contribute towards the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Recovery and Resilience program. 

The tourism project aims to improve destination perception, increase consumer demand, raise sales value, and boost domestic tourism across the Hunter. 

Nationals' Candidate for the Hunter James Thomson says he is happy see some funding allocate locally.

"There is a diversity of projects but it's all about supporting the Cessnock community and making sure that our communities get back up on their feet after the bushfires," Mr Thomson said

Member for Upper Hunter David Layzell said, it's fantastic to see these vital community projects receive this funding as people continue to rebuild their lives following the black summer bushfires that destroyed homes in our region and damaged many more.

Source: Newcastle Weekly 

Muswellbrook Mayor confirmed as Upper Hunter candidate

BY JARROD MELMETH

Labor has announced Muswellbrook Mayor, Martin Rush will run as the Country Labor candidate for the Upper Hunter in the March 2019 State Election.

State Opposition Leader, Luke Foley made the announcement during a visit to the region this morning - describing the new candidate as having conviction and commitment to the local community.

In the Upper Hunter seat in the last election, Country Labor recorded one of the largest swings against the National Party of 20.8%.

Martin Rush said he believes that margin has narrowed even further since 2015.

"We had over $650 million dollars of commitment from all sides during the last campaign," he said, "because as the margin narrowed (and that became obvious to both major parties that the seat was up for grabs) there was some interest in the seat - and that was really refreshing."

Mr Rush believes this renewed interest will make for a hotly contested seat but promises it will be a fair campaign.

"From my perspective, we just want to get out and tell a positive story," he said, "we want it to be a solution-based campaign.

"So you won't see our side engaging in any confrontational or negative politics with the other side - that's just not us."

Mayor of Muswellbrook, Martin Rush. 

Man Pinned to ground by Tree Branch at Dungog

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A man is recovering in the John Hunter Hospital after being pinned to the ground by a 200kg tree branch.

The 54-year-old was reportedly chopping the branch at an Alison property, south east of Dungog yesterday afternoon when it fell on him, pinning him to the ground.

The Hunter's Westpac Rescue Helicopter responded to the incident at about 2:50pm.

He was treated for a serious pelvic injury and possible internal injuries and was flown to hospital.

He remains in a serious but stable condition.

Image Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

Newcastle remains king in housing approvals

BY JARROD MELMETH

The Housing Industry Association says the Hunter is still riding the housing approval wave with 4,476 dwellings approved in the region over the past year.

According to the latest HIA Scorecard report, Newcastle leads the Hunter in the number of approvals with 1,419 followed by Lake Macquarie with 1,149 and Maitland 907.

Meanwhile, Singleton experienced the largest increase in new dwelling approvals up 173 percent followed by Dungog up 79 percent and Gloucester 58 percent.

HIA Hunter Executive Director Craig Jennion says he expects the Hunter to continue to ride the wave well into 2018.

"The really good news is that we are starting to see some of the middle ring councils in the Hunter - by that I mean Singleton, Dungog and Gloucester - in that particular order they have had the largest increase in the last 12 months, off very low base.

"That is starting to show that confidence in what is a mining area, which has been on a downward spiral for a number of years is starting to pick up.

"We are continuing to build on the peak that we have seen for the past few years. It is a bit unexpected for the Hunter, we did start to expect to come off the boil a little bit, but at the moment our numbers are - both in detached dwellings and in unit approvals - elevated over recent highs in the past five or six years," Mr Jennion said.

HIA Hunter Executive Director Craig Jennion.

Atrium apartments under construction in Hamilton.
 Image: Jarrod Melmeth

Hang Glider Pilot Crashes At Dudley

BY IAN CROUCH

A hang glider pilot has been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after crashing into the base of a cliff at Dudley.

The Hunter's Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called in to winch the 47-year-old off rocks at about 4.30 on Sunday afternoon.

He suffered multiple leg fractures in the crash and is now in a stable condition in the John Hunter Hospital.

Meanwhile, the rescue chopper was called out to a property near Gloucester on Sunday night where a 45-year-old man had suffered serious injuries when his tractor rolled on him.

Earlier, a 56-year-old man was winched out of dense bush in the Barrington Tops National Park after crashing his motorbike.

He was flown to the John Hunter with serious leg injuries.

And, two men aged 21 and 27 were flown to the John Hunter with multiple injuries after their car rolled down a 20 metre embankment near Dungog on Saturday night.

Rural Fire Service Banning All Permits Ahead of Catastrophic Fire Season

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter arm of the Rural Fire Service (FRS) is urging everyone to have a fire plan ready to go with hot and dry conditions ahead likely to make fires burn with more intensity and speed.

Due to the current and predicted weather conditions, the RFS are also suspending all fire permits from the 1st October in a bid to stop the potential for fires, even burnt safely, from getting out of hand.

Inspector Martin Siemsen says the season has started early this year with elevated fire conditions the past week and there's expected to be dry, hot and unfavourable conditions this weekend as well.

He says they're ensuring they take every precaution they can to limit the number of calls out to fires.

"So this weekend we've got an indicator that we could well and truly be into elevated fire dangers so we're talking about very high to potentially into the severe category."

The fire permits will be suspended for areas in the Lower Hunter including Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog and Maitland.

"We need to watch out for people in the general community and people need to be aware of what the fire danger ratings mean, they need to be aware of what that means for them in relation to whether they live in a bushfire prone area or near a bushfire prone area and they need to make decisions," said Inspector Seimsen.

A Total Fire Ban could be on the cards this weekend.

"As of the 1st October to the 31st March we have a Bush Fire Danger Period that's implemented in the state of NSW... that will start 1st October but due to the continued dry conditions and the elevated temperatures that we're seeing and weather conditions in general so we decided to suspended the issue of permits," said Inspector Seimsen.

Information about Total Fire Ban declarations is published at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au .Locals can also call the Lower Hunter Fire Control Centre on 4015 0000 or the Bushfire Information Line on 1800 NSW RFS (1800 679 737).

A mixed bag for the Hunter economy

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The latest economic snapshot for the region has been released by the Hunter Research Foundation Centre.

It's a mixed bag, with the June quarter bringing subdued income growth and consumption, improved business confidence despite a decline in household confidence and a fall in the unemployment rate.

Lead Economist DR Anthea Bill says the state of the region's unemployment and employment rates are quite positive.

"The Hunter economy added 4,500 jobs and that was a growth of 1.4 per cent so that's in line with the state and a lot of those new jobs that were added to the economy were full-time jobs and growth was strongest in males and over the quarter male part-time employment actually contracted."

It's good news for first home buyers, but not so good for home owners - there's been a 2 per cent decline in Lake Macquarie and a 5 per cent drop largely in Dungog, Port Stephens and Singleton.

"The median house price across the Hunter declined in the June quarters of 2.4 per cent decline so that's the first time we've had a negative quarterly growth in median house price since September 2015 and that's led to a slowing of the annual growth rate to 6 per cent," said DR Anthea Bill.

However, while there are a few positives, DR Anthea Bill says apprenticeships for young people have been on a steady downward trend since 2012 with a 24 per cent decline.

"I understand there was some removal of employer incentives around that time period and there have also been overall shifts in employment away from manufacturing which has been a very strong provider of apprenticeships and traineeships in the region. I heard commentary also around the wage rate for apprentices and trainees."

Fire destroys property near Dungog

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Fire has destroyed a garage on a property at Martins Creek just south of Dungog overnight.

Both RFS and NSW Fire and Rescue crews were called to Cory Street just after 8pm to find a 6 by 9 metre double garage engulfed in flames.

Newcastle Fire Command says it appears the garage was being used for storage and the cause of the fire is not known at this stage.

Dungog merger a no go yet again

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Dungog councillors have voted against a rescission motion overnight to overturn the decision to reject a merger with Port Stephens Council two weeks ago.

A packed gallery jeered as Dungog councillors voted 4-3 against the motion.

In rejecting the motion, councillors also said goodbye to a $15 million rescue package from the state government.

Upper Hunter MP, Michael Johnsen confirmed the cash injection at the meeting and has told the Herald he was gob-smacked by the decision and is now calling for the Local Government minister to step in and sack the council.

'Bout time for Bucketts

BY RACHEL STORER

The Bucketts Way, the major thoroughfare from Newcastle to Gloucester, is set to receive $8 million in funding as part of the government's Fixing Country Roads program.

NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey made the announcement last night, and also earmarked $5.5 million for the replacement of the Clarence Town Bridge in Dungog, allowing for heavy freight to use the crossing.

The notorious Bucketts Way is riddled with blackspots and has been labelled as "deplorable" by Port Stephens Mayor, Bruce MacKenzie.

The money will be split between the Mid-Coast and Port Stephens councils for the road upgrades and work is expected to be completed by 2019.

Section of The Bucketts Way near Stroud. Image: ozroads.com.au

Swan Bay's dangerous roads

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington is backing residents frustration with the lack of attention from local council to fix unsafe roads in the area.

There are a number of unsealed roads throughout Port Stephens and particularly in Swan Bay, where Swan Bay Road is a major concern.

Residents are calling on Mayor Bruce Mackenzie to focus on fixing the backlog of roads in his council area, rather than championing a merger with Dungog promising $40 million to fix their backlog of damaged roads and bridges if a merger goes ahead.

Kate Washington has raised community concerns about unsealed roads in the past in Dunns Creek and Karuah, and has been told the roads weren't even on Council's 10 year forward work plans.

Swan bay residents have started a petition calling on council to do something about Swan Bay Road because it is particularly dangerous.

"I met with residents yesterday and they talked to me about the number of accidents they've seen and the people that they've picked out of the ditches and cars that have flipped on the side of the road, particularly on Swan Bay Road and the condition of the road is appalling," Kate Washington said.

Roads which remain unsealed in Port Stephens include:
- Swan Bay Rd, Swan Bay
- Dunns Creek Rd, Duns Creek
- Holdom Rd, Karuah
- Wighton St, Seaham
- Six Mile Creek Rd, Eagleton
- Clarence St, Wallalong

Two storey structure fire at Vacy

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

Firefighters from the Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW
are tackling a blaze at a two storey structure at Vacy, near Dungog.

There are reports more than 40 firefighters and 12 trucks are at the building on Summerhill Road.

Firies are fighting the fire from a distance because there are fears the building could collapse.

RFS are reporting the attached garage is storing firearm ammunition.

All the occupants have been accounted for.

Total Fire Ban Across the Hunter Region

BY MARISSA ALEXIOU

A Total Fire Ban has been put in place across the Greater Hunter Region today as a result of hot and windy conditions.

Areas affected include Cessnock, Dungog, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Singleton and the Upper Hunter.

The severe fire conditions prohibit open fires being lit and the suspension of fire permits across the Hunter. Gas and electric barbeques may be used as long as they meet necessary requirements.

NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepard said that breach of the Total Fire Ban conditions will be taken very seriously.

Lighting an open fire today will result in on the spot fines of up to $2200. The fine for tossing a lit cigarette will also double.

Residents are encouraged to be prepared if a fire occurs and follow their Bush Fire Survival Plan. Inspector Ben Shepard said it is important that residents stay updated on fires and the conditions in their local area. 

Residents can use smart-phone apps such as Fires Near Me to stay updated as well as local radio and television stations. 

The community are advised to call Triple 000 if they see fire. Total Fire Ban rules and a map of current Total Fire Ban areas can be found at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au. 

Source: http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/

Newcastle Doctor on Probation after Injecting Consenting Patients with Cannabis OIl

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

Newcastle doctor Andrew Katelaris has had another stoush with the Health Care Complaints Commission, after he injected two ovarian cancer patients with black market cannabis oil.

The patients had consented to the experimental treatment.

Andrew Katelaris [Image: Getty Images]

The HCCC have prohibited Dr Katelaris from injecting, supplying and administering cannabis for medicinal use.

The decision was made after the HCCC found the injections “resulted in serious adverse reactions and their [the patients] prolonged hospitalisation”.

“[Dr Katelaris] devised a hasty, ill-conceived and unsafe clinical trial of injected cannabis oil as a treatment for malignant ascites,” the HCCC said in a statement.

Dr Katelaris has been a long-time advocate for the use of medicinal cannabis, and was deregistered more than a decade ago for supplying cannabis to patients.

He was also charged with growing more than 50-thousand cannabis plants near Dungog.

He said the use of cannabis oil was the best treatment for the patients.

“They [the two patients] were both suffering severe peritoneal carcinomatosis, with bowel obstructions – so it can’t really get much worse than that,” he said.

“It was a desperate situation, which called for desperate action.”

He also said the treatment was a partial success.

“One of the ladies – the one that we documented – actually had a 50 percent reduction in her cancer markers,” he said.

“They [the HCCC] … ignored that in their, sort of, rushed approach to prosecute the nasty, maverick Dr Katelaris, rather than actually looking at what may have been achieved during these brief trials.”

The Turnbull Government have begun plans to introduce medicinal cannabis for patients who need it, but Dr Katelaris said it’s all talk.

“There’s been a lot of rhetoric both from Turnbull and Baird, and others about how much they’re doing to facilitate medical cannabis,” he said.

“But at this stage, not single child or adult in this state, or country, has received legal medical cannabis so it’s simply up to the activists to fill that yawning hole.”

Despite the new restrictions put him, Dr Katelaris is going to keep promoting medical cannabis’ benefits.

“The HCCC does what the HCCC does, and that’s retard progress,” he said.

“We see this as another small step in a very, very long march to have rational health therapy available for the population.

“The move to have medical cannabis widely accepted and applied across a range of serious and currently intractable diseases is unstoppable overseas.

“All that the establishment can do in this country is slow it down.”

Port Stephens residents voice anger at merger meeting

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Port Stephens residents voiced their anger and frustration at the first meeting of the inquiry into the proposed merger between Port Stephens Council and Dungog Shire Council yesterday.

Fifty residents attended the meeting in Nelson Bay, expressing their anger at the Baird government’s forced amalgamations alongside Port Stephens MP Kate Washington.

Washington says residents feel the NSW government have failed their community.

“The community’s voice has been completely ignored, they all voiced opposition to it, we’ve been refused a plebiscite, no one is taking any notice of what our community’s wishes are. For a government, they are meant to work with communities, support communities, instead we are seeing a government imposing decisions on our community”.

On 12th May Premier Mike Baird and Local Government Minister Toole announced that 46 councils would be merged into 19 new councils.

The proposed mergers set to impact Newcastle, Port Stephens, Dungog and Maitland Councils, have been put on hold due to the ongoing inquiry into the proposed merger between Port Stephens Council and Dungog Shire Council.

The merger has received overwhelming community opposition with 803 submissions lodged prior to the latest Delegate report, 747 of which opposed the merger. Despite this, the Delegate’s report recommends proceeding with the merger.

Washington said, “We want to stand alone, we’ve earned the right to stand alone and we operate successfully in that manner. The government has failed to prove that there are any efficiencies moving or merging in any direction, but we’re being entirely ignored”.

Disaster Relief Funding now Available for the Hunter

The Federal Government has agreed to provide disaster relief funding to affected regions of the Hunter.

Dungog bore the brunt of the storm

Local Government areas including Maitland, Port Stephens and Dungog have all been listed as natural disaster zones.

NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant made the announcement this morning, while also promising concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and not-for-profit organisations.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald has confirmed that “disaster funding starts to commence straight away.”

“LGA’s will get assistance with clean-up restoring some of that damage to public assets.”

MacDonald emphasised that some areas are in particular need of assistance since they “have been hit twice in one month.”

Image courtesy of Graham Chevalley, RFS via ABC News (LINK).