SCHOOL SPORT AND HSC SUPPORT AS STUDENTS RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM
- The final stage of the return to school began this week with more than 500,000 students from Years 2 to 11 welcomed back to classrooms across Greater Sydney and remaining regional areas of NSW.
- To help students return to normal life and support their studies, restrictions on school sport will be lifted and HSC special consideration extended for students most impacted by the learning from home period.
- From Monday, November 1, school sport can resume on site, schools can utilise external sport facilities in line with community sport guidelines, and schools can engage in inter-school sport outside of school hours.
- Schools are also now able to make applications on behalf of HSC students who have experienced severe disruption during the learning from home period through the NSW Education Standards Authority’s (NESA) new COVID-19 Special Consideration Program for HSC written exams.
- The program is open to students whose learning was significantly compromised for six weeks or more due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- More information on the COVID-19 Special Consideration Program can be found here: educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/covid-advice.
NEW TOURISM CAMPAIGN FOR NSW INVITES VISITORS TO FEEL NEW
- The NSW Government has unveiled a new tourism campaign to entice visitors to the State and re-energise them to feel new.
- Developed by Destination NSW in consultation with the state’s visitor economy stakeholders, the ‘Feel New’ campaign showcases the abundant natural wonders and vibrant cultural experiences on offer across Sydney and NSW.
- The ‘Feel New’ campaign is a key pillar of the NSW Government’s Visitor Economy Strategy 2030, which aims to make NSW the premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific.
- To view the Destination NSW ‘Feel New’ campaign click here and for more information and travel inspiration go to visitnsw.com to make you #FeelNew.
WATERSHED MOMENT FOR A BETTER BAAKA AND BIDGEE
- Significant progress has been made for communities across the Murray Darling Basin, with a new proposal presented to communities on two of the most significant projects associated with the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
- The re-scoped Menindee Lakes and Yanco Creek Offtake projects, two of the major projects within the Basin Plan, are key to getting the Murray Darling Basin Plan back on track delivering important benefits for cultural, productive and environmental users.
- The proposed initiatives include:
- Morton Boolka Enhancement, which will investigate options to upgrade the Cawndilla Creek weir and pipeline to maintain a reliable flow of water into the Cawndilla Creek.
- The Menindee Weir modifications proposal, which would improve fish passage connectivity along the lower Darling-Baaka
- A series of initiatives, including new fish passageways and screens that will open up more than 1,000km of the Murrumbidgee for fish migration and breeding, as well as measures to address cold water pollution and improve water quality
- Weir upgrades and renewals along the Darling-Baaka, including at Pooncarie, Bourke and Collarenebri to improve town water supply and deliver better environmental outcomes
- Consultation on the Better Bidgee and Better Baaka programs starts this week, with the first of a series of information and feedback sessions to be held in early November.
- For further details and to have your say, visit Better Baaka www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/better-baaka and Better Bidgee www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/better-bidgee.
$25M KICKS OFF COMMUNITY SPORT RECOVERY
- The sport and recreation sector has scored a $25-million funding boost as part of the COVID 19 Economic Recovery Strategy, to support the return of community sport as restrictions ease.
- The NSW Government’s Sport and Recreation Recovery and Community Rebuild Package will provide financial support, assistance and participation opportunities, particularly in areas hardest hit by the COVID lockdown.
- The Sport and Recreation Recovery and Community Rebuild Package includes:
- Up to $12.5 million for grants of up to $1,000 to eligible clubs and associations
- Up to $7.8 million to support sporting organisations and peak bodies;
- $3.1 million to support participation initiatives focused on areas most affected by restrictions, including south-western Sydney and regional NSW;
- Up to $1 million for grants to support marketing and promotional activities for outdoor and active recreation providers; and
- $600,000 to support regional talent pathways in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
- For more details, see: www.sport.nsw.gov.au/recoverypackage.
‘FIRST LAP’ SWIM PROGRAM EXTENDED TO KINDY KIDS
- The NSW Government’s new learn to swim voucher program will be expanded from preschool-aged children to include kindergarten kids who missed out on lessons due to COVID restrictions.
- Under the ‘First Lap’ program, eligible children can access a $100 voucher for swimming lessons with an approved provider, with businesses able to register for it from next month.
- Premier Dominic Perrottet said the program, which starts on December 1, would be extended to cover children in kindergarten this year, or who are starting kindergarten in 2022.
- Active Kids vouchers can be used by school-enrolled children, including those in kindergarten, for sport and recreation activities such as swimming lessons. Families can apply for the First Lap vouchers from 1 December, through Service NSW.
METRO CONSTRUCTION ON TRACK WITH NEW MILESTONE
- Track laying on the first rail crossing under Sydney Harbour is complete, marking a major milestone on the Metro City & Southwest project.
- The excavation of the Barangaroo caverns, which will house the metro platforms, took almost two years to complete. About 650,000 tonnes of crushed rock – enough to fill 100 Olympic swimming pools – was removed.
- Station builder BESIX Watpac will now fit out the station, creating 300 jobs at the peak of construction. Across the Sydney Metro City & Southwest, more than 5,000 people are currently working on the project; about 50,000 will have worked on the project by the time it is complete.
- Metro trains will start running through the harbour tunnels in 2024, extending the North West Metro into the city and beyond to Bankstown.
- New stations are being delivered at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo, along with new underground platforms at Central Station.
NEW RFS AD CAMPAIGN URGES THE COMMUNITY TO GET BUSH FIRE READY
- A new state-wide campaign by the NSW Rural Fire Service has kicked off, urging the community to prepare for the bush fire season, and to live bush fire ready.
- The ‘Live Bush Fire Ready’ public awareness campaign captures the stories and emotive images of people at the height of the 2019-20 bushfire season, and importantly, how they are planning and preparing for this bushfire season.
- It takes just five minutes to check your bush fire survival plan. Visit www.myfireplan.com.au to learn more about preparing your plan. You can also watch the new TV ad online at https://youtu.be/x8EJj6QNUgE.
REFORMS TO DELIVER JOBS AND HOMES
- The community is encouraged to have its say on detailed reforms to build a simple, clear and consistent infrastructure contributions system to unlock up to $12 billion in productivity gains for NSW.
- The reforms are the result of extensive consultation with experts, councils and industry, and respond to the NSW Productivity Commission’s review into infrastructure contributions.
- The proposed reforms include:
- Giving councils more control over what type of local contributions plan they choose to apply to new developments;
- Creating a separate and consistent Regional Infrastructure Contribution collected by the State Government to be applied in Greater Sydney, the Illawarra Shoalhaven, Lower Hunter and the Central Coast;
- Requiring owners who benefit from their land being rezoned for development to contribute towards the provision of land for local infrastructure when their land is either sold or developed;
- Greater transparency to make it easier for communities to access and understand Planning Agreements; and
- Incentives for councils to fund infrastructure upfront, allowing them to borrow and pool their funds.
- To read the Infrastructure Contributions Reform package and to have your say until Friday 10 December, visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au/contributions-reform.
BIG BOOST TO NATIONAL PARKS IN WESTERN NSW
- The NSW Government is massively expanding the NSW national park estate with the purchase of two properties, Avenel/Mt Westwood station near Broken Hill and Koonaburra station near Ivanhoe, which will add a combined 166,924 hectares.
- Both properties are significant in size, with the 121,390 hectare Avenel/Mt Westwood Station the second largest purchase by NPWS in the state’s history.
- Avenel/Mt Westwood Station, a remote and ecologically diverse landscape on the South Australian border, features spectacular dune fields of the Strzelecki desert transitioning to the rocky plateau of the Barrier Range, with a network of river red gum and coolabah fringed rivers, creeks and watercourses. The property also supports habitat for an estimated 30 threatened plant and animal species including the Australian bustard and the dusky hopping mouse.
- Koonaburra station, will add a further 45,534 hectares including an extensive area of sandplain and dune field country featuring a vast network of water depressions (“melon holes”) providing important water sources for many species. It also supports habitat for at least 20 threatened animal species including the Major Mitchell cockatoo, Mallee fowl and the fat-tailed dunnart.