Community Noticeboard – Page 11 – Paluma

Reminder: Working Bee at Paluma this Saturday 4th March

A timely reminder that there will be a Working Bee this coming Saturday 4th March to continue with repair and upgrading works on the Rainforest Walking Track (opposite the Community Hall).

Please meet at the Community Hall at 2 pm and bring your wheel barrow and shovel. Wilfred says there is a couple of hours of work to do and there will be refreshments afterwards!

The monthly Working Bee is now a regular event on the first Saturday of every month. So please mark your calendars as there are always plenty of jobs to carry out around the village. Many hands make light work…!

St. Patrick’s Day Community Social

Put the date in your diary…..On Saturday night the 18th March, Paluma will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a Social at the Community Hall commencing at 6.30 pm.

St. Patrick’s Day actually falls on Friday 17th March, but we will hold off on celebrating until Saturday evening.

Please bring a plate of food to share – Irish inspired if you wish – the more tatties the better as far as I am concerned!

The Bar will be open for low cost beverages.

And don’t forget to embrace the theme and wear emerald GREEN.

See you there!

An Important Message from Mt Spec SES – Cyclone Season Preparation

CYCLONE SEASON PREPARATION – Paluma/Hidden Valley (2022/2023)

Memories of the 2019 February inundation and the subsequent isolation of Paluma and communities to the west will be with us for years. These memories should prompt all of us living in the area to consider carefully how we prepare for this wet season.

The best way to start this years’ preparation is to visit the Queensland Government website www.getready.qld.gov.au. The site addresses preparation for a range of disasters that could affect Queensland. Cyclone, storm damage & fires are the most relevant to our area. It also lists a number of disaster related apps. Another useful website is http://disaster.townsville.qld.gov.au

Cyclones & extreme rainfall events

The getready website suggests being prepared for 3 days of self-sufficiency. This may be adequate for the lowlands, but could easily prove inadequate for Paluma to Hidden Valley communities. If a high category cyclone crosses the coast anywhere near Townsville, Paluma to Hidden Valley problems are likely to be well down government priority lists, if they are not life threatening.

Plan for the worst – what if?

All access roads to the area closed for seven (?) plus days
Prolonged loss of the electricity grid supply.
Eventual loss of landline, mobile phone & internet communication due to loss of power to Telstra sites.
Damage to Townsville Water infrastructure resulting in unreliable water supply.
Structural damage to your private residences forcing evacuation to temporary accommodation.
For those living west of Paluma & not dependant on town water & the electricity grid – consider consequences of damage to satellite dishes & solar panel arrays. Ensure water tanks contain enough water to resist cyclone strength winds.

If you work through the three steps of the Have a Plan section of the get ready website you should be covered for most things. But there are local considerations.

THE FOLLOWING CHECKLIST COVERS SOME OF THE THINGS TO CONSIDER.

Clearing around you residence to remove anything with the potential of becoming an airborne projectile.

Insurance – Check currency & adequacy.

Basic supplies

Enough food for the whole household including pets. If you have no generator backup for your refrigerator then stick mainly to non-perishable food (dried or tinned).
Adequate supplies of prescription medication plus cold & flu tablets, pain killers etc.
Toiletries.
Adequate clothing for everyone for the duration.
Extra bed linen & towels.
Sturdy gloves.
Wet weather gear.
Allow 3 litres of bottled water per person per day. Alternatively a small rainwater tank with water purification tablets from chemist/camping stores. Without power electrical appliances will not be able to boil water for safety.
Important documents & a backup hard drive.
Up to date first aid kit.
Adequate fuel for vehicles & generators plus gas for backup cooking equipment. Those on solar off grid systems should consider how much fuel they may need if the solar array is damaged.
Spare batteries for torches/radios.
Sturdy waterproof containers for food, clothes, medication, phones etc.

Communications

The Telstra site in Paluma has backup batteries & a generator but when the fuel runs out Telstra will be unable to refuel, if access roads to Paluma are closed. So the phones & internet may continue to work for some time after a power failure & then shut down. Suggest it wise to make any important phone calls or emails as soon as possible after the event. West of Paluma landline phones may also eventually fail due to loss of power or damage to Telstra facilities.
For landline phones a non 240v dependant phone is best.
Have an alternate way of charging mobile phones & tablets without mains power.
Will your mobile phone work at the Star Valley or McClelland’s’ lookouts.
Battery radio.

Equipment

Generator –tested/serviced.
Backup gas cooking equipment (BBQ) if you only have an electric stove.
Alternative lighting.
Fire extinguishers are always cheap insurance.

Rental properties. If you have any form of rental property in the area, consider the need to advise potential tenants of the risk of isolation after extreme weather events.

If you are not going to be in the Paluma area.

Ensure anyone occupying your house is aware of the above suggestions.
Clean out your fridge & freezer
Consider supplying a neighbour with a key & your contact details so they can access your property to check for damage & report to you.

Evacuating your house due structural damage. Extra things that should be considered for an evacuation kit include bedding (sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses & pillows), reading material & games, cash.

Fallen Power Lines. Assume live & maintain an exclusion zone of 8 meters. Report to Ergon Energy – Ph 131670. Warn others.

Mt Spec SES

Notice of PDCA Annual General Meeting

Members (and prospective members) are advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Paluma & District Community Association Inc. will be held on:

Saturday, April 1, 2023, at 12pm for a BBQ lunch followed by the AGM at 1:15pm in the Community Hall

Nominations are open for all Executive Committee positions. Nominations should be forwarded to any member of the Executive Committee or by email to PalumaPDCA@gmail.com. Please use the nomination forms, which can be downloaded here.

Positions are:

President,
1 or 2 Vice-Presidents
Secretary
Treasurer
General Committee members (numbers flexible)

Members are reminded that Annual Subscriptions are now due and should be paid prior to the commencement of the AGM. Membership is $45.00 Please use the subscription form here to submit your dues. New members are more than welcome and should use the same form.

Please note that you must be a PDCA member to nominate someone to the Committee or vote for any Committee member.

The AGM will be followed immediately by a normal General Meeting with the new Committee.

AGM AGENDA

Opening – circulation of attendance sheet
Apologies
Minutes of previous AGM April 24th, 2021
President’s Report
Treasurer’s report
Election of Officers for 2021-2022
Election of Auditor for 2021-2022
Close of Annual General Meeting

Normal General Meeting Agenda

Open General Meeting
Proposed Events/Fund-raising for the coming year
Any other business
Close of General Meeting

Recycling in Paluma

When Townsville City Council decided years ago to introduce a recycling system, outlying suburbs such as Paluma and Alligator Creek were not included as it was considered that community support in these areas was not sufficient to warrant their trucks to travel that far.

The Paluma Environmental Education Centre, therefore, decided to set up and incorporate a recycling system into their environmental education curriculum, organizing a recycling station at the Catholic Education Centre (Gumbaroo) with yellow-lidded bins provided by the Townsville City Council. A council truck would travel to Paluma to empty these eight bins, with the cost for this service being charged to PEEC. Over the years the charge for this service has risen annually and last stood at $400, making it very expensive with council indicating another increase on the way. This also caused occasions where all the bins were full and recyclables were left on the ground.

Part-time resident, Wilfred Karnoll volunteered in mid 2022 to transport any full bins to and empty them at the council-operated recycling depot at the Stuart dump free of charge on his way home to his other residence at Alligator Creek. As the bins are the large 300 liter type they have to be emptied manually at the site and the recycled material has to be placed into the standard 200liter yellow lid bins and paper/cardboard containers. The Paluma bins are regularly monitored to ensure there is always space available, all bins full to overflowing should therefore be a thing of the past. He’s asking all residents to read and adhere to the list of Do’s and Don’t’s outlined below to make his job as easy as possible.

DO’S and DON’T’S for PALUMA RECYCLING

All recyclables are to be placed into bins loose, not bagged or in cartons.
Fill bins completely in order from left to right, that way we don’t end up with 8 bins half full.
Do not overfill bins, lids have to sit flat to keep rain out, any moisture in the bins causes soggy paper/cardboard, as well as mould, smell and rust.
All food containers must be rinsed out and drained of any liquid.
All lids must be removed from all bottles and plastic containers and discarded, as they are considered a contaminant.
Place glass bottles into the bins gently, if dropped from height they may break any glass containers already in the bins.
Paper should be a minimum size of A5, (half the size of a standard A4) and should be flat, not scrunched up. No small arts and crafts remnants, please.
All cartons must be flattened by undoing the glued flaps at top and bottom or by removing the sticky tape, don’t try to flatten them by crushing them, as it doesn’t work and only creates a bulky mess.
Any items smaller than a credit card or fist should not be recycled as they have very little recycling value but create a lot of extra work.

Happy recycling!

Reminder: Chinese New Year Social, Saturday 21 January

A reminder to Paluma residents that the first PDCA Social of 2023 will take place this coming Saturday at the Community Hall. Chinese New Year celebrations will kick off at 6.30 pm. Come along to mark the lunar new year and to catch up with your neighbours after what has been a soggy start to January.

The Bar will be open and please bring a dish to share. Red is the lucky colour to wear for Chinese New Year.

Rumour has it that quite a few people are celebrating birthdays at this time of year. Colwyn had a birthday last week, Don has a birthday this week (on Sunday) and Mark and Leonie both celebrate their birthdays next week (on Wednesday). There are no secrets in Paluma….. A little bird told me that there will be cake….!

Keeping with the multi-cultural theme, for those of us of Scottish ancestry it is an important time of the year in celebrating Rabbie Burns Night on 25th January. Without any bias, Rabbie Burns was the greatest poet that ever lived. I mention this just in case some people want to wear tartan in honour of Rabbie Burns birthday.

Whatever you wish to celebrate, come along and join in. It costs nothing to relax and enjoy the company of good friends. And the weather forecast is for sunshine on Saturday! Bring it on.

Chinese New Year Social, Saturday 21 January

The first PDCA Social for 2023 will be held at the Paluma Community Hall on Saturday night, 21 January at 6.30 pm when we celebrate Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year actually falls on Sunday 22 January, but we will celebrate early the night before. 2023 is the ‘Year of the Water Rabbit’, symbolising longevity, peace and prosperity.

Wearing red is considered lucky at this time, so please raid your cupboards for your most resplendent red attire.

Please bring a dish to share – you can embrace the Chinese theme of the night if you wish. The Bar will be open for drinks as usual.

In case you were wondering just what are the personality traits of someone born in the year of the ‘Water Rabbit’, Google says……

They are very precise and like to do everything thoroughly. They also have a wonderful memory. The Water Rabbit tends to be quiet, calm, and sometimes keeps aloof. Water Rabbits have good ideas and are very respected and successful in many aspects of their lives by all their family, friends and colleagues.

Working Bee a Great Success!

Yesterday’s working bee to refurbish the steps at the far end of the “Rainforest Walk” attracted a great turnout. There was a total of 10 people, 3 wheelbarrows, a generator and a cement mixer all working solidly for a couple of hours to fill in the new step frames and drainage channels that Wilfred and Colin had previously set up. The final result looked very impressive. Even the existing wooden bridges and platforms along the track got a major cleanup. We finished the effort back at the Community Centre congratulating ourselves with some well-earned drinks.

It was agreed that we should aim for a regular working bee on the first Saturday of every month to carry out various maintenance and improvement projects around the city. Look out for announcements on Paluma.org

Djindal Bayanyu EcoRetreat opens tomorrow (December 28)

It’s not every day that a new commercial enterprise opens in Paluma, especially one that offers accommodation and meals in a beautiful rainforest setting. Mark and Leonie Crennan have been working tirelessly over the last year to refurbish the old Paluma Dreaming (and Heaven’s Kitchen) café at 1 Loop Road.

The new name, Djindal Bayanyu, was the result of many hours of research and consultation by Leonie, who wanted to acknowledge the original inhabitants of Paluma. The name means Singing Waterfalls in Nywaigi, which is the language group of the traditional owners who thrived for centuries in the abundant rainforest and pristine creeks of our spectacular mountain range.

Djindal Bayanyu will be open from 10:30am to 3pm Thursday – Sunday (and Wednesday this week) for excellent coffee, tea and sweet and savoury treats. Accommodation is also available with ensuite bathroom and kitchenette, or you can access shared facilities.

In addition to the refurbished interiors of the rooms and café, the garden has received a range of new plantings of native and ornamental trees and shrubs and artful landscaping. Their gardening efforts were recently recognised with an award in this year’s Paluma Garden Competition.

Ring or text 0490397650 to book accommodation or check cafe opening times.

Email: 7Djindal@gmail.com.

TMR Update