WAG TIME AGAIN….FOR THE 6TH YEAR!

The Wooli Artists Gathering (WAG) is again holding the Wild About Wooli ArtShow, which was initiated in 2011. WAG, formed in November 2010, comprises people connected with Wooli who are artists, or have an interest in art.

The beauty and unique location of Wooli and its surrounding area have attracted many artists and stimulated others to develop their artistic talents. However this growing collection of artists remained largely invisible.   Prompted by the Protect Wooli campaign, it was thought important to draw positive attention to the value of Wooli, by collecting and widely promoting its artist community. Those who attend meetings and express interest in the Gathering’s aims are members. There are no requirements except for involvement or interest in art.

The 2016 Wild About Wooli ArtShow will present works of regional artists, including paintings, works on paper, sculptures and fabric art which fit the theme: Inspired by the Coast.

Ian Rees has once again generously provided the venue for the show at the Wooli Hotel Motel.

It opens with a cocktail party on Friday 25th March 2016 at 6.30pm and continues on Saturday 26th  and  Sunday 27th  March. The Show will be opened by Clarence Valley Councillor Sue Hughes, and entries will once again be judged by Jude McBean, Director of the Grafton Regional Gallery.

All the details you’ll need for the show are here in the Invitation to Artists and in the Public Invitation.

Last year ‘s exhibition was another resounding success and many sales were made.

To see your work on display, here are your Application 2016 and Registration 2016 forms. For queries please contact  Kathleen Hull on 0407 454322 or at  kathleenhull69@gmail.com.

Artist or not, come along, enjoy a drink and a nibble and admire the works of our talented coastal community. One may even end up on your wall! As in previous years, a donation from proceeds will be made to CCPA-Wooli, the community-based group working with government to develop protection strategies for Wooli beach.

Join us for a fun and inspirational evening.

Many of us at Wooli and other NSW coastal towns have shared the very unpleasant experience inflicted by hazard lines when we have tried to sell or modify our beach front properties.

Sellers have been told by prospective buyers, agents and banks that councils’ advice (documents and verbally) has turned them against the purchase or dramatically reduced their offer price. Similarly, councils heavily restrict what modifications owners can make to their beach front properties.

Hazard Lines are the common factor underlying these nasty surprises.  It therefore seems reasonable to expect that the data, tools and methods councils use to calculate these important lines will produce accurate results for different locations (Wooli versus Wollongong) and over different time timelines (10 years versus 100 years)

However, two publications by Angus Gordon, Chair of the NSW Coastal Panel and widely respected coastal engineer, raise serious doubts about hazard lines. Firstly, he explains fundamental concerns about the way councils calculate and use hazard lines. Secondly, and even more importantly, he questions the simplistic and out-of-date concept of hazard lines and suggests modern probability-based tools be used instead (as they are for other disaster scenarios such as landslides).

The title of the first of these articles, “The contradictions of hazard lines; are they a risky business?” clearly suggests that hazard lines are not a reliable method for making major decisions. Here is a summary of some of the important problems in how they are calculated and used.

Angus Gordon’s second paper, “Coastal Hazard Lines – Last Century’s Thinking” explains why hazard lines are well past their use-by date and suggests modern tools to replace them. Here are some of the key points.

The key question for the NSW government and Minister Stokes is whether they will continue to duck this issue and leave it up to councils. It’s obviously a major concern for the NSW coastline and the new Coastal Management Manual recently announced by Minister Stokes is the obvious place for him to correct the important problems identified above. Coastal residents will be watching carefully when the completed manual is produced in February 2016.