Media Releases

Creating Space for Recovery

Recovery in Communities – Creative Healing Enabling Transformation is a series of activities and events that provide communities across the Moree Plains Shire with the opportunity to connect, recover and build capacity and resilience to contend with future events.

 Moree Plains Shire Council and Jule Jarner joined forces to launch the program Creating Space for Recovery and we are excited to announce we are extending the program.

Creating Space for Recovery is a friendly, creative and collaborative space between 4pm - 7pm on Wednesday afternoons in the Jule Jarner Studio, 167 Balo Street, (behind Social Co House), entry is free.

The space is welcome to all who want to participate in a creative activity. Some may alternatively bring their own personal project or come for a social break.

We are conscious that people have different needs and learning styles, which is why the class will include one casual art activity for attendees to participate in at their leisure.

The art activity will be designed to range from 30 - 90 minutes to ensure people are engaged and can extend or shorten their process depending on their own personal needs and time schedules.

 Image - Scan the QR code to book a spot 

Public Exhibition of NON– DESIGNATED DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION DA2025/11

Development Application - Site Plans - Expansion of an existing rural suppl~ard - 23 BUCKNELL STREET MUNGINDI 2406 - LOT 8 SEC 6 DP 758729 - PAN-514879

Statement of Environmental Effects - Expansion of an existing rural supplie~ard - 23 BUCKNELL STREET MUNGINDI 2406 - LOT 8 SEC 6 DP 758729 - PAN-514879

Moree Plains Shire Council is currently considering an application from B & W Rural Unit Trust, for the Expansion of an existing rural supplies storage yard, at 23 Bucknell Street MUNGINDI, LOT: 8 SEC: 6 DP: 758729, LOT: 9 SEC: 6 DP: 758729, LOT: 7 SEC: 6 DP: 758729.

The development application and accompanying documents may be inspected on the NSW Planning Portal  for a period of 14 days from the date of this notice. Any person may make a written submission in respect to the proposed development clearly stating their name and address and should the submission be an objection, the grounds must be specified. 

Submissions must be made in writing to the General Manager and can be lodged electronically, by mail or fax before 5pm, Monday 28 April 2025.

Please note that submissions may be disclosed to Councillors, council officers, consultants to Council, or members of the public in accordance with Section 18(1)(b) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. Submissions, summaries of submissions, and names and addresses of persons making submissions may also be included in publicly available reports relating to the development application. Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, Council must also allow inspection of any submissions it receives and allow persons to make copies.

However, if you consider that disclosure of your place of living would put your or your family’s personal safety at risk, you can apply to Council under Section 739 of the Local Government Act 1993 which requires that requests for protection of privacy be made in writing to the General Manager. The request is to give particulars of the relevant risk to the person and is to be verified by a statutory declaration by the person making the request or by some other person.

It is a requirement that all Political Donations and Gifts are reported to Council by completing a Disclosure Statement form.

Chemical Spraying at Boughton Oval

Our Open Spaces team will be spraying the two ovals at Boughton Oval, Friday 11 April for mosquitos.

Chemical to be used: Out of Bounds

Ongoing Response to Recent Rainfall Events In the Shire

The recent heavy rainfall events have brought significant challenges to our Shire and communities, and we want to assure residents that we are working to manage the situation.

Many unsealed roads across the Shire are being assessed and are slowly opening up. We would like to encourage road users to exercise caution when using some of the newly opened unsealed roads and while emergency road repairs are being undertaken.

Several of the unsealed roads in the Moree Plains Shire remain closed to local traffic only under 4.5 tonnes. We urge residents to avoid using these roads to ensure safety and minimise damage. We appreciate the community’s cooperation in adhering to these restrictions.

We encourage the use of Live Traffic to receive the latest on the road closures. We have received feedback that users are unsure if a road closure is still current based on the date that the road closure initially occurred, we can assure that if the road is still showing a closure this is in fact still accurate.

NSW - https://www.livetraffic.com/
QLD - https://qldtraffic.qld.gov.au/

The Carnarvon Highway also remains closed, between Garah and Mungindi with round-the-clock monitoring in place to manage access and ensure public safety. Access Mungindi to Moree is via Boomi (Boonanger Road) or Boggabilla (then via Newell Highway).
(For families impacted by the closures, we are pleased that parents of boarding school students now have access to Queensland to safely collect their children.)

Essential services are continuing despite these challenges. Waste collection will continue to proceed as scheduled, and we are making every effort to maintain this critical service without disruption, we are aware that some collections in Moree have been missed and would like residents to keep them out for a late collection.

We acknowledge the profound impacts that flooding and road closures have on the daily lives of our residents. Please know that we are committed to providing regular updates and ongoing support as the recovery process unfolds.

For the latest information on flood warnings, please monitor the SES website www.ses.nsw.gov.au

Mosquito and Black Fly Control for Mungindi 

Moree Plains Shire Council and Balonne Shire Council have teamed up again to commence vector spraying for Mungindi residents on both sides of the border for mosquito and blackfly on 10 April 2025.

Further spraying will re-commence on Sunday 13 April and Wednesday 16 April 2025.

Misting occurs from the back of a vehicle at dawn or dusk, and residents are informed that the new machine is louder than the previous ones, so perhaps expect an early wake-up call.

How will fogging be carried out?
A fogging service contractor has been engaged. A fogging unit, mounted to a vehicle, will use insecticide that has an ultra-low-volume (ULV) spray. The spray dispenses a very fine aerosol droplet (fog) that stays aloft and kills flying insects on contact.

Product Used
The contractor will be using a specialised product called Aqua-K-Othrine.

Warning Notice to Beekeepers
Please contact Moree Plains Shire Council to inform them of your hives’ locations. The product used does have an effect on bees.

Warning Notice to all Fishpond Owners
Please cover your outdoor fishpond locations, as the product may affect fish.

Advice to Dog owners
Residents with dogs, please keep your dogs in the rear of your property (the vector is suitable for animals but the lights on the vehicle will make them bark and cause a nuisance to others).

Will we be spraying other parts of the Shire?
Besides Mungindi, the program will cover all towns that are experiencing minor to major river rises within the Balonne Shire.

Moree Plains Shire Council would like to thank Balonne Shire Council for their ongoing assistance with the fogging. While mosquito fogging can be an effective management tool in targeted applications, it is not suitable for broad scale or repeated use across the Shire.

Please contact the Balonne Shire Council Environmental Health team on (07) 4620 8888 if you have any questions or require further information.