Input Invited on Coastal Zone Management Plan
Central Coast Council has revised its Coastal Zone Management Plan for the northern coastal areas and is seeking community feedback on the proposed changes.Council has worked with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage to review the Wyong Coastal Zone Management Plan (WCZMP 2017) in response to changes to NSW legislation and improved information about coastal hazards.The plan will be on public exhibition until 13 June 2017, said the official announcement.Council Group Leader, Mr Mike Dowling, said that the draft plan aims to address risks from coastal hazards and outlines actions to improve the environmental and community benefits for the Coast.“A plan for the former Gosford City Council area has now been sent to the Minister for the Environment for final endorsement but while this Plan is similar in design and intent, we must and want to seek community feedback on the changes,” he said.“Without a proper plan in place to cover our coastal areas, we cannot apply for State Government funding to help manage coastal hazards and other issues effectively.”After 2011, it was apparent that for some areas of the former Wyong Shire coastline the potential risk from coastal and landslip processes was not clearly defined. Council undertook a review of the hazards information to better define the coastal and geotechnical risks to the entire coast in the former Wyong Shire.The revised hazards mapping is documented in the draft WCZMP 2017 to go on exhibition.To assist the community to review the draft WCZMP 2017 and to discuss their concerns and ideas, two community drop-in sessions (26 May and 5 June) will be held during the public exhibition period.
West VisayasState University Medical Center (WVSU-MC) has been designated as dedicatednon-COVID facility for service patients. In relatedstory, WVMC is now ready to accept specimens for COVID-19 testing. The Department of Health has designated Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City as the health facility dedicated to coronavirus disease cases. IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN WVMC willallocate 450 beds for confirmed COVID-19 cases, said Dr. Jane Juanico, DOH-6focal person on COVID-19. Aside fromconfirmed cases, WVMC will also accommodate persons under investigation (PUI)with severe signs and symptoms, PUI with mild signs and symptoms, elderly (withor without co-morbidities), non-elderly (with uncontrolled co-morbidities), andsevere acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients from Region 6. Protocols foradmission have been agreed, too, to efficiently manage the medical personneland resources of Iloilo City, said Juanico. WVSU-MC, amongothers, will allocate a total of 212 beds for non-COVID-19 cases from WVMC. ILOILO City –Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district has beendesignated as dedicated facility for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Region 6. WVMC shallfirst transfer the first 200 non-COVID-19 cases to WVSU-MC to accommodate theall confirmed COVID-19 cases and those PUI and SARI cases that they shouldcater. * allocate anadditional 10 percent (as part of their corporate social responsibility or CSR)of their authorized bed capacities for charity or service ward patients, inaddition to the 10 percent required by law; For its part,DOH-6 shall compensate the cost incurred by the hospitals for the 10 percent oftheir CSR; and form a committee to monitor and control the use of equipment andmedical supplies coming from private hospitals, institutions and privateindividuals that could augment the equipment and supply needs of the governmenthospitals especially the WVMC, Sanitarium and WVSU-MC, among others. But it mayalso be designated as a COVID hospital in case of an overflow of COVID-19 casesat the WVMC, said Juanico. * accommodatenon-COVID-19 patients referred by WVMC which cannot be admitted by WVSU-MC The WesternVisayas Sanitarium in Santa Barbara, Iloilo has been identified as dedicatedfacility for all PUIs (with mild signs and symptoms) and non-elderly withcontrolled co-morbidities. It willgradually free-up its patient bed capacities to reach the 450-bed capacity forCOVID-19 cases. “Before ginapadala naton sa Manila orCebu, subong diri na sya available,”said DOH regional director Dr. Marlyn Convocar. * ifclassified a Level 2 Tertiary Hospital, shall accommodate excess non-COVID-19patients if the Level 3 Tertiary Hospitals’ 20 percent authorized bedcapacities have been saturated A memorandumof agreement (MOA) for this was inked by the Department of Health (DOH) Region6, government and private hospitals here. Meanwhile,private hospitals (such as Saint Paul’s Hospital Iloilo, Iloilo MissionHospital, Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital, Qualimed, Amosup Seamen’s Hospital, TheMedical City, Medicus Medical Center, and Metro Iloilo Hospital and MedicalCenter), subject to their respective policies on service case studies, agreedon the following: She also saidWestern Visayas “is assured of 5,000 COVID-19 test kits from the DOH centraloffice./PN * ifclassified a Level 3 Tertiary Hospital, shall be the first to absorb thepatients of WVSU-MC coming from WVMC; and
Edmonton went 4-for-6 on the power play on Thursday. Their zone entry was clean, and they were able to show off strong passing and vision to get the puck on net and find players in the right place at the right time.Launching absolute laser beams on the PP. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/3kz6ceGiFD— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 15, 2019At the other end of the ice, the penalty kill came up big. While Smith did have a strong performance in net, he had to stop just one shot shorthanded, given the defense was able to keep the puck out of the zone against Colorado, who didn’t get much of an opportunity.Behind Tampa Bay, the Oilers have the best power play in the league, operating at a 31.8 percent success rate, while the penalty kill is ranked fifth at 87.3 percent. Here are five things to know about the win, which saw the Oilers again defy the odds and prove they have what it takes to be a contender following the season’s 20-game mark.MORE: Connor McDavid records second hat trick of the weekAnother night, another Connor McDavid hat trickThursday marked another game where McDavid was at his best. After netting a hat trick in Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Edmonton captain was able to record three power-play goals against the Avs in the first 40 minutes of regulation for his sixth career hat trick.Tip of the cap(s) for this one. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/77YBSGzKvK— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 15, 2019He also added three more assists en route to a six-point night, a single-game career-high total for McDavid. As per NHL PR, also became the first player to record at least six points in a game since 2012, when Sam Gagner recorded four goals and eight points in a Feb. 2, 2012 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.McDavid now has 14 goals and 37 points through 21 games to start 2019-20, putting him third in the NHL goal-scoring race and second in points behind Draisaitl.Leon Draisaitl continues NHL dominance”The Deutschland Dangler” had yet another standout performance on Thursday, adding five assists en route to McDavid’s hat trick and the eventual victory. A force on the power play, Draisaitl was able to make smart plays and get crafty with the puck, assisting on two of McDavid’s tallies, two Nugent-Hopkins’ goals and one Zack Kassian strike.Draisaitl’s five points bring him to a total of 41 points on the season, keeping him ahead in the NHL scoring lead — for now. Not only that, but he was able to extend his point streak total to 11 games, with seven of those being multi-point performances.With 15 goals and 26 assists so far, he’s on pace for 160 points this season, which would be the highest point total since Mario Lemieux racked up 161 points in 1995-96. Draisaitl has a total of 140 goals and 353 points through 372 career games with the Oilers.MORE: What makes Draisaitl, McDavid such a dynamic duo?Nuge is HugeRyan Nugent-Hopkins may have had a slow start to the season, but that’s far from the case now.The 26-year-old scored two goals on Thursday, showing off his fast, accurate shot en route to the team’s dominant victory. RNH now has points in nine of his last 10 and more recently, three of his last four, those all being two-point performances that bring him to four goals and six points over that span. He’s also been one of the team’s biggest catalysts and secondary-scorers behind just McDavid and Draisaitl, something Edmonton has needed — and still needs this season. 6️⃣th point for Connor McDavid (@cmcdavid97).5️⃣th point for Leon Draisaitl.2️⃣nd goal for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (@RNH_93).We’re not even done yet, too… pic.twitter.com/ZzvWLP9WKy— NHL (@NHL) November 15, 2019At the other end of the ice, the penalty kill came up huge. While Smith did have a strong performance in net, he had to stop just one shot shorthanded, given the defense was able to keep the puck out of the zone against Colorado, who didn’t get much of an opportunity.In 21 games this year, Nugent-Hopkins has five goals and 15 points and is on pace for his second-consecutive 50-plus point season after he put up 69 points in 2018-19.Mike Smith continues to show stability, growth in netWith all the scoring and offense staling the spotlight, Mike Smith’s performance may have gotten lost in the mix, but it by no means went unnoticed.The 37-year-old netminder was a force to be reckoned with between the posts on Thursday, stopping 31 of 33 shots against en route to the Oilers’ win. Smith was able to also come up big at different times with strong saves to shut down the Avalanche, who saw only Andre Burakovsky find the back of the net in the loss.Smith is now 6-5-1 through 12 games with a 2.53 GAA and .915 save percentage, both of which rank in the top-20 among goalies.Special teams getting the job doneWhether up a man or shorthanded, the Oilers have been superb in both scenarios. The Edmonton Oilers just can’t stop scoring — or winning.As Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to conquer NHL leaderboards, other players are starting to find their game and things are starting to click, all while the team continues to build on its Pacific Division lead. With a dominant 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton advanced to 7-2-1 at home and 13-6-2 overall on the season, and with 28 points now, they hold a four-point division lead.
Source = Barry Mayo – TravelManagers Australia Barry MayoTravelManagers welcome Travel Counsellors support for Consumer Protection AwarenessLast week Travel Counsellors entered into the debate around consumer protection, highlighting the need for the industry to ensure consumers are fully informed about how their funds are protected, as the negative consumer awareness surrounding the ongoing travel agency collapses continues to grow.A move that has been highly welcomed by TravelManagers’ Chairman Barry Mayo.“TravelManagers has long been a lone voice speaking for many similar minded travel agents around the concerns of inadequate consumer protection provided for consumers, following the disbandment of the Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) almost two years ago. We congratulate Travel Counsellors speaking out by identifying the need for the industry to ensure consumers are ‘fully’ informed about consumer protection and for challenging other travel agents to match the ‘full’ protection under its “Your Money’s Safe” claim.”Mayo has long been an advocate of encouraging robust discussion and debate as a way for state governments to recognise the shortcomings of their decision to deregulate travel agencies.“TravelManagers congratulate Travel Counsellors’ contribution and see this as a further opportunity for the travel industry to constructively debate the many resulting issues of the government’s deregulation of travel agents and other travel intermediaries. We see this as a positive result for consumers.”In Travel Counsellors article, David Hughes Managing Director of Travel Counsellors Australia has stated he “believes that all travel companies and agents should offer full financial protection to their customers and not expect the government to cover the slack.“Mayo has a slightly different view.“TravelManagers has never advocated the government provide funds to cover consumer protection. Travel Counsellors takes the stance that the industry should not expect government to cover consumers against industry failures. However, this has never been the case, the government provided legislation in 1986 for an industry funded organization to operate a consumer protection scheme on behalf of all travel intermediaries and not only protect consumers against losses but the integrity of the all travel agents and other Australian-based travel intermediaries as a whole.”Mayo has and continues to be critical of state governments abandoning licensing and the TCF without ensuring an appropriate and affordable replacement for consumer protection was in place.“Where the approximately $23 million of residual funds in the TCF are concerned, TravelManagers has questioned the state governments’ position that these funds contributed by travel agents and other travel intermediaries will be distributed in line with the TCF Trust Deed amongst themselves when there is no satisfactory consumer protection in place.”Mayo is also quick to point out that the TCF was not perfect.“Its cost impact on the industry may not have always been fairly distributed but what the TCF did offer consumers was protection against travel intermediary insolvency that was consistent and universal. The TCF delivered consumer protection where consumers had not received prepaid products and services booked through a travel agent and other Australian-based travel intermediaries.”Mayo strongly believes that where consumer protection is concerned, there needs to be total transparency.“TravelManagers is of the distinct view that all travel agency guarantees that consumers are protected against insolvency are fully communicated and explained in detail. Information as to exactly what cover is provided, the circumstances in which it applies, how it’s funded and how it would be administered in the event of the demise of that agent or, particularly where coverage extends to suppliers, how in the event of the collapse of an extraordinary large supplier this will be funded. This is absolutely vital in retaining client credibility. There should be a benchmark for the industry as a whole, which I believe, would greatly assist with the transparency consumers are looking for.”Mayo reiterates the fact that in protecting consumers from travel agent failure to provide prepaid and contracted services the TCF also protected the travel agent community’s integrity ensuring consumer confidence in dealing with the many professional and well-administered travel agents was maintained.“The continued negative consumer media reports are damaging to us all as a collective industry. Urgent change is needed and will only occur with continued discussion around the issues and collective lobbying of government. We welcome Travel Counsellors in taking up this debate and encourage more travel companies to also voice their concerns. Together with a consistent voice, we can make the change consumers are looking for – to have peace of mind around their funds when booking their holiday through a travel agency.”About TravelManagersTravelManagers operates in all Australian States and is a wholly owned subsidiary of House of Travel, Australasia’s largest independent travel company which has a forecast turnover of $1.5 billion for 2015. TravelManagers is a sister company to Hoot Holidays, also owned by House of Travel, and has more than 490 personal travel managers throughout Australia with a dedicated support team at the company’s national partnership office in Sydney. TravelManagers places all customer money in a dedicated and audited Client Trust Account which is separate from the general business accounts, ensuring client funds are only used for client purchases.