Revealed: Are we following the rules in Coffs/Clarence?

With positive cases being detected in the Northern Rivers, we reveal just how many people are breaking the rules in our area.

As the NSW Government moves to increase fines for those not following Covid-19 health orders, the Daily Examiner can reveal how many people in the Coffs/Clarence have been caught flouting the rules.

And in a change to the stories of bad behaviour, only four people have been fined by the Coffs/Clarence Local Area command from last Tuesday, as the Northern Rivers lockdown began.

This contrasts with behaviour in the north of the region, where police revealed they had issued 50 infringements over the past week.

As of 12.01am on Friday, August 13, officers in the Richmond Police District issued 15 fines, while officers in the Tweed Byron Police District issued 11 infringement notices.

The vigilance follows the charging of two men for breaching public health orders in the Byron Bay area over recent weeks.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said Operation Boundary Response, which spans from the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney to the Queensland border, has seen police interact with the drivers of 710 vehicles in the previous 24 hours.

Images of the continuing COVID-19 compliance operation on key arterial and back roads across regional NSW. In the past 24 hours, 79 PINs were issued by Traffic and Highway Patrol Command as part of the operation. Source: NSW Police

“Of the vehicles detected travelling against PHO and turned around, there were 23 with 39 individual PINs issued for face covering offences,” she said.

“There were 10 PINs issued for individual breach of public health orders, making a total of 49 PINs issued.”

Police previously issued an infringement notice and turned around a woman who has found on the XPT bus service in Grafton.

In response to the escalating spread of the Covid-19 virus throughout Sydney, and into the regional areas, the Premier announced harsher penalties for those breaking the orders.

While premier Gladys Berejiklian said the vast majority of people are doing the right thing but there are a handful of people who are wilfully breaking the rules and putting the rest of the community at risk.

“The increased fines and heightened police presence are about ensuring people who are doing the wrong thing are caught and punished appropriately,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Under the changes, there will be increased fines for Public Health Order breaches, a permit system to enter regional NSW and tightened rules for people in LGAs of concern to help reduce the spread of the Delta variant.

Further restrictions include a new permit system for regional NSW including rules about real estate inspections across the state.

These are:

Any person who wishes to travel to regional NSW for one of the following reasons must have a permit which will be made available on Service NSW.

• a. authorised workers from LGAs of concern;
• b. Inspecting real estate. Any person inspecting real estate in the regions must now genuinely need a home to live in (no investment properties); and
• c. Travelling to your second home. This is now only allowed if you are using the home for work accommodation or if the home requires urgent maintenance and repairs (if so, only one person may travel there).

Earlier in the week, Lismore MP Janelle Saffin said she felt that people in the area would feel safer if a “ring-of-steel” was place around Sydney, while Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis believed harsher penalties were a better deterrent.