The good stuff just rolls on, with 250mm of rain and most of the shire avoiding the fires, but all this somewhat tempered by some outrageous claims in relation to the fire event in the upper Bellinger. We have experienced two fire events, the first a lighting strike which finished up being the Anderson Creek fire, a large fire in the national park on the northern side of the upper Bellinger. This burnt over a large area of virgin rainforest, described these days as Gondwana country. Uncommon but not unprecedented for this type of country to burn, but it did not as claimed destroy 50 per cent of this forest. An outrageous claim. But what did occur following some heavy rain, an enormous amount of ash and exposed soil entering the river. The result is staggering and it's stressful to see our river in such a state. No dead fish to date, and still plenty of platypus at least down my way.

The second fire ignited under suspicious circumstances approx 15 km downstream, described as the Bishops Creek fire. This fire did burn over a fair area but due to some rain and humid conditions it was a slow fire over two or three weeks creeping over the lower section of the Black Scrub ridge. It crept down two ridges to threaten several dwellings in Bishops Creek. Local firies were on hand to prevent any property damage. Fortunately no big deal. But then this outrageous claim by a self-professed expert on such matters that the vast majority of all the 200 to 400 year old growth trees were destroyed in the Bishops Creek area, mainly virgin national park. A scandalous misrepresentation of the truth, circulated by the media over much of the world. Someone should be held to account.

Darcey Browning, Thora

The Upper Bellinger Valley is home to some of the grandest and most ecologically significant old growth forests on our continent: an incredible mosaic of rainforests and eucalypt dominated forests drained by pristine streams. The lower reaches of the New England National Park Gondwana World Heritage property and adjoining private properties at Upper Darkwood have the warmest, most humid, richest and most productive ecosystems in the valley and protect the tallest known tree in NSW, an 80m tall Tallowwood tree.

The old growth Eucalypt forests in and adjoining the lower parts of New England National Park are really tall; most of this forest exceeds 40m in height and many parts substantially exceed 50m. These forests are full of large tree hollows that provide habitat to an array of native hollow-dependent fauna including many threatened species. The area is a stronghold for threatened species critically dependent upon large and abundant hollows including the Yellow-bellied and Greater Glider, Powerful and Sooty Owl, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Stephens Banded Snake and Greater Broad-nosed bat, as well as many other more 'common' species such as the White-throated Treecreeper and Boobook Owl. For the last 13 years I have taken close note of the remarkable inhabitants of these forests and cherish my experiences of them.

Most of the large forest fauna known from the area can only survive by using natural hollows, produced over centuries of growth. For many of these species there is no evidence anywhere that they will utilise artificial hollows or nest boxes. The only way to ensure the survival of these species is to retain standing the trees with the hollows that they need for shelter, breeding and feeding.

Recently fire has come to these forests, particularly along the Black Scrub Ridge and in the southern and south-western parts of the Bishops Creek catchment. As a consequence of a near-complete absence of rainfall over several months and the resulting record soil moisture deficits across the Upper Bellinger Valley, combined with hot, dry and windy weather, these old growth Eucalypt forests and some adjoining old growth subtropical and warm temperate rainforests have burnt.

'Normally' these forests are too wet to burn and the massive trees in them are too damp for fire to enter. In these forests in the last two months there has been major loss of centuries old hollow-bearing Eucalypts; across this landscape thousands of massive trees that are in the order of 200-400 years old have burnt out at the base and collapsed. In some parts that I have observed most closely across the last 13 years there has been near-complete collapse and loss of these amazing old growth trees. This comes atop the millions of old growth trees lost to fire across the forests of the Great Dividing Range since September 2019. Our globally significant wildlife, much of it hollow-dependent, has undoubtedly suffered the loss of individuals and populations and potentially even entire species. Time will tell.

Thankfully substantial areas of old growth forest in the Upper Bellinger Valley remain unburnt; most of our valley is a green and unburnt refuge for mobile wildlife that has coming from far and wide. We now need to manage our whole region as a moist green refuge for our globally significant biodiversity. In this context any proposals to industrially log the Kalang Headwaters are totally unacceptable and purely diabolical.

Mark Graham, Bishops Creek

Re 'Three lost from our community' (Courier-Sun online, Jan 22). Too sad that such positive young Bellingen people are no more! A loss for us all.

Dawn Lewis, Bellingen

Christmas Island Detention Centre has been used to house refugees in prison like conditions for many years. At the moment it is empty except for one family of four. They are Sri Lankan refugees , a mother, father and two small children .

The family was happily settled in a Queensland town of Biloela but were transported in a dawn raid in 2018 to a Melbourne Detention Centre and following this in August of 2019 they were sent to Christmas Island.

The detention centre on Christmas island had been closed but was re-opened recently at a cost of $26 million to the Australian taxpayer. At the moment there are 109 staff members at the centre including nine medical workers and two officers of the Australian Border Force. All these salaried staff members are funded by our government and so indirectly by ourselves to oversee the detention of this one family of four .

It is not safe for this family to return to Sri Lanka . As Tamils they would be likely to face torture, abductions or worse. It is clearly in the best interests of the family to return to their home in Queensland. The family were self supporting in their community with the father in work in a job that was necessary to their struggling rural town. They are the kind of people our country needs. They present no threat to our security.

The cruel and callous treatment of this family once again demonstrates the lack of humanity and empathy at the heart of our governments asylum policy.

It is time for some compassion in our treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

We need to see a change in this shameful government policy .

Bring this family home and save millions of dollars now being spent on their detention.

Marlene Griffin, Valla Beach