People can now try before they trek with new 360-degree virtual views of national parks near Port Macquarie thanks to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service mapping over 100 kilometres of trails for Google Street View.
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The area has some of Australia’s best unspoilt beaches, lakes and hinterland landscapes to explore on foot, by 4WD, mountain bike or kayak.
NPWS staff strapped on the 18-kilogram Google Street View Trekker backpack with 15 cameras to capture 360-degree views of stunning areas such as Crowdy Bay National Park, The Cells State Conservation Area and Perpendicular Point in Kattang Nature Reserve.
Now, from all corners of the globe, people can put themselves in the heart of our national parks.
NPWS was the first Australian organisation to partner with Google for the Trekker Loan Program and has captured imagery in over 44 national parks. For details go to nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/google-trekker.
New online tool to empower homeowners
A new online tool recently launched by the NSW government will help protect homeowners against uninsured and unlicensed building work.
The HBC Check enables homeowners to verify if any building or renovation work over $20,000 has a valid insurance certificate.
Last year the government overhauled the Home Building Compensation Scheme to improve protections for homeowners when a builder cannot complete residential building or fix defects, due to insolvency, death, disappearance or licence suspension.
With our current building boom it is critical all relevant stakeholders are empowered to protect themselves against dodgy builders.
HBC Check also protects licensed builders and tradespeople against unfair competition and weeds out unscrupulous operators. The HBC Check includes details of more than 460,000 projects. Visit HBC Check at hbc.onegov.nsw.gov.au/dashboard/#/dashboard