In September of this year, we commemorate 30 years of the Clarence Valley’s free newspaper. Regrettably, your free newspaper will not reach the milestone of 30 years as a free publication.

Over the past couple of years, we have worked tirelessly to sustain the Clarence Valley Independent in print amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the subsequent economic impacts. The time has arrived to make some exceedingly tough yet simultaneously exciting decisions regarding our future. We were overwhelmed with support from the community and advertisers to uphold our 30-year legacy and our relationships with businesses, readers, and community groups in print. Our Management and Staff have dedicated extensive effort to finding a solution.

Consequently, we will transition to a paid publication to ensure our strength and viability well into the future. Following consultations with advertisers, distribution participants, community organizations, and readers, it is evident that we have your support, and we anticipate the transition to a paid newspaper starting from May 1st, 2024. This decision has not been made lightly, and we hope that you, our readers and advertisers in particular, will continue to show the support you have demonstrated for nearly 30 years. With the introduction of a cover charge, we will present a bigger, brighter CV Independent. Readers can expect additional features and a consistently expanded paper with extra pages each week.

To our 100-plus regular community contributors, rest assured, nothing will change. Please continue your valuable contributions each week, and together we will continue to keep the entire community informed. We invite you to embark on this exciting journey into a new era for the Clarence Valley Independent and the dedicated team who work passionately to deliver the paper and our other publications to the local community.

We will keep you updated in the coming weeks with progress, pricing details, and the local businesses enthusiastically supporting this change by selling the paper on our behalf. An all-new pay-by-subscription home delivery service will also become available in restricted areas – stay tuned for more information on this. Be sure to grab your copy of the paper over the next few weeks for updates and details on this new chapter for the Clarence Valley Independent.