THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 20 #30 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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Byron’s legal brothel plans draw tart response Plans for Byron Bay’s first legal brothel have drawn opposition from both the community and police. A five page objection to the development application (DA) for a brothel in Wollongbar Street on the Arts and Industry Estate has been submitted by the Ewingsdale Progress Association. Last week Byron Bay Police sent Council a letter in support of the Association’s objection. Brothels are permitted with Council approval in industrial areas in Byron Shire’s current planning regulations. ‘The Byron Bay Arts and Industry Estate is in fact an area that by “de facto” has become a low cost hous-
ing area, with many people living above their industrial units,’ reads the Progress Association’s letter. ‘Further it is adjacent to one of Byron’s largest bedroom suburbs (Sunrise Estate), which is demographically an area with a larger number of young families than anywhere else in the Shire. Consequently there are child care facilities, bike paths and streets filled with children. ‘It is arguable that there will be some bleeding’ of clientele to this suburb as they leave and that children and teenagers, being a more vulnerable age group, would be put at greater risk.’
Buddha walks at Crystal
Claiming to have found the biggest hand-carved stone Buddha in Australia, Naren King from The Crystal Castle announced the opening this week of the new Buddha Walk after a year and a half in the making. Weighing in at 14 tonnes, the Blessing Buddha reaches almost four metres high and ‘floats’ in a pond at the Montecollum property. ‘Visitors are taken on a magical journey through landscaped gardens, with more statues and colourful crystals, including giant two tonne rose quartz rocks. We have tripled the
garden area and the whole space feels wonderful,’ said Naren. ‘It’s been a real family affair; my wife Sono has been the designer and in charge of all aesthetic aspects of the project, and even our six year old son Toby was involved in the design, locating our huge Ganesh statue in the middle of the welcoming circle.’ Pictured above are some of the many locals who have been involved in the project, including landscaper Keith O’Brien and his team, and Turiya, who created a glass mosaic of a lotus on the pond wall.
Inspector Owen King from Byron Bay Police says he is concerned that the brothel could affect the workload of local police by stretching resources into the industrial estate when 99% of current activity at night is in Byron Bay town centre. He said brothels normally attract an increase in the amount of traffic and incidence of ‘people hanging around’ in the neighbouring area. Asked if the approval of a brothel might prevent street prostitution in the town, Inspector King replied, ‘We have no history of prostitution in Byron Bay on the streets.’ The Ewingsdale Progress Association’s objections include the potential customer numbers generated by the three bedroom brothel, the proximity of brothels in Ballina and Tweed Heads, and concerns about the affect on the existing home based prostitution industry. ‘Byron Shire does have a prostitution industry, as evidenced by the number of advertisements in the local weekly and daily papers. In the first instance, these outworkers operate discreetly and clearly service whatever need there is within the Shire. Secondly, a large formal brothel could in fact erode their established trade and should be taken into account,’ says the Association which is calling for alternative sites to be considered. ‘As a minimum and essential criteria [sic], the site should be an isolated industrial one, which have a preponderance of dirty manufacturing industry. The Mullum or Billinudgel industrial areas may be more suitable based on this criteria alone.’ Councillors have so far not asked for the DA to be brought before them therefore the decision will probably be made by Byron Shire Council’s general manager Pamela Westing. Ms Westing says staff are currently waiting for additional information from the applicant, but expects a decision could be made in the next few weeks.
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Police predicting safe NYE
Local police say they are looking forward to a safe night in Byron Bay on New Years Eve. ‘We’re hoping everybody will get into the spirit of the night’s theme of peace and environment in an effort to include more involvement from families and locals,’ said Police Inspector Owen King. An alcohol prohibition zone will be in force from the railway line to Kingsley Street including Clarkes and Main Beach. Anyone entering the area with opened or unopened alcohol will be asked to leave the area and if they refuse police say they will take action. ‘It is not about putting a dampener on the night, but about creating a safe environment and making
Charles Crawshaw is looking for potential dragons to be trained up to be part of Byron’s New Years Eve. Asbestos lips an advantage but not essential. If you’re interested or would like to volunteer your mother in law contact Charles on 6680 1454. Photo Jeff ‘ Bic’ Dawson
an effort to reduce the amount of alcohol being taken into the area,’ said Inspector King, who added that his team will be policing the whole township of Byron Bay not just the traffic free entertainment precinct. ‘We will have exactly the same number of police as in previous years. We’ve got visiting police continued on page 2
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