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 #38 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2006 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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Prices soar on fragile coast Lesley Patterson
Belongil has pushed Watego’s off the real estate podium, after a Childe Street property sold recently for $8 million. Watego’s had held Byron Bay’s top real estate record since 2004 when the Watermark bed and breakfast sold for $5.3 million. What is puzzling about the sale is why real estate prices are soaring in an area known to be under threat from coastal erosion. Newcomers to the Bay might not know that only 30 years ago there was another road at Belongil. Up until the late 1970s The Esplanade ran alongside the ocean, parallel with Childe Street. From 1956 to 1976 the north coast was affected by 17 cyclones. Together with sandmining on the beach at Belongil, the ocean ďŹ nally claimed the Esplanade in the 1970s. Over the past thirty odd years, Byron Shire has enjoyed a period of relatively gentle seas. Memories have faded about the ocean’s ferocious appetite and warnings about future erosion scenarios can seem overly alarmist. Since the 1980s Byron Shire Council has been warning of the
dangers of living in an erosion zone and has attempted to limit the scale of development. The photograph of the Belongil neighbourhood below shows how far inland Council believes the ocean could move if weather patterns return to those experienced in the 1950s and 1970s. The majority of properties at Belongil lie in the zone identiďŹ ed as at immediate risk of erosion, represented by the line closest to the ocean.The second line demonstrates where the the erosion escarpment could lie in 100 years time. Yet property values in the area do not reect this risk. As recently as last November advertisements appeared in the Sydney press for beachside apartments at Belongil priced at $850,000. Ironically the ad boasted that the development was only 100 metres from the waves of Belongil Beach. A recently released document on climate change* crossed my desk last week, depressing me with the chilling fact that ‘in many cases the risks are more serious than previously thought’. It goes on to warn *Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change by Britain’s Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
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T H I N K E R
Mother of all drums
that ‘Many climate impacts, particularly the most damaging ones, will be associated with an increased frequency or intensity of extreme events’. In calculating the effect of extreme storm events in Byron Shire, Council took into account in predicted rises in sea levels. International forecasts put the level of global mean sea level rise during this century to be anywhere from 9-88cm. Council has used an average ďŹ gure of 50cm, however Mayor Jan Barham believes it would be more responsible to use the worse case scenario ďŹ gure of 88cm in developing planning guidelines. ‘To use averages is a awed process.When planning for ood we’ve been directed [by the state government] to use the 1 in 100 year ood levels, not averages. My concern is that recent evidence shows that the situation could be worse than previously thought. We have a duty of care to residents and should be looking at the worst case scenario,’ said Cr Barham. All purchasers of properties in erosion risk areas are warned of the continued on page 2
Veet Mayo showing off Mama Drum. Photo Jeff ‘Pass Me The Skins Man’ Dawson
Three years ago a French Canadian percussionist from Cirque du Soleil found her way into a littleknown back street of Mullumbimby. She was looking for drum makers Veet and Paula Mayo who specialise in turning local timbers into musical instruments. They showed her their usual range of 34cm wide drums but her eye fell on a huge log of camphor, cut from a property at Hayter’s Hill, which had been lying out the back of Veet’s workshop. After three years of work the 100
centimetre wide mammoth drum consisting of 72 individual pieces of wood will y off to Canada this week hopefully in time for Cirque du Soleil’s next performance. Mama Drum, as she is called, caused Veet some headaches during the long manufacturing process. It started with ďŹ nding a funnel web spider in the crutch of the tree, and was followed by the shattering discovery that the wood needed to air dry for a year before any work could begin. continued on page 4
Join the Relay for Life ˆ““i`ˆ>ĂŒiĂŠiĂ€ÂœĂƒÂˆÂœÂ˜ĂŠÂ?ˆ˜i
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Belongil, pictured above, overlaid with Council’s predicted erosion lines as contained in the draft Byron Local Environment Plan. The most seaward line represents the immediate erosion threat, the second line shows how far inland the erosion escarpment is forecast to move within the next century. Photo courtesy Bill Mills Aerial Photography, Ocean Shores
If you’ve been inspired by the Commonwealth Games athletics trials but feel that you’re just a tad outside the qualifying time, there is an alternative activity which is not only far more suitable for your level of ďŹ tness but will also give you the satisfaction of raising money for a worthwhile cause. ‘Relay for Life’ is a Cancer Council initiative which provides hours of fun for people of all ages and levels of ďŹ tness. An overnight team event to raise funds for cancer research, education and patient support programs, the challenge is for teams of 10 or more people to complete a relay style walk or run at selected venues throughout Australia. Team members take turns to keep their baton moving overnight,
enjoying the sensational festive atmosphere created through entertainment, camping, prizes and the vibrancy of hundreds of lively people on the track. The relay kicks off at 3pm with one lap of the track for survivors and carers before everyone else is invited to join in. There will also be a particularly moving dusk ceremony when everyone is invited to light a tea light, put it into a paper bag ďŹ lled with sand and line the track with the candles. There will then be a ‘lap of hope’ for all those who want to participate. Locally, the Bangalow NSW Fire Brigade have led the way as the ďŹ rst team to register for the Bangalow/ Byron Shire Relay for Life to be continued on page 2 3H OWRO O M #EN TEN N IAL # T " YRO N !R TS ) N D U STR IAL %STAT E P F
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