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 #50 TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2006 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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Council moves on youth issues In the wake of a brawl in Byron Bay involving local youth, Byron Shire Council voted unanimously last week to institute a youth protocol. ‘The development of a Youth Protocol creates an opportunity for developing cooperation and understanding between young people and the community, Council, police and businesses owners in the shire,’ Mayor Jan Barham told The Echo. ‘Its aim will be to encourage discussion about the needs of young people and their rights in public places but also to highlight the roles and responsibilities of the whole community and the need for respect for all community members and visitors. ‘It is another strategy in promoting community safety and will be
incorporated in Council’s Community Safety Plan.’ Council also voted 9-1 at its meeting on Tuesday last week to have staff seek out sources of funding for a youth development officer (YDO). Council is also setting up a user group to help improve communications at the Youth Activities centre (YAC). As well as stakeholders the chamber of commerce will be represented and Crs Barham, Mangleson and Lazarus were voted onto the group. Much of the debate on the YDO centred around the difficulty of finding money for the post. General manager Pamela Westing advised councillors they had just adopted a new budget and had ‘very little left over for new projects or services’.
E D I T I O N S
Buy mum a rainforest
Coordinator of the Byron Youth Service Paul Spooner addressed Council in favour of employing a YDO. The absence of a YDO meant that the Shire is missing out on the development of programs, Mr Spooner said. ‘It is continually difficult for us. ‘Come June we will lose a contract worth $100,000 – that’s a quarter of our income. It means two out of ten staff will disappear. ‘The YDO can provide a voice for youth. I see it as a three day a week position.’ Mr Spooner said the BYS had not been consulted on a proposal to draw funding for the YDO from the service’s rent rebate. ‘That support continued on page 2
Grace’s gourds go off for FEHVA
Tara Daptler and her children Pascal and Mila enjoy the shelter of a local rainforest tree. Photo Jeff ‘Caught In The Canopy’ Dawson
Performing artist and now artist Grace Knight, pictured here with FEHVA coordinator Dee Tipping, got into gourd painting by accident. She thought she was planting watermelons but gourds came up instead.
‘Hundreds of the buggers inundated my garden, gourd city,’ said Grace. ‘It is my belief that anything that can grow by itself in my garden deserves the right to grow full term. So I left the gourds to do their own thing. I picked them, dried them on
my verandah, picked them up and looked at them almost on a daily basis, wondering hmmm, I could make something out of them, not quite knowing what that something was.’ continued on page 2
Many mothers these days would have a whole checklist of gifts they’d like to receive on Mothers Day – a new car, new washing machine, three days at a health retreat, a trip to Paris with a bottomless credit card. But for the mothers who feel that they are content with their material lot living on the North Coast and yearn for a gift of a happy healthy environment for their children in the future, think of buying mum ten square metres or two of the Daintree Rainforest this Mothers Day. Over the past few years the Dain-
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tree Buy Back and Protect Forever project has fully purchased eight properties and is well on the way to having the donations to buy back the ninth. Your purchase of a special Green gift for mother this year could seriously enable Rainforest Rescue to finalise the purchase of a ninth property. You can purchase your Rainforest Gift Card from Santos Mullumbimby, the Green Garage Byron Bay, phone the Rainforest rescue office on 6684 4360 or go online and order at www.rainforestrescue.org.au.
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