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 21 #02 TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
P O L I T I C S
Green light for St Finbarr’s move St Finbarr’s Catholic Primary School has finally received the go ahead to build a new school next to Byron Bay High. After nearly a decade of delays and last minute opposition from some councillors and the High School, the development application (DA) for St Finbarr’s to construct six classrooms and move 230 students on to the site was approved at last Tuesday’s council meeting. ‘In 1997 we approached Council to get approval for the full school,’ explained Tony McCabe for St Finbarr’s on Tuesday. ‘We got tangled up in the sewage moratorium and then there was a long process to get the DA before Council as we needed to complete studies on bushfire, traffic and environmental assessment.’ The need for a roundabout at the junction of the school access culde-sac and Broken Head Road nearly prevented the application from going ahead. Local police and RTA representatives had recom-
mended that construction of a roundabout was essential before St Finbarr’s moved location, a view that is shared by the High School. ‘There are dangers of bringing in more traffic into the cul-de-sac. It could lead to longer delays and perhaps dangerous actions by drivers,’ said Melissa Armstrong, a parent of a High School student speaking at the Council meeting. ‘We sympathise with St Finbarr’s on the length of time it has taken in the development of the DA. The safety of the students must take priority.’ With an estimated price tag of between half and one million dollars, St Finbarr’s are not keen to assume total responsibility for funding the roundabout. ‘We don’t have the money to pay for it,’ Tony McCabe told The Echo. ‘Children on bikes are the primary contributor to the safety issue. The record of incidents at the intersection is minimal,’ said Mr McCabe who described the roundabout as continued on page 2
Aye, pods ahoy
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Local art up for auction at FEHVA
Founder of Sotheby’s Australia Robert Bleakley will once again take on the role of auctioneer for this year’s FEHVA Art Auction on Saturday June 24 at the Byron Community and Cultural Centre. The event helps raise funds for The Buttery drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. The final curated selection of artwork is on public display in the upstairs gallery at the Byron Community and Cultural Centre. Program director Dee Tipping said, ‘Everyone is invited to come along and view the works prior to the actual auction and during this time artwork can be sold if there are
Glass artist Noel Hart shows off his impression of the yellow-collared macaw to auctioneer Robert Bleakley. Photo Jeff ‘More Arts Than Class’ Dawson
acceptable offers. People are also invited to enter their selection for the FEHVA People’s Choice Award – the $2 entry fee will also include a chance to win prizes’. After casting his expert eye over more than 100 artworks submitted by local artists, Robert Bleakley was impressed by the high quality of the work, saying, ‘The Northern Rivers region has achieved an identifiably distinct character reflected by the works that has been submitted. The fact that this region nurtures so many diverse artists from
emerging talent to internationally acclaimed is testimony to the creative energy of the community.’ The FEHVA art auction and soiree will begin at 5.30pm with an ‘In Conversation’ session with Australian art doyenne Betty Churcher. Following the interview FEHVA Art Auction ticket holders will be invited to move upstairs for the cocktail soiree prior to the art auction. During the soiree guests can commence bidding by completing silent auction forms. continued on page 2
Council to remove illegal path at Suffolk Park
Whale researcher Wally Franklin with Andy Robinson the Cape Byron Trust’s Education Officer on the lookout for whales at Sunday’s Whale Information morning. Andy says that three to four pods of whales a day are passing the Cape on their way to birthing grounds to the north. Wally Franklin told the conservation minded crowd that humpbacks should be thought of as Australian citizens as it is in our country that they breed. Photo Jeff ‘Wave The Snails ’ Dawson
Council compliance officers are investigating an illegally constructed path at Suffolk Park which has been built without permission through a Council reserve. The 130 metre long path runs from the rear of a subdivision in Sally Wattle Drive, through a council reserve, to link to an existing path which leads to the beach. ‘We will have to have the path removed because it’s in a sensitive
environment and is close to a watercourse,’ said Ray Darney, Byron Shire Council’s Director of Planning Development Approvals and Environment Services. Council officers have erected erosion controls to prevent pollution of the adjacent waterway which is known to be habitat for threatened species. ‘We are very concerned about the matter. We have evidence about how and when the path was con-
structed and we will be determining what action we can take. We will definitely be removing the path.’ Mr Darney would not be drawn on the identity of the party Council would be taking action against. ‘There have also been major excavations in the Council reserve and it looks like material might have been used from there to construct part of the path.’