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 #12 TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2006 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
By ron Shire Healthy Living Week see pages 16 and 17
W E
S T I L L
L O V E
Y O U ,
P L U T O !
Council and youth services clash Michael McDonald Byron Shire Council failed to win the hearts and minds of local youth last week, knocking back plans for a state government supported youth festival in Byron Bay and drawing the ire of the Byron Youth Service (BYS) over a staff approach to managing the Youth Activities Centre (YAC) in Byron Bay. Some 20 young people with placards turned up to the council meeting on Tuesday last week to call on Councillors to support local youth. The fate of the YAC was postponed to this week but Councillors voted 6-4 to knock back approval of the Get Rocked music festival planned for January 25, 2007 in Denning Park at the Byron Bay beachfront. Council staff had recommended supporting the drug-and-alcohol free event and Councillors themselves had resolved in late March to provide authorisation to YAC to use Denning Park for the event.
The state-funded Indent project (www.indent.net.au) approached YAC to run one of three regional youth music festivals in NSW. YAC was given $20,000 for start-up costs and, according to the staff report, the Byron Bay Indent Committee was selected ‘based on their strong track record in event management’. Festival coordinator Katie Watts addressed Councillors, describing the festival as ‘back-to school celebration for local youth’. She said a maximum of 3,000 tickets would be sold and that the Splendour In The Grass festival had been ‘highly supportive’ of the event, which would showcase local and national bands, skateboarding demonstrations, and other entertainment. The bigger furore came around the future of theYAC, with a staff report recommending Council fund a $111,000 upgrade of the Council-owned building out
of loan repayments from BYS rents and pursue The Uncle Project over what it claims is unpaid rent of $5,253. In a strongly-worded email to all Councillors, BYS director Paul Spooner described the report as ‘inaccurate, contentious, inflammatory, antagonistic and a clear example of how not to develop good council policy’. He also claimed ‘there has never been any clear process developed by the Director of Corporate & Community Services [Elisabeth Brown] to ensure a reasonable solution to the many dilemmas faced at this facility and others like it through the Shire’ and that ‘the Director Of Corporate & Community Services is attempting to undermine the policy development process of Council’. Mr Spooner also said, ‘Threatening to seek legal action against a community organisation like Uncle to recover debts demonstrates how out of touch the Community Services section of
Young people make their point at the Council meeting. Photo Lou Beaumont
Council is with the needs of this community… ‘This report is not only insulting to the many volunteers that support the work of BYS and Uncle but it ignores all of the benefits that these two organisations generate for our community. It did not
make sense in February 2004 [when Council waived BYS’s rent] for Council to attempt to pay for its building maintenance through the funds generated by non-profit organisations working for young people out of a dedicated youth facility and it does
not make sense in 2006.’ Council’s general manager Pamela Westing told The Echo, ‘I do not wish to comment on Mr Spooner’s specific statements. The attack on the Director is ill-informed and unnecessary. continued on page 4
Fears for children’s lives at Brunswick Heads school crossing
Sue Cramer leads a group of schooldchildren across Fingal Street. Photo Lou Beaumont
Alex McAuley After several near misses, members of the Brunswick Heads Public School community have raised their concerns over their children’s safety when crossing Fingal Street at the designated crossing area at the start and finish of the school day. Treasurer of the school’s P&C Sue Cramer said that several children, including one of her own, had come very close to being hit by a car while crossing the street. In the case of her child, it was only a parent screaming out to alert the driver of a four wheel drive that saved her son from being knocked down.
‘The area is a designated 40km/hr zone but there is no zebra crossing outside the school, only a school crossing which operates between 8.30 and 9.30 in the morning and 2.30 and 3.30 in the afternoon,’ said Ms Cramer. ‘The signage is totally inadequate – there is a proper school zone sign on Tweed Street at the zebra crossing, but on Fingal Street itself there is only a small yellow sign warning of children crossing outside the laundromat which is difficult to see because the road is so wide and busy.’ Ms Cramer said that what is really needed is a proper zebra crossing, a lollipop per-
son, and/or one of the new signs with flashing lights to alert motorists that school children are crossing the road. ‘The RTA is responsible for deciding where to put zebra crossings and whether a lollipop person is needed,’ said Ms Cramer. ‘I believe they make their judgement based on volume of traffic in the area. Since they last reviewed the area over a year ago, the amount of traffic in Bruns has increased a lot, and I really think we need some improvements on the crossing.’ An RTA spokesperson told The Echo that its safety continued on page 2