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 #36 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2007 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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Brothel approval goes to court Michael McDonald
Rick and Gayle Hultgren, owners of the Byron Entertainment Centre, are taking a class 4 action in the Land and Environment Court against Byron Shire Council’s approval of a brothel near their property in the Byron Arts & Industry Estate. An initial court hearing was scheduled for last Friday, with the Hultgrens
seeking a declaration the development consent was null and void. Mrs Hultgren said during public access at Council’s meeting last Thursday that councillors had not been aware of all the issues involved when considering the brothel development application (DA). She said their vacant lot across the street from the brothel was
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Fishheads team wants more time at Byron Bay swimming pool
always intended ‘to hold activities involving children’ rather than as for car parking as mentioned in the staff report. ‘Over 1,000 people have expressed their serious concern in writing. Our back door is 64 metres away from the brothel in a direct line of sight. Perhaps 200 metres would be better [as a Council continued on page 2
Paragliders off to world titles
Fishheads proprietors Mark Sims and Ralph Mamone at the pool. Photo Jeff Dawson
Michael McDonald
The lessees of the Byron Bay public swimming pool and creators of the Fishheads restaurant at the site are calling on Byron Shire Council to extend their lease so they can recoup their capital investment. The lease runs out in June this year and Council intends to put the pool and kiosk out to tender. Businessmen Mark Sims and Ralph Mamone, who have had the lease for seven years, fronted up to Council’s meeting last Thursday to address Councillors on the issue. The long-running
dispute came to prominence again with Cr Bob Tardif putting up a notice of motion to have lawyers Marsdens Solicitors to look at the documentation in relation to the lease to see if a legal challenge might be brought by the current lessees. Cr Tardif’s motion was lost on the mayor’s casting vote. ‘We’re not here to ask favours, we merely want Council to honour its contract,’ Mr Sims told councillors. ‘We’ve spent money in good faith. ‘When we came in there was a real and desperate
requirement for capital works. Four hundred thousand dollars would have been a reasonable amount to spend. ‘We have had no formal response as to the reason for Council’s determination [not to extend the lease].’ Mr Sims pointed out that the site plan of management attached to the tender document stated ‘the term [of contract] may be extended if the contract provides capital investment into the facility. The length of term will be extended to enable the continued on page 4
Byron pool leaks ‘millions of litres’ Paragliders Eddie Gray, Andrew Polidano, Mendo Veljanouski. Photo Jeff ‘Ultraglide’ Dawson
The Northern Rivers Hanggliding/Paragliding Club is sending a team to the 2007 Paragliding World Championships to be held at Manilla, near Tamworth, NSW, from February 24 on. The team includes Cedar Anderson, Eddie Gray, Jan and Glen Smith, Jachim Whitfield, Andrew Polidano, and they are joined by highly ranked Macedonian aerobatics pilot
Mendo Veljanouski. The local paragliders will be part of the visual display at the opening ceremony on Saturday 24. Eddie Gray will be in a flying recumbent trike, the only one in Australia. Both Cedar and Andrew are scheduled to fly tandem motorised paragliders, and Mendo will be deploying his paraglider using a system called D-bagging,
first used in Australia on February 10 in Byron Bay. ‘Manilla 2007’ will be the first ever championships to be held in an English speaking country. There will be 150 pilots from over 45 nations competing for the title of World Champion in each category – Male, Female, and Nation. For more information visit www.manilla2007.com.
The Byron Bay swimming pool is leaking millions of litres of water a year according to the current lessees. At a council meeting last Thursday, lessee Mark Sims told councillors the pool pipework had been inspected by Council in 2001 but no action had been taken so far. Mr Sims claimed that up to three and a half million litres a year had been leaking out. Mr Sims, who as lessee
is only responsible for repairs up to $250, said he had the pipework ‘bogged’ which had reduced the leakage to two million litres last year. ‘I’m concerned about the loss of water,’ said Mr Sims, ‘but I’m also concerned that treated water is going into dune areas.’ Mr Sims also pointed out that lighting poles in the area also required urgent attention. ‘There was an inspection and four months later
there is concrete hanging off them, and we’ve had 12,000 children go through for swimming carnivals.’ Responding to Mr Sims’s comments during debate Cr Diane Woods said, ‘If anyone else was doing this we’d be screaming like stuck pigs.’ Council’s director of corporate and community services Elisabeth Brown later told The Echo, ‘We are investigating the water leakage continued on page 2