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 Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 22 #11 TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2007 22,300 copies every week
U N I V E R S E
I N
A
G R A I N
O F
S A N D
‘If I have seen further than other men, it is because I have stood upon the shoulders of giants.’ – Isaac Newton
ian rites of passage to get out of it on alcohol. It was agreed that adults could hardly throw stones at our young when we owned the problem too, when mainstream society, sporting heroes and the media (financed by
Byron Shire Council voted 6-4 last Thursday to defer a decision on a development proposal for the Epicentre site at Belongil until they could workshop the issues involved. Queensland developers Kendall Street Developments have proposed creating a 43 lot community title subdivision on the two hectare site to carry a ‘manufactured home estate’ of 41 two storey four bedroom dwellings, a community recreation area and a general store/ café. Moving to defer, Cr Tom Tabart said, ‘We have been asked to approve a development which is neither fish nor fowl. There is no real explanation why it is recommended for approval.’ Cr Tabart said a workshop would look at the opportunity to get affordable housing on the site and reassess the density. He said he had ongoing concerns about contamination, acid sulphate soils and parking and traffic arrangements. Speaking against deferral, Cr Ross Tucker said, ‘The [staff] report is quite comprehensive and very clear to me. The report does address the issue of affordability; if you decrease the density you move away from affordability. ‘There is no value in having a workshop. You cloud the issue and move away from the merit assessment made by staff.’ Cr Ray Kestle moved an amendment, defeated 6-4, to go with the staff recommendation to grant deferred consent dependent on 63 conditions of consent being fulfilled. ‘This is the only thing that can happen on this site,’ he said, ‘it’s hard to get away from that. ‘It should stand or fall on its merits rather than us tinkering with densities. This is beachfront property – where in Australia would you get affordable housing 50 metres from the beach?’
continued on page 2
continued on page 2
Claire Leimbach’s photographic exhibition opens this Friday from 6pm onwards at the Waywood Gallery at 3 Centennial Circuit in the Arts & Industry Estate, Byron Bay, which is also open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm. The exhibition will move to Bangalow A&I Hall for the Fatherhood Festival on August 31. Says Claire of her work: ‘I have largely been a documentary photographer, generally of indigenous people, and my first photographs of fathers with their children in this exhibition go back more than 20 years ago to Tahiti. Over the years I captured many other Asian and African dads and so, for this year’s Fatherhood Festival, I decided to try and record the same quality of precious moments of intimacy with local fathers… I also hope my photographs help to celebrate the important role fathers play in the lives of their children.’ See more about the festival at www.fatherhoodfestival.com.
Teenage binge drinking issue hits raw nerve David Bradbury
The issue of teen binge drinking has obviously hit a raw nerve in Byron shire with both parents and teenagers. After my letter in The Echo, I received a lot of calls and emails from parents concerned that the situation was or could eas-
ily get out of control with their own teenage kids. So last week about ten parents met with Paul Spooner from Byron Youth Service and two psychologists who work with teenagers, one of them a parent pulling out her hair in desperation at teenage chal-
lenges within her own family. It was acknowledged that the issue is more a ‘problem’ for the parents than our teenagers. They are ‘happy’ doing what they do. Excessive drinking is so ingrained now it passes as Australian ‘kulcha’ and is seen as part of the Austral-
Council defers Epicentre decision