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 #18 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 22,300 copies every week
H A N G
O N
T O
T H E
R U B B E R
B A N D
Acting up is good for your shorts Low carbon future for Byron?
Emma Hamblin looks serious in Hot Shorts. Playing a committed Christian, Emma argues against euthanasia in ‘It’s a Free Country’. Hot Shorts, eleven short plays by local writers, will play the Byron Community Centre theatre, October 19, 20, 26, 27. Bookings 6685 6807. Photo Jeff ‘Histrionics Never Repeats’ Dawson
The dogs bark, but the caravans move in The north coast of NSW is the most popular region for domestic visitors, in terms of nights spent in caravan or camping accommodation, according to the ‘Caravan or Camping in Australia 2006’ report released recently by Tourism Research Australia (TRA). The north coast attracted 2.8 million domestic visitor nights in caravan or camping accommodation in 2006 and the south coast of NSW attracted 2.4 million visitor nights. According to TRA’s report, in 2006 there were 8 million domestic visitors and 277,000 international visitors staying in caravan and camping accommodation.
NSW was the most popular state for caravanners and campers with 13.5 million domestic visitor nights. In total, 42 million domestic visitor nights were spent participating in the caravan and camping industry nationwide in 2006. Caravan and camping tourism significantly contributes to the economy with $6.5 billion spent within Australia by domestic and international caravan and camping visitors during 2006. The growth of the industry is evident with caravan registrations over the past 10 years increasing from 4,982 in 1995 to 18,000 in 2005 – an increase of 261 per cent
according to caravan and camping industry research. It is estimated that there are around 70,000 and 80,000 caravanners travelling on an extended tour around Australia at any one time and around 330,000 recreational vehicles (for example caravans, motorhomes, camper trailers) registered in Australia. According to Barry Baillie, CEO of the Caravan and Camping Industry Association of NSW (CCIA), ‘Now more than ever, holiday parks and recreational vehicle manufacturers are developing the products and services to meet the “changing face” of Australian travel.
‘Meeting the needs of luxury travellers will see four and five star cabins in more parks, larger RVs with all the modern conveniences will see larger motorhome and caravan sites in parks. ‘The industry is a lucrative one and one that is progressing to meet the needs of the general touring public.’ ‘Unique experiences’ are a large part of caravan and camping holidays. For this reason, Australian caravanners and campers are more likely to enjoy activities such as general sightseeing (37%), going to the beach (36%) and bushwalking (24%).
The Ethos Foundation, Permaforest Trust and Ebono Institute have joined forces to deliver Pathways to a Low Carbon Future, a forum at the Byron Community Cultural Centre on Thursday October 25. The forum will discuss the urgency for change, the experiences of the Beaudesert Shire across the border in Queensland and a 2020 Vision for the Wollumbin Caldera. The evening will focus on strategies for achieving change at a community level, overcoming regulatory obstacles and the challenges we face as we make the transition to a sustainable lifestyle. As Tim Winton put it recently on the Bay FM radio program The Generator, ‘We have had the technology to reduce our footprint for some time. Most of the challenges are human.’ The evening will include musical interludes and snippets of new and well respected films to complement presentations from the main speakers. The evening will finish with questions from the audience and a call for suggestions for community action from the audience. Introduced by Byron Shire Mayor Jan Barham, the speakers are well known in their fields. Tim Winton has built The Permaforest Trust as a not-for-profit education centre and demonstration farm in Barkers Vale in the Tweed Valley. He is well known as a speaker on Permaculture, Peak Oil and transitional lifestyles. Dr Sally MacKinnon is a director of the Ethos Foundation, founder of the Gondwana Centre and deeply involved in the Australian water, energy and sustainable development industries. Giovanni Ebono is founder and producer of the popular radio show, The Generator, author of Sydney’s Guide to Saving the Planet, editor of Sustainable Living for Dummies and the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Richmond.
"%!#(&2/.4
3HOP "AY 7HALERS ,AWSON 3T
Is moving... Massive moving sale ends October 13 New Shop opens October 15 at 21 Fletcher Street