THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 23 #26 Tuesday, December 2, 2008 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 22,700 copies every week
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
Council goes ahead In the swim for a safe rescue with new STP Michael McDonald
Despite protesters wearing face masks and holding up signs such as ‘Fix Mullum’s Poo Pipes’, Byron Shire Councillors voted unanimously last week to award the tender for the design and construction of the Brunswick Valley Sewage Treatment Plant off Valances Road, Mullumbimby. The plant, which will take sewage from Mullum and Bruns, is so far expected to cost $25.6 million. Council will also seek Stage 3 approval from the Minister for Water and Energy prior to awarding the contract ‘such that the Stage 2 Ministerial approval for subsidy funds under the NSW Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program is not void’.
Earlier Cr Tom Tabart was successful with a motion, after lots of confused debate, that ‘should a tender be let for the construction of the STP… a report be commissioned to establish whether replacement or continued repair or a combination of either is the best option to resolve the Mullumbimby [stormwater infiltration] problem, using a consultant conversant with sewerage design and repair, to be resourced from the existing $500,000 2008/09 budget’. If replacement of part or all of the system is recommended, then funding will be a priority action for the 2009/10 Management Plan. Cr Tabart’s motion will also see the Clause 45 moratorium over the Brunswick Valley catchment continued on page 2 Matthew Armour from the SES demonstrates a water rescue using an experimental harness and floating rope on Sunday at the Ferry Reserve caravan park. Story & photo Eve Jeffery
A small group of locals and a couple of Japanese Wwoofers held a demonstration outside the Council Chambers last Thursday to persuade the councillors to ‘fix the poo pipes’ rather than immediately spend money on a new STP. Their priorities were: replace disintegrating terracotta pipes under Mullum; build wastewater storage for farmland irrigation; replace faulty ‘stink pump’ in Mill Street which, in wet weather, dispatches untreated sewage into the Brunswick River; and then build a new STP. ‘Since the life expectancy of the new STP is only 30 years, ratepayers may still be paying for it long after its use-by date,’ said the protesters. Attending a demo for the first time, Eri Ogawa from Wakayama in Japan said, ‘I feel I can do a little thing – I was glad to join you.’ She and her partner Tomoki Fuchinoue, buoyed by their activism experience, feel motivated to protect the beautiful traditional old houses in their home town which lie deserted and are usually demolished rather than being renovated. Photo courtesy Robert Hart.
Last January during storms and flash flooding, eleven local creeks and causeways found themselves home to unexpected visits from vehicles which had been swept along with the rising water. Several of these cars still had drivers and passengers inside and local rescue crews were called in to help out. Fortunately there were no casualties but this isn’t always the case in such dangerous situations. As part of the equipment available for such rescues the SES has implemented the use of the throw bag as a means to reach victims in the water and pull them to safety. The bag contains about 30 metres of polypropylene rope which floats on water. The bag is thrown into the water close to the victim and dragged to shore by rescuers. ‘The rope has no memory,’ says Matthew Armour, Regional Learning and Development Officer for the SES. ‘No matter what you do to the
rope it will not get kinks or twists in it. It’s just a matter of throwing the bag as close as you can to the person in the water and they can catch the rope and be pulled to safety.’ On Sunday 25 rescue workers from the local SES, the police, the VRA and both the rural and NSW Fire Brigades gathered at the river at Ferry Reserve caravan park for specialist training by Matthew in the use of the bag. The group also tried out an experimental harness made from the floating rope The throw bag, which is very easy to use, costs around $70 and is becoming part of the standard equipment in water rescue and hopefully all emergency and rescue vehicles will carry the bag in the near future. It is also a great idea for any watercraft. Local Controller for the Byron Shire SES Noel McAviney said that all of the Byron Shire’s rescue vehicles now had throw bags. ‘We had to deal with 11 cars in the water over a two day period in January this year,’ said Noel. ‘This is
an area where we have a lot of creeks and causeways and the bag is essential for our rescue equipment.’ Noel says that the best thing to do in flood waters is to stay in a car that is stationary if the water level is low but if the car is moving along the creek or causeway to try and get out of the vehicle as quickly as possible, remembering to check for floating debris. For more information about the throw bag or if you are interested in joining the local SES, phone Noel on 0418 663 836 and for emergency help in floods and storms, phone the SES on 132 500. This week is also National Water Safety Week (www.royallifesaving. com.au), highlighted by the release of the 2008 National Drowning Report. The report notes that men are almost three times more likely to drown than women. Royal Life Saving Society Australia has called on men in all age groups to improve their water safety and swimming skills.