THE BYRON SHIRE
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Volume 23 #38 Tuesday, March 3, 2009 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 21,000 copies every week
C A N’ T T H I S WA I T?
Children star at kitefest launch
Byron YAC back in action
Story & photo Eve Jeffery
Byron Shire Council’s Youth Activity Centre major upgrade is finished and the centre is now available for creative and recreational events for young people in the Shire. Byron Shire Council’s Community Development Officer, Robyn Masters said the new improved facility will capitalise on the range of creative and recreational events for young people in the Shire. In celebration of the upgrade, a reVamp concert will be held from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday March 21 at the Youth Activity Centre (YAC) in Gilmour Crescent, Byron Bay and will showcase the Shire’s local talent. At a cost of about $260,000, the upgrade included a new acoustic ceiling, internal access and upgrade of the disabled toilet, painting and ensuring fire safety certification.
Licensed for fun ‘People have been asking when we will have our entertainment licence. Well, now we do, so as a community let’s work with our local young people and support their creative pursuits,’ Ms Masters said. ‘The reVamp concert has been planned to coincide with Harmony Day and is a great opportunity to focus on the community working together as a whole. The concert will feature performances by local youth groups and there is still time to get your act into the show. If you are a dancer, musician, magician etc, and aged between 12 and 25, then contact Michael Prigmore on 6685 9341.’ The newly revamped and improved YAC contains an auditorium, amphitheatre, ‘Splendour’ sound studio, office space and training rooms. ‘We encourage people who can share skills with the youth of our Shire to become involved with the YAC,’ Ms Masters said, ‘either through one-off courses, events or a series of classes.’ For more information, or help in accessing the booking form, contact Robyn Masters on 6685 9343.
Alisa Hudson from Brunswick Heads school navigates the trees, the sky, the world and the universe from the Terrace Park at the Kites and Bikes program launch.
there to meet the requirements of the Guinness Book of Records.’ Registration costs $10, and the fee includes a kite kit and full instructions for the day. The sixty students from the Brunswick Heads school sat patiently listen-
ing to all the important grownup stuff about the festival before discovering that the best place to get a breeze was close to the river. The kites which were made by the children during the week under the guidance of kite maker Michael Richards are simple
to make and are designed to fly in low wind conditons as demonstrated at the launch with barely a puff of air. To register for the kite record attempt visit either www.kitsandbikes. com.au or the Visitors Centre in Brunswick Heads.
No threat to Mullum birthing unit: NCAHS While a protest was being held at Mullum hospital against the potential closure of its birthing unit, North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS) Chief Executive Chris Crawford issued a statement saying there were no plans to close the unit. ‘There are no meetings being held to discuss the closure of the birthing unit,’ Mr Crawford said. ‘NCAHS has received resignations from a couple of the [hospital’s] midwives. NCAHS has initiated recruitment action to replace these midwives. While this recruitment action
is under way, the maternity service will continue to be provided by the remaining midwives. ‘NCAHS will continue to advertise to actively recruit to fill any vacant midwifery position that becomes available at the birthing unit. ‘There have been no discussions within NCAHS about the closing of the birthing unit. It is a valued and innovative service which will continue.’ The statement came in response to comments from the Northern Rivers Maternity Action Group, which pointed out that Mullumbimby Hos-
pital ‘has offered maternity services to approximately 200 low risk women per year. It successfully hosted a shared care program whereby women were able to receive care from a midwife as well as her GP. ‘Last year the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS) was presented with a proposal for a caseload midwifery program at Mullumbimby. Caseload midwifery is a model of care whereby women receive care from a known midwife or group of midwives who assist her throughout pregnancy, birth and post-natal care. The pro-
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posal also incorporated a homebirth scheme. ‘A survey carried out by the hospital asked over 100 women for suggestions of a model of care they felt would be most suitable for them. The response was clearly that caseload midwifery and publicly funded homebirth is what the women accessing Mullumbimby Hospital want.’ The group also said Dr Rischbieth of the Rural Doctors Association has noted that, over the last 15 years, ■ Despite the revamp, the future of 130 rural maternity units have been the YAC is still at risk. See Comment on page 10. closed across Australia.
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Children took flight last Thursday at the Soundshell in Brunswick Heads at the program launch for the 2009 Kites and Bikes Festival. The Festival’s aim is to promote affordable family fun while showcasing the simple pleasures of Brunswick Heads and event highlights include kite making and bike decorating workshops, Rokakku kite fighting challenges, a decorative bike parade and expo and skills circuits, circus performances and a Star Search talent contest and of course the major event which will be the Country Energy Kite Record attempt. The current Australian record for the most kites in the air at once is 1127 set in Glenelg South Australia in 2007 and the World Record of 1655 was set in Malaysia in 2008. Kite record organiser Lisa Parkes is really excited about the attempt. ‘We have almost 600 children from local schools including Brunswick and Bangalow Public Schools signed up already so we are well on the way,’ said Lisa at the launch. ‘We would like to encourage people – families, groups or just individuals to register for the attempt prior to the weekend so that we know that we will have them helping us to break the record on the day. We even have to have JPs