oastal C Spirit
THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 23 #41 Tuesday, March 24, 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
Pages 18 & 19 IDEAL WITH HOT OR COLD BEVERAGES
Kites slip the surly bonds of earth
Acting director for BYS Di Mahoney, a long time community worker, has been selected to the position of acting director of Byron Youth Service following the recent departure of Paul Spooner, who has accepted the job of executive officer at the Byron Bay Community & Cultural Centre. Di has worked for BYS for the past three years, encouraging young people to get enterprising through community projects, self-employment and small business. ‘I am really looking forward to working with key partners in our community to support young people in Byron Bay and other parts of the Shire,’ said Di. ‘I’ll be working with the BYS management committee
Kites filled the sky at Brunswick Heads on Sunday for the annual kites and bikes festival. Photo Jeff Dawson. See more photos in the events section of our photo gallery at www.echo.net.au. Eve Jeffery
Intermittent torrential downpours had little if any effect on the six and a half thousand people who packed Brunswick Heads to the rafters and beyond for the town’s Kites and Bikes Festival on the weekend. The event was a spectacular success with activities for everyone starting on Saturday and continuing on until late Sunday afternoon. For the first time ever the festival had a bike decorating workshop on Saturday to help creatively challenged folk to get into the spirit of the event. Families had a wonderful time with stickers, material scraps and all man-
ner of cycle and recycled adornment flying in every direction. The two highlights of the Sunday program were the bike parade through town in the morning and the much touted world kite flying attempt in the afternoon. The NSW record of 368 fell by the wayside as the number of kites in the air rose (pardon the pun) to 811. Organisers said that there were 1,200 kites registered by Sunday morning and another few hundred late arrivals added their paper and string to the airborne Kaleidoscope that swarmed above the sands of Brunswick Heads beach. With about 20 zones of fifty flyers
each, the logistics of getting all the kites in the air at the same time was certainly a challenge. The Australian record of 1127 was
not officially broken but record attempt organisers reckon we came pretty close, wink, wink. Game on for 2010.
Developer fined $25,000 In the Lismore local court last week, a developer pleaded guilty for the removal of trees without development consent at a site on the corner of Shara Boulevarde and the old Pacific Highway. The removal of trees was carried out between November 2005 to March 2006 and the developer was fined $25,000. The defendant had approval to
clear 8,000m2 of vegetation however cleared 16,000m2. Byron Shire Council compliance officer Andrew Hill said, ‘During the course of sentencing proceedings the magistrate indicated that developers need to take responsibility by checking with Council prior to the removal of any trees and ensure that they remove only what is approved within the development consent.’
and closely liaising with Byron Shire Council to help maintain and create relevant resources for young people in our community.’ Di has a diverse background in community development, previously working in local government, community houses, environmental organizations and the education and training field. She has also previously owned restaurants in Byron Shire, Victoria and Indonesia. Di welcomes input from young people, residents of the Shire, businesses and other community organisations and can be contacted on 6685 7777, 0407 664 060 or email yes@bys. org.au.