THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 28 #05 Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Phone 02 6684 1777 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week CAB AUDIT North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
Inside this week
Who hates free speech? It appears to be the NSW govt. See editorial – p10
Telco plonks temp tower near residents Wooyung residents say they have been kept in the dark over the erection of temporary Telstra communication towers which will service the Splendour In The Grass festival from July 26 to 28. Wooyung Road resident Rob Learmonth told The Echo that no-one from Telstra contacted him or neighbours before the two nine-metre towers were erected close to his home. ‘I am gobsmacked,’ he told The Echo. ‘Major infrastructure works have taken place along Wooyung Road to get the fibre optic cable to the site. It is directly opposite and within two hundred metres of homes across the road.’ The telco has no obligation to advise residents due to it being temporary, says Mr Learmonth, ‘in accordance with the Communications Act and State SEPP planning processes.’ ‘We are only a small community and we seem virtually powerless to the bully-boy tactics of Telstra. It all appears to be being done by stealth. He fears it could set a precedent and become a semi-permanent arrangement, and asks ‘Will the tower be erected on the Wooyung site for all subsequent events and if so how many events?’ And questions to Telstra by The Echo also remain unanswered. They include: ‘Why has no advice been provided to residents on the levels of electromagnetic radiation they may receive’, and, ‘Why wasn’t this placed away from residents?’ Instead, a spokesperson confirmed the towers and said, ‘This equipment is in high demand and will be moved to the next event as soon as possible after Splendour in the Grass.’
P24–25
I L L E G A L I M M I G R AT I O N B E G A N I N 1 7 8 8
Concerns over Bitou Bush spraying – p7
Writers’ festival Find out what’s new under the sun book reviews – p18–19 – p15
A Lennox love-in
Adam (Crooked Stixz) Hemwood blows it at the Love Lennox on Saturday. With traffic restrictions, the beachside town was open to stallholders and the public. Photo Jeff ‘Blow Harder’ Dawson
Q See video on this story at
Byron Shire Council Notices Page 40
Byron to declare CSG free July 21 A gasfield free Byron Bay declaration day is planned for Sunday July 21 at the Peace Park on Main Beach. Organisers are planning a family afternoon of fun to coincide with the beachside markets, and the event will include meditation, yoga, a welcome to country ceremony, entertainment by the Raise The Roof Choir, Shane Howard, Holley Knott and others. Additionally, a ‘Stand in the Sand’ crowd formation is planned, which will represent the actual survey percentage for Byron Bay. Organisers say the Byron Bay survey is the biggest so far conducted in urban Australia. Co-organiser Suzie Deyris told The Echo, ‘This has brought people together as never before, strengthening the bonds between neighbours and demonstrating their solidarity.’ More details next week.
Council’s finanacial (loss) arrangement with parks Hans Lovejoy
The former Byron Council staffer and now manager of the state government-owned private enterprise, North Coast Holiday Parks (NCHP), has hit back at claims his parks do not contribute back to the community since he took over administration from Byron Shire Council in 2006. But questions still remain as to why Council’s financial returns are extraordinarly lower than before the takeover. NCHP general manager Jim Bolger told The Echo that a major amount is paid directly back into the Shire via Council. ‘Other amounts paid for reserve maintenance and or improvement by NCHP vary from year
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hour gym
to year determined by the work needed to be performed. Plans for the upgrades of the day use reserves in Brunswick Heads will be exhibited toward the end of this year. These plans will identify extensive improvement works to be funded from caravan park revenue.’ The questions come after a recent press release by a public relations company on behalf of NCHP that claimed, ‘guests can be confident that the profits from the dollars they invest are returned to the people of NSW and their coastal recreation zones.’ Council’s media officer confirmed that in 2011/12 the amount paid by NCHP for three Brunswick Heads caravan parks was $196,818, and is listed under the ‘Open Space And Recreation Program’ in the budget.
As a comparison to when Council managed the parks over ten years ago, Council’s 2001/2002 annual report says that The Terrace Park generated $380,000, Massey Greene $270,000 and the Ferry Reserve $121,200, equalling a profit of $771,200. Another snapshot a few years later in 2003/2004 reveal a higher figure of $860,653. Council’s community infrastructure executive manager, Phil Holloway, said the income was spent across all Council reserves as per a 2007 agreement with the then-called North Coast Crown Lands Division. ‘Council also receives income for Crown reserve works from the paid parking on Main Beach, Byron Bay, and fees from market licences.’ He says the funds can only be expended on works in the area to which the income was generated.
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