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THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 28 #38 Tuesday, March 4, 2014 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
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G20 old school Rose Wanchap Butterfly park Who’s Beaucoup Why not Inside for Byron? the Boz? de sport defends the psychoanalyse economics this – p10 – p19 – p36–37 – p13 rocks – p11 week Fast Buck$? – p9
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Byron Shire Council Notices Page 35
Sportsfields for the north at last
BBFF 2014 lifts off
Luis Feliu
The long saga to find a suitable site for sportsfields in the north of Byron Shire is over: Byron Shire Council announced last Wednesday that it had bought a parcel of land at Shara Boulevard in Ocean Shores. The seven-hectare block, on the corner of Shara Boulevard and Brunswick Valley Way, was bought by Council for $318,000 (excluding GST) and Council says it has potential for two playing fields, an amenities block, car parking, community play spaces and park furniture. The purchase is considered a bargain given that the land’s asking Festival director J’aimee Skippon-Volke and Armen Ra celebrate Friday’s soldout red-carpet opening for the 2014 Byron Bay International Film Festival. The ten-day program is available at www.bbff.com.au. Photo Jeff Dawson
price when it first went on the market was almost $2 million. Ironically, Lot 5 Shara Boulevard was sold by the widow of the late Queensland-based developer Chum Vidgen, who died in 2012 aged 73 and was often at odds during the 1990s with Council and environmentalists over his developments. The site had a longtime approval for a service station and another, smaller, site of 1.7 hectares just across the road, also owned by the Vigdens and up for sale, has approval for a motel and restaurant. Mr Vidgen developed the Ocean Shores Shopping Village as well as continued on page 2
Q See the video of this story
at www.echo.net.au/?p=87145
Belongil landowners asked to chip in for rock walls Hans Lovejoy
A voluntary contribution from Belongil landowners affected by beach erosion is the latest plan by Byron Council to help pay for the remaining amount needed for a rock wall that would cover the last stretch of private and public beachfront in the area. The topic of ‘interim beach access stabilisation works’ again divided the Greens voting bloc at Council’s meeting on Thursday,
OUR LOWEST RATES
in 10 years
with Cr Rose Wanchap siding with Crs Diane Woods, Sol Ibrahim, Alan Hunter and Chris Cubis to support funding the rock wall from an environmental levy. But if the Belongil landowners come to the party, the estimated $155,000 from the levy may not be needed. Cr Ibrahim told The Echo that after meeting all the landowners recently, they were open to negotiations and are looking at ways to maintain
beach frontage (as rock walls are known to erode beach frontage). While conceding it isn’t cheap, Cr Ibrahim said, ‘there are other beachfront areas all over the world with rock walls that have been engineered to also have beach frontage’. He also challenged the argument that all Belongil landowners are required to have removable houses in case of a severe storm, as per a 1980s agreement with Council. continued on page 3
From left, Rob Crossley (New Brighton Village Association), councillors Di Woods and Basil Cameron, Kathy Norley (president of the South Golden Beach Community Association) and mayor Simon Richardson. Those two jumping for joy up the back are Shores United Football Club manager, Kim Fearnside, and its president, Marc Patten. Photo Jeff Dawson