LIFTOUT FEATURE
THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 29 #07 Tuesday, July 29, 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
G O T O H E AV E N F O R T H E C L I M AT E , H E L L F O R T H E C O M PA N Y – M A R K T WA I N
CAB AUDIT
Inside How ISIS was created by the this West – p8 week
Entertainment, post mega festival – p16
Mary and the next extinction – p11
CENTRE PAGES
Hercules Bangalow’s bluegrass (The Rock) is back! – p29 fest – p15
Byron Shire Council Notices Page 42–43
The Splendour circus comes to town
While some residents made use of the hotline number for noise issues for Splendour In The Grass 2014, there were no complaints about the silent disco. Photo Jeff ‘Silent Splendour’ Dawson
With around 27,500 patrons – which included 17,000 campers – punters and organisers at Splendour in the Grass gave a big thumbs up all around after a successful festival. The impact on neighbours, however, still seems to be an issue, with Echo readers claiming that the sound carried as far as Main Arm as well as Ocean Shores, New Brighton, Brunswick Heads and surrounds. But many of the previous issues like traffic management were ironed out and police reported ‘a positive, happy upbeat vibe, with no major logistical issues.’ Inspector Stuart Wilkens told The Echo that there were no reports of illegal camping but there were 271 drug detections by sniffer dogs. ‘But that was far fewer than the 430 that were detected two years ago at Belongil,’ he said. Resident and former Northern Star editor Russell Eldridge told The Echo that noise was still an issue.
‘The Splendour community manager was run ragged by noise complaints from different communities, depending which way the wind was blowing.’ As part of the festival consent conditions, inspectors from the NSW Department of Planning & Environment monitored the festival to ensure organisers adhered to conditions around noise and traffic. A full compliance audit report is expected soon. Splendour organisers say they also engaged five acoustic consultants ‘who undertook over 100 noise measurements at local residences throughout the event.’ As for communications, a noticeably slower network was most likely due to 20-somethings asking where their friends were. Q See the video of this story
at – www.echo.net.au/?p=104689
FOI reveals scant Crown Holiday Parks accounting details Hans Lovejoy
A freedom-of-information request by The Echo for the NSW Crown Holiday Parks Trust’s 2012–13 annual report has revealed sparse and questionable accounting practices. Management pay and other remuneration expenses were not included in the document, which was applied for last March under a Government Information Public Access (GIPA) request. At a glance, gross income for all 22 caravan park reserves across the state was declared at $26,345,171 and gross expenditure $23,807,488. Total liabilities are listed at $20,808,439 and the total profit/loss statement was $2,537,683. Council’s director of corporate and community services, Mark Arnold, said at the time that the NHCP annual return ‘would appear to
be prepared to meet the minimum standards for Crown reserve financial reporting.’ ‘Council in its budget and financial statements provides more detail to the community on its caravan park activities but would have provided similar detail in its returns to the Crown.’ While he says it’s ‘difficult to interpret the revenue information provided’, it appears to ‘only relate to leases and licences and may not include casual camping fees for cabins and sites.’ ‘There may be some loans or capital funding through a Crown Land Grant but the shortfall would not be a grant but be derived from other sources. The Reserve Trust would be required to be self-funding. A simple income and expenditure statement for each park would provide this information. ‘The provision of remuneration information for a general manager is a statutory require-
ment and the remuneration for the other listed positions are public information (ie determined by tribunal or parliamentary decision). On the basis that no similar provision applies to Reserve Trust staff, this may be the situation.’ Resident and member of the Foreshore Protection Group, Sean O’Meara, also agreed the report’s details were light for a multi-million-dollar corporation. Additionally he pointed to an incomplete sentence on page nine of the report. Remarkably, Mr O’Meara says that while all the parks under the Trust’s control appear to only make a profit of $2.5 million, ‘Council [when it managed the asset] used to make this on Brunswick holiday parks alone.’ ‘The ten cabins at the Terrace Holiday Park are solidly booked all year, and I believe are making at least $50,000 each, if not more.
‘The annual rent from 35 permanent tenants at the Terrace Reserve Holiday Park was $177,263 or $5,000 each. Are they only paying $100 per week for this prime waterfront land? No wonder they are putting up such a fight! $72,000 rental for holiday vans? – I presume this is the 10 cabins. Each of these I believe is capable of annual returns of this amount as they rent at $1,500 to $2,500 a week.’ Similarly, resident Patricia Warren told The Echo she found it difficult to make comment on the report, owing to the asset value being aggregated for all the caravan parks. ‘However, what is disturbing is the amount of approved loans for the upgrading of the parks that has occurred prior to the plans of management (POM) being on public exhibition.’ To view the annual return document, visit www.echo.net.au/?p=104693.
FREE LARGE MARGHERITA on every delivery or $5 LARGE MARGHERITA on any pick up
02 6680 9357 slicepizzeria.com.au
MONDAY - THURSDAY one per order (no doubles)