THE BYRON SHIRE
The A rt s
Volume 29 #09 Tuesday, August 12, 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
Inside this week
P E R F E C T LY G R O O M E D F O R P A S S I V E R E S I S T A N C E B Y N A N O B O T S
CAB AUDIT
Pizza, coffee and The Good Life – p20–21
Cyclist injured on Ewingsdale Road A 39-year-old Coorabell woman is in a Brisbane hospital with head and leg injuries after the bicycle she was riding was involved in an accident on Ewingsdale Road near Byron Bay last Wednesday night. Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident and owing to her condition, and the accident is believed to have occurred at around 6.30pm. The woman was found lying on the road by a passerby about 300 metres west of McGettigans Lane. She was taken to Tweed Heads Hospital then later transferred to the Gold Coast where she was reported to be in a serious but stable condition, with multiple fractures. The latest accident on that road has sparked a warning by a local cycle club that another cyclist could be killed there unless the cycleway is upgraded all the way to the highway from Byron Bay. Four cyclists have been injured in accidents on Ewingsdale Road west of McGettigans Lane in the past three years.
What’s on your bucket list? – p16
Mungo’s new book on Gough – p15
What’s new for you – p18–19
Gigs galore in the shire – p29
Homecoming gig packs out
Byron Shire Council Notices Page 42–43
Residents prepare for bypass fight Hans Lovejoy
While Australia recently discovered the singing siblings Cecilia and Gabe Brandolini through TV’s The Voice, local audiences have enjoyed their performances for years. With barely any standing room, the pair had over 500 people in the palm of their hand on Saturday night at the Mullumbimby Civic Centre. Photo Eve Jeffery
CCTV go ahead: after stalling comes the installing A federal government grant of $200,000 was an offer too good to refuse, and Council staff will now be preparing the installation of sixteen CCTV cameras in Apex Park and on Jonson Street. The decision at last Thursday’s Council meeting will also include a funding provision of $15,000 per year to the Byron Youth Service’s Street Cruise Program, beginning in the 2015/16 financial year. Additionally, partners will be sought to help the estimated $80,000 per year ‘and/or find part-
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ners to collect the data and maintain the system (eg NSW Police).’ Perhaps most importantly, a lighting component has been included, totalling $45,000. The mover of the motion, Cr Chris Cubis, told fellow councillors that he had been affected by Byron’s street violence. ‘An apprentice of mine was bashed to within an inch of his life,’ he said. During debate, mayor Simon Richardson warned of the cost associated with CCTV upkeep and cited studies which suggest that it is
only effective in carparks. ‘In terms of town centres that experience street violence, CCTV is the last thing people think about. Even police presence doesn’t help.’ And in a rare show of fiscal abandonment, Cr Sol Ibrahim said, ‘If it’s going to cost some money, then so be it, we have a $60m budget.’ ‘Capture and conviction is what the community expects.’ Meanwhile, president of Byron Bay’s chamber of commerce (Byron United), Michael O’Grady, told The Echo that he personally conducted
a study on behalf of the chamber a year ago. ‘I looked at the CCTV installations of surrounding shires, and one of the findings was that maintenance costs were not as high as Council’s estimated $80,000.’ But Mr O’Grady did concede that with the cameras being near the beach, there could be higher costs associated owing to the salt air. He added that the topic of contributing to CCTV had not yet been canvassed with Byron United members.
Butler Street residents in Byron Bay say they are gearing up to save their street from becoming a bypass after a majority of councillors voted against a proposal to pursue the unused rail corridor. A motion at last Thursday’s meeting by Cr Duncan Dey requested written confirmation from the state government to ‘make land permanently available within the multimodal rail corridor’. But it gained only the support of Dey and the mayor; Crs Ibrahim, Cubis, Woods, Cameron, Wanchap, Spooner and Hunter instead voted against. And while proceeding the current course reflects advice from the general manager Ken Gainger and staff, the Butler Street Community Network’s Paul Jones says that Council’s failure to ‘fully explore bypass route alternatives’ is a fundamental requirement of their application to state planning for the project approval. ‘We feel Council is its own worst enemy as they are so afraid of appearing to be indecisive and delaying the process that they vote to proceed into a legal and procedural quagmire,’ says Mr Jones. ‘As a result this will certainly have the effect of delaying the outcome and wasting precious financial resources’. But the town’s chamber of commerce, Byron United, remains hopeful of a rail corridor outcome. Vice-president Adrian Nelson continued on page 2