Health & healing
THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 29 #21 Tuesday, November 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
Inside this week
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H Y P E R V I G I L A N C E I S M A N D AT O R Y
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Thousands join in gasfield-free rally
‘Cancel licences’ Gasfield Free coordinator and rally organiser Elly Bird said, ‘The determination and commitment of the community of the northern rivers to remain gasfield free is undeniable. ‘This community is saying loud and clear that they want full cancellation of the licences across the region, and nothing less will serve. ‘Today’s event makes it very clear that opposition to invasive gasfields in the region is not going away. ‘The NSW government needs to take decisive action and join Labor and the Greens in making a com-
mitment to permanently protect our region.’ Jenny Dowell, mayor of Lismore, said, ‘We sent a strong message to governments and candidates before the March election. Our communities do not want unconventional mining here – not now, not ever. So mining companies may as well pack up and leave.’ The rally also saw the launch of four large signs that will be erected at each of the main arterial road gateways to the region, welcoming all travellers to ‘Gasfield Free Northern Rivers – protected by community.’ ‘There are now 142 self-declared Gasfield Free communities in this region,’ said Aidan Ricketts, spokesperson for Gasfield Free Northern Rivers, an alliance of community groups. ‘The survey question was: “Do you want your neighbourhood Gasfield Free?” To this simple question an overwhelming 95.3% said yes.
Photo supplied
‘With over 31,000 respondents, these community surveys show the strength of our resistance.” ‘We have mass-movement dynamics here. The region won’t cop it.
Martial law? ‘We’ve shown we can mount massive, effective nonviolent actions. Do they really want to attempt mining by martial law?’ NSW premier Mike Baird and Lismore’s National Party MP Thomas George were invited to the rally but did not attend. When asked directly by Echonedaily whether he would cancel gas licences in the region, Mr Baird refused to give a straight answer, instead blaming Labor for ‘the mess’ they left behind.
Byron Shire Council Notices Page 46–47
Resident power forces Council backtrack over Ewingsdale Chris Dobney
Organisers of the Gasfield Free event in Lismore on Saturday have described the day as a huge success. Police estimated the numbers at 5,000 while organisers put it as high as 8,000. The day included a welcome to country, a street march in the middle of town and several speeches.
Pages 20-24
Ewingsdale residents will get a second chance to have their say on a proposed retirement village in their midst after Byron Shire Council voted last Thursday to require the developer’s proposal go out for public exhibition again. Council’s aboutface came in the form of a rescission motion, cancelling its previous resolution – taken less than a month ago – to change the zoning of the land in its new LEP. The decision was taken with just one dissenter, Cr Alan Hunter, but followed heated and at times rowdy debate. From the outset, the passion of Ewingsdale residents was on show, with many of them holding placards supporting the rescission.
Two per cent support During public access three residents spoke supporting the rescission motion, revealing that a doorknocking campaign of the area over two weekends had shown less than two per cent support for the plan. By contrast, 94 per cent of the 234 resi-
dents interviewed said they did not support the proposed development. Proponent Leigh Belbeck said during public access that she was ‘not fast-tracking or circumventing but following the gateway process’.
‘Not Belbeck’s fault’ She said, ‘Two hundred information leaflets were sent out to residents’, and added advertising had also been bought in The Echo ahead of a series of information sessions she ran. ‘Approximately 100 people attended three meetings,’ she said. ‘It’s not Belbeck’s fault if people weren’t aware or feel they didn’t have time to come. ‘A market research survey shows strong support from older residents,’ she added. But the Ewingsdale residents responded with figures from their survey, with progress association member Kirsty Nugent saying the community felt they were, ‘told what [Belbeck] want to do; we weren’t asked.’ She also questioned ‘why the rights of one group of people to do continued on page 2
Q Mike Baird’s comments, page 3 Q See Eve Jeffery’s photos and
Sharon Shostak’s video of the rally at
Ewingsdale protesters filled the council chambers. Photo Eve Jeffery