THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 29 #35 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 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
W I T H O U T S P E A K I N G U P, T H E P O O R B E H A V I O U R W I L L C O N T I N U E
CAB AUDIT
What’s Byron Mungo! Where’s our All your What’s New Titanic captain steering happening at entertainment Film Fest us now? – p8 The Farm? – p7 needs – p21 reviews– p13 – p15
Hans Lovejoy
Justin Gordon from Surfers Paradise and Joel Klein from Mermaid Beach vied for the ‘flag’ during last Saturday’s Brunswick SLSC Masters Carnival. This year’s event saw 65 competitors from 12 clubs compete in 56 events. Winners on the day were the Brunswick SLSC (168 points) followed by Surfers on 115 and Mermaid on 110. Photo Tree Faerie
OS celebrates defeating Telstra tower that Telstra operate under all required safety standards and argued against the public concerns raised. While they acknowledged the opposition to its proposed proximity, they said there is no ‘sciencebased reason for this position.’ That suggestion was met with murmurs from the gallery. ‘With regard to property values, there are reports that conclude mobile installations do not have adverse impacts on property values.’ They argued that, ‘15 schools are within close distance to mobile towers and that most schools have wi-fi.’ During question time, Cr Alan Hunter made the point that those opposed to the tower spoke with passion and conviction, and asked the
Aurecon reps if they also shared a passion for what they were presenting. Mr Mason then lifted his voice and said that yes, he believes this was the right decision to be making.
Community support Campaign spokesperson Ray Musgrave later told The Echo, ‘The community, which was the reason this whole thing got over the line in the end, was so supportive and all of our group is really pleased.’ He said it ‘spoke volumes’ that all the councillors listened to the community’s arguments, which he attributed to ‘the enormous variety among ourselves’, including ‘professionals, carpenters, real estate agents and mums and dads’.
Byron’s traffic problems have either been courageously tackled or wilfully exacerbated, depending on who you believe from last Thursday’s Council meeting. The conservative voting block of Crs Ibrahim, Woods, Wanchap, Cubis and Hunter over-ruled independent planning and staff advice and have asked that plans be prepared for the ‘two lanes in’ project. It aims to construct an additional lane 50 metres north of the Caltex petrol station opposite the police station, and run two lanes from that roundabout to the other at Lawson/ Jonson Street. But the plan by Cr Rose Wanchap was reduced in scope after logistics hampered their project. Items scotched include widening the railway crossing (which will be required), and a road up along the carpark towards Main Beach was excluded (located just before the second roundabout at Lawson/Jonson Street). It’s something which Cr Wanchap argues are ‘very minor changes which have been advocated for by previous councils for a decade now.’ ‘Our traffic engineer Simon Bennett has produced a past report complete with engineers drawings, plans and approvals for this short stretch of road,’ she told The Echo. But the project will need to be given to Council’s Local Traffic Committee for consideration, despite asking for ‘advice and comment’ prior to the project’s commencement. As for cost, $206,000 has been set aside for the project, which will be
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Byron traffic plan stumbles onward
Brunswick SLSC take all
Telecom giant Telstra and its subcontractor Aurecon will have to find a new home for their 30-metre tower after Council unanimously rejected a proposal to erect a ‘telecommunication facility’ within close proximity to Ocean Shores schools and homes. When the vote was taken at last Thursday’s general meeting, it caused the packed gallery to erupt into applause, hoots and cheers. During morning access, community campaign spokesperson Ray Musgrave spoke against the tower while Vanessa Davies and Darren Mason from Aurecon, on behalf of Telstra, spoke in favour. The Aurecon representatives explained to the gallery – rather flatly –
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sourced from ‘within s94 reserved for Byron Bay traffic management.’ During debate, Cr Di Woods told the gallery that, ‘well in excess of $1m had been spent on traffic studies’, and that ‘they all indicated that one of the fixes is to do what’s being proposed.’ Crs Woods also appeared conflicted: she said that while she voted for a town master plan, which is currently underway by consultants McGregor Coxall, she said, ‘I don’t think much will come out of it.’ ‘I believe they’ll give us great plan, and don’t question their ability. But our traffic issues have existed for 25 years or more, and they will continue. ‘My understanding from McGregor Coxall is they wanted to drive traffic up to the beach.’ Cr Woods then said that, ‘Any plan that [McGregor Coxall] have which says they can decrease the traffic into Byron is a furphy.’
Reduce v manage But McGregor Coxall have told The Echo they are confident that they will be able to reduce traffic. Additionally, they say that as they are in the initial stage, they had not even considered, ‘driving traffic to the beach.’ The head planner behind the town’s master plan, Michael Cowdy, told The Echo that reducing traffic is ‘one of our key goals.’ ‘We believe we can solve this, and what we have heard from the community is they want that.’ When asked about previous studies and general recommendations to push more traffic towards continued on page 2
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