THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 29 #39 Wednesday, March 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
L E T ’ S C R Y P T O PA R T Y L I K E I T ’ S 1 9 8 4
CAB AUDIT
Mungo circles around Abbott – p12
Show us ya metadata! – p11
What’s new in town? – p19
Mandy on a soapbox – p25
Freewheeling for change
All the gigs you could possibly see– p31
Byron Shire Council Notices Page 41–42
Nationals MP snubs Bruns residents Govt-appointed Trust under administration Hans Lovejoy
See the video of this story at A contingent of enthusiastic cyclists bared everything in Byron Bay over the weekend as part of the World Naked Bike Ride. The event aims ‘to deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world’. Luckily it came just in time for the March 28 NSW state election. Photo Jeff ‘Nude Lude And Rude’ Dawson
The push to be first in zero emissions Giles Parkinson from www.reneweconomy.com.au
Byron Shire is aiming to become the first region in Australia to become ‘net zero emissions’, with a goal to reduce emissions from energy, transport, buildings, waste and land use to zero within ten years. The push by Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson means that Byron Bay will be the first town or council in Australia to adopt the master plan created several years ago by the think tank Beyond Zero Emissions. The idea is to dovetail the plan with other local initiatives, including a stream of community-based
renewable energy developments, the creation of the country’s first community energy retailer, and the proliferation of rooftop solar at the household and business level. Dr Stephen Bygrave, CEO of Beyond Zero Emissions, says it is clear that leadership on renewable energy will not happen at the federal level in Australia, and will have to occur from bottom up, rather than the top down approach. ‘Politicians will follow what action happens in the communities,’ said Dr Bygrave. This, he noted, had been the case in Europe, particularly Germany and Denmark, where ‘people power’ had driven the major uptake of renewable energy.
However, the plan in Byron Shire is to push beyond the installation of renewable energy and will incorporate land use, retrofitting of buildings, waste and transport – including electric vehicles – into the plan. Bygrave says his organisation’s research had shown that any building can be retrofitted to make it zero net energy, or zero emissions, but energy only accounts for half the emissions. ‘The creation of net zero energy towns is fantastic, but it gets you half way there,’ Bygrave told a news conference held at the beachfront of Byron Bay on Monday. Still, Bygrave said energy would be a major focus, given the amount continued on page 2
Have the NSW Nationals Party abandoned hope of winning the seat of Ballina on March 28? With the lacklustre response from Nationals MP Kevin Humphries over the Brunswick Heads parks fiasco, it appears so. Mr Humphries has ignored a unanimous call by over 300 residents at a meeting last week for him to suspend proposed works on foreshore parks by the NSW Crown Holiday Parks Trust. And while the government-appointed Trust intends to develop parts of the town’s foreshore after Easter, The Echo has been advised that its board has been placed into administration. A spokseperson for the Trust said that the tenure of the board members – which include ex-corporate CEOs – had expired and new members were being sought. The selection process will be conducted through Crown Lands, they said, and a new board is expected by the end of June. The spokesperson added there had also been a ‘few criticisms that the board was pro-development.’ Established under disgraced Labor MP Tony Kelly, the Trust has a long history of non-compliance and belligerent behaviour towards residents; many of the state’s caravan parks and reserves were transferred from councils to the state, resulting in cost shifting from local government. When The Echo asked if Mr Humphries would act on the concerns of
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the Brunswick Heads residents, his office instead said his government had ‘worked closely’ with the community regarding its foreshore development plans, and ‘adheres to a strict statutory process when finalising draft Plans of Management (PoM).’ His office repeated much of what has already been said by his predecessor, former Nationals leader Andrew Stoner. Mr Humphries’s office said owing to the to ‘high public interest in the Brunswick Heads draft PoM’, the government extended public exhibition from 28 days to two months. ‘Prior to the PoM going on public exhibition, the NSW government widely encouraged the public to contribute to its review.’ Mr Humphries’s office said the Trust ‘received 158 submissions in response to the draft, and through this process those submissions were categorised. This led to 41 recommended amendments being made to the draft PoM to bring it into line with the expectations of the community. The Trust remains committed to communicating with local stakeholders and the general public to discuss issues of concern surrounding the adopted PoM.’
Audit critical Yet Mr Humphries’s office did not reply to the ‘flawed process’ accusation from the community; something which was highlighted by the independent audit into the plan of management (PoM) submission process last June. continued on page 2
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