THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 29 #47 Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Health & Healing
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
A N O T H E R E C O N O M I C A L LY D R I V E N H E A R T F E LT E D I T I O N
CAB
pages 13 15
AUDIT
Mungo attempts to find a politican with conscience – p8
Local govt, with rainbows and unicorns – p5
Gigs? Need a Bucketloads tradie? in here – p28 – p29
Online in
netdaily
Byron median house prices higher than Sydney echo.net.au/byron-house-prices
Letting Byron development it grow aimed at wealthy Luis Feliu & Hans Lovejoy
Nimbin MardiGrass organisers have hailed this year’s event a success despite the predictable heavy policing on the roads in and out of the village. Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone told The Echo that some were angry because new drug testing equipment being used by police was extremely sensitive and detected cannabis traces days after use, regardless of whether the driver was impaired or not. The testing devices do not detect opiates or pharmaceutical medications, which are known to impair driving. Photo Jeff Dawson Q Watch Sharon Shostak’s MardiGrass video in – go to www.echo.net.au/mardigrass-2015
Holiday letting tackled by Council Hans Lovejoy
Signage outside holiday let premises, introducing development consent and new rate charges are just some of the measures Byron Shire Council have put forward as part of its strategy to manage the industry. The adoption of the Byron Shire Short Term Holiday Accommodation Action Plan at last Thursday’s meeting aims to address the community’s demand for peaceful amenity and the assumed rights of property owners to profit from holiday letting. Holiday letting been a contentious issue for many years; the state
government has provided little to no guidance to councils, who have been left to manage it by themselves in conjunction with holiday letters. While Byron Bay has been a particular focal point owing to the large number of holiday let homes, a landmark court case in May 2013 found that short-term holiday letting at a house in Terrigal in NSW was illegal. Newscorp reported at the time that the judge ‘found the fault was not entirely [the defendant] Ms Bennic’s, as she had never been told by Gosford Council that it was illegal to rent out her property.’ Both industry representatives
and affected residents addressed Council during public access to voice their concerns.
Flawed: HLO John Gudgeon, representing the Holiday Letting Organisation (HLO), told the chamber on Thursday that while it was encouraging to see the issue moving towards a ‘real and practical’ arrangement, ‘it’s unfortunately fundamentally flawed.’ He said his group’s submission to the plans flagged that development consent planning methods were not going to be legally binding. continued on page 2
West Byron developer Terry Agnew has confirmed with The Echo his intentions to aim much of his development at the wealthy. It comes after the Sydney property multi-millionaire boasted to a Murdoch-owned newspaper last weekend about his plans to build 500 homes on 600 square metre lots, close to Byron’s CBD. Prices would start from $850,000, he said. The Echo asked Mr Agnew if The Weekend Australian article accurately represented his views, which included naming the development The Harvest Estate. He replied, ‘Firstly, I would like to differentiate The Harvest Estate from the West Byron project. That is a separate project and I cannot make any comment on what will or will not happen on that site. ‘Market demand at the time will determine pricing. Increasing supply of housing will go some way toward increasing affordability of housing in Byron overall. This is not unique to Harvest or Byron, as I am sure you understand. ‘Our commitment is to nurturing a residential community which showcases state-of-the-art sustainability measures, from the use of solar power, water-sensitive urban design, rainwater tanks, cross-flow ventilation and a range of other initiatives. ‘While our research has shown that there exists some pent-up demand from Sydney and Melbourne buyers, we would like to preference locals first.’
The Echo then asked Mr Agnew how that could be be legally achieved, but did not receive a reply. Currently the NSW planning department and Byron Shire Council are preparing a development control plan (DCP) to provide a framework for the 70-hectare site, located on Ewingsdale Road.
At odds with dept And Mr Agnew’s intentions have put him at complete odds with the NSW planning department; according to the government’s own West Byron Bay Assessment Report, the approval decision was made, in part, owing to a perceived lack of affordable housing. From page 68 it reads, ‘Housing is clearly unaffordable in the Byron Shire, which also extends to the rental market and key workers cannot afford to live in the LGA.’ Given the lack of a coherent planning narrative, The Echo asked the department, ‘How can locals have faith in the planning department’s ability to provide responsible and strategic planning that will ensure social equity.’ The Echo also asked, ‘Does the department expect that Mr Agnew’s wishes be granted?’ and, ‘How will the department ensure that this proposal doesn’t exacerbate Byron Bay’s already recognised social/wealth divide?’ A department spokesperson replied, ‘The planning controls for the West Byron site, developed by the department and currently being continued on page 2