THE BYRON SHIRE
STARS of
Volume 30 #05 Wednesday, July 15, 2015
BYRON SHIRE
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
DANCE FOR CANCER
pages 14–15
P U L P FA C T I O N
CAB AUDIT
Mungo explains a useful Tara man Writers fest Vintage All about political weapon: takes on CSG reviews retro you royal commissions – p8 goliath – p6 – p13 – p20 – p18, 19
Online in
netdaily
Can koalas and quarry blasting co-exist? www.echo.net.au/can-koalasand-quarry-blasting-co-exist
Top coastal expert speaks
Survival days
Warns of potential hazards ‘for beach users and particularly surfers’ Hans Lovejoy
Around 250 participants in last week’s NAIDOC celebration in Byron Bay were cheered on as they paraded through town. The crowd swelled and was treated to cultural highlights (weaving, sculpture, dance and song) at the peace pole beside the surf club under clement skies. Pictured are Lewis Walker, Pete Jangla and Dinawan, some of the dancers who performed. See Jeff Dawson’s photo gallery at www.echo.net.au
GM explains savings/improvements With paid parking and rates being presented as two of the revenue raising measures available to reach the state government’s ‘fit for the future’ program, what internal cost savings have Council staff made? According to Council’s Improvement Proposal from June 25, just one per cent in savings were identified from procurement, while the accompanying PwC consultants report claims there has been a 6.9 per cent growth in Council employee costs for the 2013/14 financial year. And while that doesn’t appear great news, Council’s general manager Ken Gainger says considerable savings have been made from staff
restructures, reduced legal costs and by identifying future asset sales. Mr Gainger told The Echo, ‘We have reduced remuneration for a number of manager positions saving an additional $200,000 per year. More prudent management of Council’s legal expenditure has also seen annual expenditure reduced from over $1m pa to $300,000 pa.’ Mr Gainger said savings in legal costs totalled $750,000 per year, and these savings have been reallocated to fund additional works for local roads, drainage, and parks maintenance. Mr Gainger also said that a asset portfolio review has ‘identified properties that should either be de-
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veloped or sold and the funds used to retire debt or placed into an infrastructure renewal reserve.’ One of the assets identified for development is the former Byron Bay Library site in Lawson Street. Mr Gainger added that building the infrastructure renewal reserve has a twofold benefit. ‘It allows us access to funds to immediately deliver infrastructure upgrades, enables us to provide essential matching funding to release developer contributions from Council reserves, and it creates a funding source that Council can use for state and federal funding programs that require matching dollar-for-dollar support.’
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Bored with the Belongil rock wall yabber yabber? You bet – but part of the reason it’s dragged on for so long has been the lack of authority within the debate. The pros and cons have largely been dominated by politically driven, non-expert councillors. But a qualified scientific opinion has now been voiced, with the chair of the NSW Coastal Panel telling The Echo he and his colleagues have ‘significant reservations’ about the project, including the use of temporary walls, which can dislodge during large storm events. Angus Gordon also explained why the panel has only been able to make a limited contribution to the Belongil rock wall project. The NSW Coastal Panel are possibly the most authoritative voice on all coastal matters, and provide advice to Councils and the state government, specifically on ‘impacts of rock revetments on beaches and public beach amenity’. Mr Gordon’s comments came in response to a press release last week by The Byron Preservation Association (BPA) – who have accused the Greens of publishing inaccurate information on flyers. Specifically BPA say MP Tamara Smith inexplicably withdrew an
online petition after being queried about its claims. So who are BPA? They are headed by chairman of Ramsay Health Care, Michael Siddle. Ramsay is ‘one of the top five private hospital operators in the world,’ according to its website. Mr Siddle says BPA are a ‘notfor-profit organisation concerned about coastal issues in the Byron Shire who object to the principle of planned retreat in urban areas.’ He says, ‘These rock walls will protect a majority of public land, not private land as the petition and flyer said, and will not cause further erosion or the loss of beach. ‘The community need to know the facts, not the misinformation continued on page 2
Current status Preparations are now underway by Council to spend $967,000 to erect a 105-metre rock structure – called ‘interim’ – which will replace geobags on council managed property at Manfred Street on Belongil Beach. It also benefits three surrounding landowners, who will also contribute $100,000 each. Crs Wanchap, Ibrahim, Hunter, Woods and Cubis have consistently pushed for the project, despite very strong public opposition.