THE BYRON SHIRE
HEALTH
Volume 24 #34 Tuesday, February 2, 2010 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 21,000 copies every week
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@C?SRW page 17–19
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
Court gives nod to Woolies in Mullum Land and Environment Court commissioner Robert Hussey last week gave approval for Woolworths to install and operate their proposed onsite sewerage management system for the proposed supermarket development in Station Street, Mullumbimby. Byron Shire Council’s executive manager of environment and land use Ray Darney said the approval is valid for five years and subject to conditions granted by the court. ‘One of the conditions included is that installation cannot commence until the approval issued by the Minister has been modified to incorporate the redesigned onsite system,’ Mr Darney said in a press release. He said Council was yet to see a final copy of the court’s conditions of approval. In August 2009, Byron Shire councillors rejected Woolworths’ Section 68 application for any onsite sewerage system in Station Street, Mullumbimby. Mr Darney said the application
was refused because the applicant failed to demonstrate that appropriate arrangements could be made for the management of sewage generated by the development. Woolworths lodged an appeal against the council’s decision in the Land and Environment Court and was permitted to submit revised proposals for the on-site system. Mullumbimby currently has a moratorium that prevents any new developments being connected to the town’s overloaded sewage system until a planned upgrade is complete. Mullumbimby Community Action Network (MCAN) coordinator Deborah Lilly expressed dismay at the decision. ‘The Court was informed that Byron Shire Council, the Department of Planning consultants Whiteheads Associates and the soil expert, Catherine Hird, commissioned to give evidence in the case, all agreed that the Station Street site in Mul-
proposal include the lack of buffer areas separating the effluent from public thoroughfares and boundaries, the site being too close to residential areas, too close to drainage that flows into the Brunswick River, the need for effluent pumpout – which effectively means this is an off-site, not an onsite system – and the inadequacy of a management plan described by the Senior Counsel as “unworkable”. ‘Furthermore, Woolworths was given four months and two deferred hearings in order to come up with yet more revisions to the already heavily revised onsite system, which has rendered the management of the onsite system an impossible farce. ‘Byron Shire Councillors’ decision Commissioner Robert Hussey at the Mullum site inspection last Septem- to refuse the onsite was justified – the plan must have been flawed beber. Photo Lou Beaumont cause they have had to revise it so lumbimby is too constrained for the many times. Impossibly complex and onsite sewage disposal. unworkable, the Woolworths onsite ‘Other contentious factors in this sewage system is a white elephant and
a health hazard. I am disgusted by the Court process.’ Greens MLC Sylvia Hale described the ruling as ‘a victory for dubious planning decisions’. She said the decision of then Planning Minister Frank Sartor to rezone disused railway land for retail development and to approve in November 2006 the construction of a supermarket in the face of Council’s refusal was ‘unacceptable and the end result has been a decision that favours a giant corporation’. ‘Country residents are all too aware of how supermarket developments in their towns have sucked the lifeblood from small, main street shops. The opposition to the development is not going to disappear in the face of this decision. I anticipate that the vigorous “Woolworths – don’t shop here” campaign will be all the stronger. ‘After all, what’s at stake is the very character of Mullumbimby.’ ■ Comment, page 10, Letters, page 12
Weir all in this together: eeling ceremony at Shearwater watercourse Story & photo Lou Beaumont
An old concrete weir that lay across Mullumbimby Creek on Shearwater Steiner School land has been removed and replaced by an environmentally sensitive version. A combined initiative of State Government’s Industry and Investment and State Water, weirs built throughout NSW during the 1970s were assessed. Some of the concrete dams, known as Jack Beale weirs, were found to be, at best, no longer serving their intended purpose, and, at worst, had become dysfunctional, impacting on the environment. Matthew Gordos, Conservation Manager with Industry and Investment NSW, told The Echo, ‘This particular weir at the Steiner School was leaking and its presence was impacting on migrating fish and other wildlife. Together with State Water we agreed that the weir was no longer serving landholders either and an
agreement was made to remove it. ‘Solely removing the weir was not an option as it would have significantly destabilised the river banks, so we have built a rock ramp fishway in its place. Now instead of juvenile fish and marine life, such as gudgeon, catfish, eels and mullet, coming up against a concrete weir, they swim directly up a gentle slope, providing them with access to a further 10kms of waterway upstream.’ Senior Project Manager for State Water, Frank Kinnas, said, ‘By replacing just three weirs in this region alone, Shearwater, Casino and one near Kempsey, 360kms of river has been opened up. ‘We [State Water] were able to assess weirs that were no longer functioning well but we needed Matthew’s expertise to replace them with appropriate structures. A lot of design and engineering goes into the building of From left, Shearwater Steiner’s head of bush regeneration and gardening, Ken Ohlsson, with Matthew Gordos, rock ramp fishways such as this. the Conservation Manager – Industry and Investment NSW and the Senior Project Manager for State Water, Frank continued on page 2 Kinnas, at the new and improved rock ramp weir.
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