THE BYRON SHIRE
Home and Garden
Volume 24 #37 Tuesday, February 23, 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
Exploiting the beauty of rust
BYS gets $250K for binge drinking project The Byron Youth Service is one of two north coast groups to receive large federal grants to tackle binge drinking among youth. BYS has received $250,000 for Project U-Turn, a project that will bring key stakeholders together to develop and coordinate actions to reverse binge drinking trends among young people in Byron Bay. St Josephs Youth Service in Tweed Heads has received $249,967 for Cool Heads, a street outreach program that will engage young people in the Tweed-Coolangatta area in public places at high risk times (Friday and Saturday nights).
Grassroots efforts
Sheri Piccone with a small part of her large exhibition, T rust, collage exploiting the beauty of rust brought together with some of this insatiable collector’s astounding pieces. T rust opens with a party this Thursday night at 6pm at Still @ the centre & Waywood Gallery in the Byron Indy Arts Park. Photo Jeff ‘Sleep Never Rusts’ Dawson
Byron/Tweed score $1.7m for Bush Futures The Environmental Trust has approved the Tweed Byron Bush Futures business plan which will drive the sustainable management of key urban bushland over the next two years. The $1.7 million federally funded project was awarded to the two shires in 2009 and aims to establish a series of ‘Bushland Friendly Neighbourhoods’ in the Tweed and Byron local government areas. Byron Shire Council’s natural resource team leader Scott Hetherington said the Bush Futures business plan identifies the delivery of on ground works to ensure urban developments minimise their impact on surrounding habitats and the role of Council in managing reserves. He said the next step in the plan will be a bushland audit which will assist in the prioritisation of on ground sites including the condition, threats
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and remediation requirements. ‘Areas of public bushland located within two kilometres of all urban areas across Tweed and Byron Shire will be audited,’ Mr Hetherington said. ‘All information will be collated into a Geographical Information System (GIS) database and will inform future projects beyond the life of Bush Futures.’ Types of works that will result from the audit include weed control and habitat restoration, trapping and removal of pests, interpretative signage, erosion control and the removal and recycling of litter and rubbish. Mr Hetherington noted that largescale habitat change and human impacts have occurred across Byron Shire, resulting in severely depleted ecosystems and natural landscapes changing. The Bushland Futures project will help reverse this impact.
In the past two years Council has been successful in securing over $5 million worth of environmental grants. The grants focus on ground restoration projects, community engagement and ‘future-proofing’ regional food production against climate change. As part of the Tweed Byron Bush Futures project, an education campaign aimed at local communities will also be developed to inform the public on how they can help play a part by reducing stormwater pollution, rubbish and helping with the control of pests. Further information on Council’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy is at www.byron.nsw.gov.au/biodiversity. To see where the shire bush regeneration team has been hard at work, go to www.byron.nsw.gov.au/biodiversity/ bush-regeneration-team.
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Richmond MP Justine Elliot said the two year projects are aimed at engaging young people at the grassroots level, offering them support and informing them of the harm that binge drinking can cause to them and their community. The projects are among 19 grants – at least one in each state and territory – totalling more than $3.5 million, funded under the $53 million National Binge Drinking Strategy. Director of Byron Youth Services Di Mahoney told The Echo that ‘I was rapt!’ when she heard the news, ‘I was screaming when I found out! I have been trying for about the last four years to get the resources into this town. ‘It’s a major initiative trying to reduce the negative effects of bingedrinking, so I’m very excited. ‘I’m looking forward to working with the other community partners on this initiative. We really need resources to do this work, a lot of which is early intervention, trying to prevent young people from falling into that pattern of behaviour. It’s very good for Byron and I’m dying to get on to it!’ Ms Elliot said that, nationally, the statistics on binge drinking are horrifying. ‘Four Australians under 25 die due to alcohol related injuries in an average week. On average, one in four
hospitalisations of people aged 15-24 happens because of alcohol. ‘Use of alcohol affects everyone in our community. This funding will help to reduce the mental, physical and social harm caused to individuals, families and communities on the north coast.’ Ms Elliot said the National Binge Drinking Strategy grants underline the Rudd government’s approach in tackling binge drinking across Australia – an approach that involves engaging local communities in providing local solutions to what is a national problem, and encouraging people to take personal responsibility for their alcohol consumption.
Partnerships ‘The grants allow community groups and organisations to develop effective and sustainable partnerships to combat binge drinking, working with key members of their local community such as police, health and youth workers, cultural groups, local government authorities – and, fundamentally, young Australians at risk. ‘It is important that individual communities are able to make a contribution to the national strategy – they know the specific circumstances and details of what goes on in their own towns and cities. ‘They have a solid understanding of what activities will and won’t work – and they have the commitment and energy to succeed.’
Breast screen rally A rally for the reinstatement of the mobile breast van in Byron Bay is to be held at 12 noon this Wednesday February 24, in front of Railway Park. Aimed at both raising awareness of and publicising the imperative for a return of this service, it will feature guest speakers, a petition to the Minister for Health and television coverage. A simultaneous rally will take place in Ballina. All those concerned are urged to attend.