THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 24 #40 Tuesday, March 16, 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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PA R S I N G S T R A N G E
Complex work to start
Shearwatershearheads
Shearwater shearer Sharon Harris unlocks the coiffures of Jane Beattie and Dan Pinter and finds $1,500 in the kitty for cancer research. Sharon and many others at Mullumbimby’s Shearwater School shaved the 20 or so hair reduction volunteers to raise the funds for the Leukaemia Foundation last Friday. Photo Jeff ‘Cut A Rug’ Dawson
Site preparation works will commence this week at the proposed Byron Regional Sport and Cultural Complex on Ewingsdale Road, Byron Bay. Byron Shire Council executive manager community infrastructure Phil Holloway said the initial site works will include preparing site access points, installation of an office, power and water. ‘Once we have the office and staff in place, the trucks will start to arrive,’ Mr Holloway said. ‘Stage one of the project includes extensive ground works with fill and turf being laid on the site.’ Mr Holloway said some motorists may experience short delays on Ewingsdale Road as trucks entered and left the site. ‘In order to minimise any traffic delays, staffed traffic controllers will be in place to assist with truck movements.’ It is expected that trucks will be entering the BRSCC site on a regular basis over the next six months. Council recently approved over $3 million worth of tenders for the upcoming works. These include $1,043,707 to local firm J&M Bashforth & Sons for free-draining material, and $124,215 to Brunswick Valley Quarries for supply of pavement gravels. The Byron Regional Sport and Cultural Complex is expected to cost $16.8 million is supported through federal funding of $9.5 million.
Bluesfest impact on Mullum/Bruns traders an unknown Eve Jeffery
With the move of the Blues Festival from Byron Bay to Tyagarah, the towns of Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads have now become the closest satellites to the biggest entertainment event in the shire and local business owners are unsure of how it is going to affect trade. All of the Brunswick Heads accommodation is booked out for Easter, but it always is at this time of year. Bruns retailers have had a very rough
trot in February and March and are really looking forward to Easter. The town generally copes well with large numbers of additional day trippers, so the same should apply and the Visitor Centre will be open throughout Easter to look after visitor enquiries. Several of the Mullumbimby businesses, like Dennett’s, have said it is business as usual and some traders will still close completely for what is customarily a quiet time. Laurie Driscoll from the Court House Hotel in Mullum says that having one of
the biggest festivals in the country on the front door step is an unknown quantity. ‘It’s a bit of a crystal ball,’ says Laurie. ‘No-one really knows what will happen. Traditionally Good Friday is busy for us but we will have to wait and see.’ One might expect that gumboot sellers would make a killing, but in recent years there have been plenty of vendors on or near the site to capitalise on the wet weather. Gerard and Sue Walker of Stewarts Menswear say that they expect to sell more gum-
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boots and ponchos but they usually do at that time of year and they will be keeping their usual Easter hours this year. ‘We close on Friday and open on Saturday,’ says Sue. ‘If there are a lot of people around on Saturday, we may extend our hours longer into the afternoon, but we won’t be open on Sunday.’ Emma Moses from the Empire Café in Burringbar Street is very happy about the change of festival venue. ‘We are not usually open on Sundays
and last Easter we were closed,’ says Emma. ‘We are going to open this year. We are looking forward to it. ‘There will not only be the locals around. During the festival there are people who come to stay with friends, or friends of friends – anywhere there is a free bed. It should be a great weekend and our whole family will be on staff.’ Mullum Chamber of Commerce president Bev Norton believes that the weekend should be a positive for continued on page 2