THE BYRON SHIRE
HEALTHAND BEAUTY
Volume 25 #05 Tuesday, July 6, 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
R E C U R R I N G PAT T E R N S R E C O R D E D
Memorial wall for Jai Morcom
FOUR PAGE FEATURE ¯ P
Woolies wants liquor in Station St Michael McDonald
Who thinks it is a good idea to have a liquor store in a residential area near a primary school? That’s what Woolworths wants for its Station Street site in Mullumbimby. It wants to remove the licence from the outlet at 32 Burringbar Street to Station Street and trade under ‘Woolworths Liquor’. The NSW Casino Liquor & Gaming Control Authority needs to assess a Community Impact Statement (CIS) for the proposal. The CIS is being prepared by Woolies Sydney solicitors Back Schwartz Vaughan.
Have your say in survey
A Memorial Wall dedicated to the memory of Jai Morcom near the spot where he died almost a year ago. Visual artist and dancer Lewis Walker with aboriginal education officer Scott Sentance by the mural they and a number of others including students and members of the Deadly Dancers troupe have been painting. The inquest into Jai’s death will be held in the Lismore Courthouse on January 31, 2011, and run for about two weeks. Photo Jeff Dawson
You can fill out a survey at the solicitors’ website www.bsv.com.au under the CIS link. Byron Bay residents might like to respond to the CIS for their town. Alternatively, send your written comments to Tony Schwartz at tschwartz@bsv. com.au or Back Schwartz Vaughan, Level 5, 75 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000 by close of business on July 26. Once the CIS is completed, you will be able to see it on the NSW 0ffice of Liquor, Gaming and Racing website www.olgr.nsw.gov.au, assuming the Woolies decides to proceed to that stage. Any person can make submissions regarding the application directly to the Authority (www. casinocontrol.nsw.gov.au). Also, I’m sure Ballina MP Don Page would be interested in your comments on a liquor store in a residential street. His details are at www.donpage.com.au or write to PO Box 1018, Ballina 2478. You can also write directly to the NSW Casino Liquor & Gaming Control Authority, GPO Box 7060, Sydney 2001. Mullumbimby is well supplied with liquor outlets at the two pubs and the existing site in Burringbar Street. We don’t need one outside the central business district. Q Letters, page 10
Homelessness on the rise in Byron Shire – no affordable accommodation Victoria Cosford
Homelessness is on the rise across NSW. According to The Salvation Army, a massive 65 per cent increase has been recorded in the number of people who report being homeless or sleeping in cars or tents. From around 1,200 people in
2008, the number has increased to nearly 2,000 people in 2010. The main leap occurred during the peak of the economic downturn, from 2008 to 2009, with research revealing that one in five people coming to the Salvos during 2009 had never asked for help from them before. The situation in the Byron Shire is no better,
according to the Salvation Army’s Major Darren Elsley. ‘Locally, more and more people are calling on us for assistance and using the Fletcher Street Drop-In Centre,’ he said. ‘Ninety per cent are from abusive backgrounds – there is definitely a correlation between abusive backgrounds and mental health
issues. I’ve been noticing an increase every year in homelessness. ‘I’ve been a Salvation Army officer for 16 years but in the last couple of years there’s been a marked increase, particularly in the people living out of their cars, especially young mums.’ continued on page 3
ABN 82 087 650 682
<echowebsection=Local News>