THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 27 #33 Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Phone 02 6684 1777 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Inside this week
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT GO BET TER WITH KFC
CAB AUDIT
Lucky Wonders interview – p19
Letters to the editor – p11
Need a tradesman or professional? Service Directory – p31
Real Estate section – p46
Sign On Byron Shire Council Notices Pages 42
Sun takes a holiday
Frida flies the flag
Staff reporters
In case you have been living in a vacuum-sealed pod in a waterproof bunker you would have noticed it’s been raining. ‘We’re in damage control,’ a Tweed LAC police officer said when contacted by The Echo on Monday. He said a remote command post had been established by the duty officer and he was assisting the SES and other rescue services with the unfolding road closures, fallen trees, power lines and rescue calls. Waves of up to seven metres lashed the coast Monday morning and nearly 500mm of rain has been reported near Mullumbimby since 9am Sunday, as the brunt of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald batters our region. Destructive winds are forecast to continue, with peak gusts of 140km/h over parts of the northern rivers. No matter the weather, things are always more fun when you have something to fly. Mayor Simon Richardson’s It is estimated 1300 people are daughter, three-year-old Frida, had way too much fun with a smile, a tattoo on her cheek and the wind in her flag at already isolated by floodwaters in Saturday’s Breakfast in the Park. Photo Eve Jeffery
northern NSW. In breaking news it was reported by ABC online that a section of Tweed Hospital roof had been blown away. As of going to press the Pacific Highway remains open; however, Tweed Valley Way (west of the Pacific Highway) is closed to traffic near Murwillumbah. Bangalow Rd, between Bangalow and Lismore, is also closed. Police are urging drivers to slow down and use extreme caution in the current wet weather conditions, after a number of serious crashes across the state. Officers attended 127 major crashes on Saturday, where 46 people suffered injuries, but fortunately no deaths have so far been reported. For the latest traffic information visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701. For emergency help in floods and storms call SES on 132 500. For general flood warnings see www.ses.nsw.gov.au. For weather warnings check www.bom.gov.au.
Strange Bedfellows forum blows off steam Hans Lovejoy
A packed Byron community centre on Saturday night saw the business community, along with council and state MPs, discuss the impacts of tourism on the town and its future. And in a first for community radio station BayFM, the entire Q&A-style event was broadcast live from the theatre. Comedian Mandy Nolan, also a panelist, warmed up the crowd and displayed an overhead chart demonstrating Byron’s enormous visitor numbers compared to other NSW regional towns. ‘The graph clearly shows other tourist towns are dwarfed by Byron. ‘Outside of Sydney, we have the highest level of visitor numbers,’ she said, ‘and when you consider the ratepaying base of Sydney as opposed to
ours, we are carrying a heavy burden.’ And so it was game on. Debate was at times heated but generally constrained from both panelists and audience. MC Mick O’Regan set the tone for the evening by saying, ‘There are many who are telling me that what is happening in Byron Bay is a privatisation of benefit and a socialisation of cost.’ All panelists agreed that this year’s NYE caught organisers (Council, the business community and police) by surprise. Publican and businessman Tom Mooney said he understood that sales for the night were down for most of the liquor outlets. Part of the problem, he said, is NYE crowds needed direction and that venues offer greater safety than celebrating on the beach. ‘All it would take is a big night with big seas and people could have drowned.’ Byron United (chamber of com-
merce) president Paul Waters again came under pressure to explain his comments over new years eve. MC Mick O’Regan asked what he meant by ‘if you don’t like tourism, then move to Lismore,’ to which Mr Waters said it was taken out context by the journalist. Predictably he rejected police recommendations to close drinking venues earlier, claiming it would create more problems if hundreds of people were ejected from, say the Beach Hotel, all at once. While a very worthy debate, and hopefully just the start of a wider conversation, there was unfortunately very little said that was ‘actionable’. Reduced-interest loan grants to assist Council from the state government was at one time mentioned by Don Page, who is Ballina MP and minister for the north coast and local government. He added that Council had yet to make an
application for them. He played down what other assistance his government could provide, despite being in office and a local resident. He was at odds over the legalities of holiday letting with Greens MP Jan Barham. Mr Page said he considered it legal, to which she argued that the government’s LEP (Local Environment Plan) clearly says it isn’t. MP Barham then claimed there were over 600 houses being holiday let, and received applause by saying it has led to an erosion of community. Mr Page also told the audience that he was assured by Tweed-Byron police commander, Inspector Stuart Wilkins, that there are sufficient officers in the region. That claim was challenged by youth worker Nicqui Yazdi who said from the floor that local police officers she talked to say there are ‘just not enough’ police.
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Mayor Simon Richardson said that suggestions by police to improve the CBD’s lighting and moving the taxi rank had been worked on by Council staff and would be tabled in coming months. He added that his priority would be to address that before considering CCTV, despite it being given support by Council. State or federal government funding on CCTV is yet to be sought. At the forum’s conclusion, it was announced that on Thursday February 7, another forum would be held at the community centre, with the aim to establish a united association called ‘Our Community’. The Echo asked federal Richmond MP Justine Elliot what funding assistance the town could be given by the feds – or indeed currently provides – but her office did not reply by Friday prior to Monday’s public holiday.