THE TWEED Volume 2 #30 Thursday, April 8, 2010 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
HEALTH AND @C?SRW PAGES ¯
Water conserving measures ‘ignored’ Ken Sapwell
Bluesfest hailed a big success Luis Feliu
The 21st Byron Bay Bluesfest held over the Easter long weekend at its new base on a tea-tree farm at Tyagarah has been hailed a success by organisers and festival goers. Around 17,000 people a day packed into the new, expanded site at Tyagarah just south of Brunswick Heads, and police reported a smooth flow of traffic in and out of the site over the five days. Previous festivals at two sites in the Byron Bay township had been a source of major traffic congestion and noise complaints from locals
Blues guitar masters a generation apart, Buddy Guy, left, and Joe Bonamassa, were just two of the headline acts at the Byron Bay Bluesfest last weekend, exciting old fans and new ones alike. Photo Jeff ‘Axe Handle’ Dawson (see more of Jeff’s Bluesfest pics in the entertainment and arts gallery at www.offmyfacebook.com.au).
but the new site, owned by the festival management, is set to cater for an ever-expanding Bluesfest. It was one of the most diverse lineups the festival has seen, with old blues/rock masters such as Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck mixing it with Latino stars such as the Gipsy Kings and the Buena Vista Social Club. As for the Aussie/Kiwi acts, the revamped Crowded House and the John Butler Trio also gave punters plenty to sing and dance to. Then there were the 1970s pop superstars such as 10cc and Supertramp (well, two of the five) and cult singer-songwriter Rodriguez to bring the melody memories flooding back. And another ‘British blues invasion’ of sorts hit the festival with 1960s innovators such as John May-
all, Peter Green and Jeff Beck showing they can still rock the socks off many musicians today. Festival director Peter Noble said the lineup this year was extraordinary and he didn’t ‘know if we’ll have another bill like it’, admitting he’d said that before. Rain is almost synonymous with Bluesfest but this year the weather was kind and a threatened deluge held off. Regular festival goers included the police operation targeting drink driving and illegal drugs with sniffer dogs detecting small amounts, mostly marijuana, on more than 150 people, and most offenders either cautioned or given court attendance notices. But the festival is all about a continued on page 2
Tweed Council is under renewed pressure to re-examine water re-use options before it pushes ahead with plans to almost triple the capacity of the Clarrie Hall dam. A council-appointed group examining four short-listed options to secure the shire’s water supplies over the next 30 years has called for an independent review of the proposed strategies. They include a preferred option of raising the wall of the dam to increase supplies from the current 16,000 megalitres to around 42,000 megalitres at a cost of about $40 million. Most members of a community working group (CWG), comprising landowners, business people, community leaders and councillors, want the review to focus on other water-saving measures which have been adopted by several nearby councils. They include the installation of dualreticulation systems for large-scale grey water recycling and integrated stormwater harvesting as well as bigger and more efficient tank systems to capture roof run-off. Their request for an independent assessment is part of a strongly worded statement signed by eight of the group’s 12 active members, with council representatives Dot Holdom and Phil Youngblutt among those opposed to the move. The statement is buried within the 300-page report following claims by group members that staff refused their request that their concerns be given greater prominence by being placed near the front . The report favors raising the dam wall over the other three options which included a new dam at Byrrill Creek or
pipleines linking into neighbouring water supplies owned by the Gold Coast or Rous Water. But members of the group say they have grave concerns that the terms of reference were narrowed to just four options after the consultants dismissed large-scale water re-use measures as too costly to implement. ‘We have particular concerns about the assumptions that justify the need for addtional water supplies,’ the statement says, adding it wants an independent review to look at re-use programs, population growth, the impact of strategies to manage water demand and climate change.
Decision constrained ‘We are concerned that the council has already constrained its decision to the four water supply options, without establishing adequate community engagement processes or consideration of the loss of environmental values that may be destroyed,’ it said. ‘We would like to see the proposed independent review of the demand management strategy evaluate the potential for additional water savings measures such as mandatory rainwater tanks, stormwater harvesting and recycled water before committing to the dam (option).’ ‘We and the community would like to be reassured that the council’s demand strategy and water options selection process is in line with national and international performance standards and appropriate to our environment.’ The report was given to the council at its last meeting which voted to put it on public exhibition until the end of the month. One of the group, Joanna Gardner, continued on page 2
ABN 82 087 650 682
<echowebsection=Local News>