Letters There is MO
I am very concerned about Adrian Gattenhof ’s criticism of my nascent half-MOvement (Letters, December 17). I would prefer that he was more considerate of the fact that there is at present only one member up against the entire fossil fool industry. Nonetheless I am confident that half-MO will grow. When one in every 30 monkeys changes their ways, the rest follow. Even Adrian will one day feel compelled to a facial display of his distaste for the nasty imbalance of our planetary thermodynamics. However, one is left to wonder whether half-MO will be enough to save our world. No worries, it will be a piece of piss. This year we can, should, and will transfer our banking to more caring and gentle institutions (ref marketforces.org.au). We will also invest in more solar panels and electric transport. But can the fossil fools stop the Arctic divesting its methane into the air? Can we keep those atoms of fear out of the atMOsphere? Stay tuned, there’s MO. Sapoty Brook Mullumbimby
Instant death
For many years I have been distressed by the fact that if we do have to poison feral animals (and in some cases unfortunately we do have to) why did we have to use such a barbarous method as 1080
baits, which cause such an agonising death, as mentioned in Howard Furness’s letter of December 17? Why can’t we use something that gives animals an instant stroke or heart attack? I used to think. Then some time ago I was watching a program on Prof Rick Stein of the CSIRO who was experimenting with luring cane toad tadpoles into traps so they would be removed from the environment. In the course of an interview he proclaimed in relation to the action of toad venom, ‘It gives them (predatory animals) an instant heart attack’. I wrote to Prof Stein in regards to using toad poison in baits but I didn’t receive a reply. Surely this is a possibility. We have plenty of specimens we could ‘milk’. It needs research, which is unlikely to be funded under the present government, but if the idea worked it could in fact create a whole new industry and the product could possibly even be exported. David Gilet Byron Bay
Dodgy costings
I refer to the costings of the recent rail feasibility study for the Casino to Murwillumbah line. The restoration of the rail line from Byron Bay to Mullumbimby is estimated to cost $202 million. This is a 16km long stretch of rail track. It has approximately 25 wooden underbridges, of which 13 are less
Last act in Belongil rock saga? From a gallery populated by two observers (no media) at Council’s last meeting for 2013 I witnessed what was probably the last act in the saga of the Belongil rocks. In a report of very dubious quality (does the GM ever vet his staff ’s work?) councillors were invited to ‘endorse’ a draft Review of Environmental Factors (REF) on the building of rock revetments on Belongil Beach access points and to ‘agree’ that that works would pose no ‘significant’ threat to to the environment including any fauna or flora. This decision was required to allow the progression of a consultant’s plan for the works to commence. On the basis of the staff report the recommendation was very hard to sustain as the REF had been extensively criticised by most of the reviewing agencies including the Coastal Panel (the preem-
inent state coastal scientists), Fisheries NSW, Trade and Investment Crown Lands, Office of Environment and Heritage and Cape Byron Marine Park. When questioned about this apparent dissociation, staff replied, in essence, that it was all okay as they were of the opinion that there was no environmental impact likely. And yes, their staff ecologist had been consulted but only on the matter of noise impacts in the construction phase. On the basis of the extensive gaps in the staff work Cr Spooner moved that the Coastal Panel be invited to confer directly with councillors on the basis of their comments on the REF before the works were sanctioned. This was immediately countered by Cr Ibrahim with an amendment that they accept the staff recommendation. Three hours of predictable
rhetoric then ensued. As has been the case in all debates on this issue (remember that rocks were already approved in some form) the division was between the Greens/progressive independents and the Woods/ Ibrahim pro-rocks faction with their fellow-travelling Green(?), Cr Wanchap. In this instance Cr Wanchap initially indicated that she may be in favour of prior consultation with the Coastal Panel but then became very confused. In a strange dissertation in which she claimed to have consulted widely (never says with whom) and offered the opinion that the rock environment would probably be more beneficial to the wildlife than the beach, she convinced herself to once more give her ‘casting vote’ to the rocks faction. The Belongil Lobby can
be very pleased with whatever assistance they may have provided in the election of the Woods/Ibrahim faction, which has been unremittingly focused on their agenda. On the other hand the estimated cost of the project is already exorbitant and will escalate (as all council projects do), so financing will have to come from state, federal or private sources – not very likely in the current fiscal climate. Should the project tend to flag it is likely that the Belongil Lobby will be once more looking to their lawyers as this is the precedent they need to rebuild all their currently crumbling walls. In this instant the Rock Faction may be glad they reluctantly supported the mayor’s motion to get the legal advice that council staff had decided was unnecessary. Tom Tabart Bangalow
than 15m long, a total of approximately 600m. These underbridges have been estimated to cost $61 million. That is $100,000 for every metre of wooden underbridge. A recent condition report, released with the feasibility study, requested all underbridges to be replaced. None of them had been physically inspected and it was acknowledged in a 2004 inspec-
tion report 15 of the 25 underbridges were considered to be in good or fair condition. There are preliminaries and contingencies and overheads and unknowns and profits, but costing estimates of $200 million for this part of the track look to me as if it is intended not to go ahead – to say it politely. Jens Krause Byron Bay
we go out in the car. It takes months for our over-worked council to get around to filling the holes with hot-mix. The trouble is, avoiding potholes means we have to meander all over the road and when we meet a vehicle doing the same thing coming the other way there are some really close calls. On top of this there is a deadly cocktail of speed, kids, trucks, joggers, stoners, school buses, distraction, dementia, booze and dizzy Sunday drivers. So it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed or badly injured. I understand there are public liability insurance is-
sues around non-council people filling the potholes, so, maybe a solution would be to allow local contractors who live up these valleys to fill the potholes with a temporary hot-mix (circled with yellow paint) until the council gets around to doing it to spec. This would be a better solution than leaving them open like time-bombs waiting for accidents to happen. Michael Balson Upper Wilsons Creek
Govt contempt for public land The current plans of management for the caravan parks now on exhibition are evidence of the utter contempt NSW Crown Holiday Parks Trust (NSWCHPT) and NSW Trade and Investment Crown Lands (NSWTICL) have for Byron Shire Council’s resolutions on the operational boundaries for the caravan parks. Those critical resolutions are 12-627 of August 9, 2012, 12-995 of December 20 and 13-25 of February 14. Their attitude puts deputy premier Andrew Stoner (Crown Lands) and minister for local government Don Page in opposing camps. The document also states that the trust manager may enter into the commercial leasing of the caravan park under s102 of the Crown Lands Act 1989. The notion of commercial leasing is con-
sistent with the recommendation in Deplan’s confidential report September 2005 to the then Department of Lands. In the context of Ferry Reserve caravan park, approximately 1.2ha of land were compulsorily acquired to expand the Crown reserve to include the old Pacific Highway and the old Fins building. Development is proposed on land zoned E2 which at this stage prohibits caravan parks. Potential revenue raising land has been given over to ‘recreational facilities’ as opposed to vacating the foreshore land between the paved former road reserve and the river and using it as recreational land for members of the public and caravan park clientele. This would have returned that land to its historical use as parkland. The old Fins building is to
be reconfigured as dormitory-style accommodation on the ground floor, with selfcontained units on the second floor, shared amenities, a common room and guest lounge. The document labels this as ‘group accommodation.’ It is a hard to imagine this as anything other than backpacker accommodation. It will be left to the Reserve Trust to determine whether or not a member of the public can continue to use the public boat ramp. Such discretionary power in the hands of any manager prone to a short fuse and poor public relations skills would be devastating for those who have conventionally used the boat ramp to launch their tinnies. Long-term sites will be phased out. Patricia Warren Brunswick Heads
Defusing bombs
Up here in the valleys behind Mullum, in Wilsons Creek, Huonbrook and Wanganui, we are obliged to drive a slalom course around ever increasing potholes every time
THE
Misguided Mungo?
He may know his politics, but he hasn’t looked closely at the science of fluoridated water. continued on page 11
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 THE FAMOUS RAILS kitchen Wednesday 1 Jan
THE CAMEL TONES Thursday 2 Jan
THE PROPELLERS Friday 3 Jan
JIMMY WILLING PRESENTS BRING ON THE DANCING GIRLS Saturday 4 Jan
THE LAMPLIGHTS Sunday 5 Jan
WARREN EARL BAND Monday 6 Jan
Letters to the Editor
SHIRAZZ
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Tuesday 7 Jan
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PINK ZINC The Byron Shire Echo December 31, 2013 9