Letters
Public costs for private protection Q Sol Ibrahim intends to make ratepayers pay to construct rock walls at Belongil to protect private houses (Echo, November 11). This means diverting our rates from roads and public infrastructure into works that will rob us of our public beach. There is no public benefit from Ibrahim’s walls. With seas rising at an accelerating rate we can expect to have to divert more and more of our rates away from public infrastructure into Ibrahim’s multimillion-dollar folly until those works inevitably get overwhelmed. Ibrahim’s rock walls will accelerate erosion of the Belongil beach in front of the walls, stop the beach retreating inland as sea levels rise, and transfer erosion onto the important shorebird nesting and roosting area at the mouth of the Belongil estuary. Back in 1978 it was recognised that the coast was receding so fast that the only realistic choices were to allow the beach to retreat inland as the coast eroded (by moving the houses out of the way when the beach comes within 50m) or to construct inherently unstable rock walls
Best of friends
I was firstly amused then affronted and now disgusted with Cr Ibrahim’s answer to the question ‘Has your personal friendship with some or any of these land owners influenced your decision to vote on their behalf?’ (Echo, November 4). On last Council election day I manned the polling booth at Byron Bay public school in support of Karin Kolbe from approximately 9am to close of polling around 5.30pm. By chance the candidate team next to me was the team supporting Sol Ibrahim. Now I am not sure how you define ‘personal friendship’ but John Vaughan, who I have known very well for many years, manned the Sol Ibrahim booth for several hours and we spoke to each other during the course of the day. John was very happily supporting and espousing Cr Ibrahim’s credibility and the virtues as a potential councillor. Maybe not a ‘personal friend’ but John sure was an ‘enthusiastic Ibrahim supporter’.
and lose the beach. Back then Council recognised that it was simply unaffordable and unrealistic to attempt to defend the private houses, and thus Council integrated planned retreat into its Local Environment Plan in 1988. In 2009, after over a decade of studies, procrastination, and delay, Council finally got to the final vote on whether to adopt its Coastal Zone Management Plan, which reaffirmed planned retreat, before inexplicably deciding to abandon the plan and start again. There are powerful vested interests opposed to any reaffirmation of planned retreat, so it is no wonder that the plan was dumped and there has been no progress since then. So now we see a 26-year commitment to planned retreat being undermined and eroded by councillors intending to use our rates to construct rock walls under the false pretence that they are temporary works and provide a public benefit. Ibrahim’s rock walls will not only make us pay to destroy a public beach and shorebird nesting and roosting area, it will make ratepayers legally liable for maintaining and improving his folly As an aside: having lived in the Bay for 64 years and being involved with the community in several organisations, I thought I knew a lot of people but I did not recognise virtually any one of the people who were gladhanding, backslapping and taking how-to-vote paraphernalia for candidate Ibrahim on the day. I thought, isn’t it strange how quickly someone who grew up in the the Bay does not recognise those who control its destiny? Donald Maughan Byron Hills
Seniors warning
So the toffs of Ewingsdale are in fear of the imminent invasion of old people. Poor souls, imagine the increase in crime – the misfortune of suffering grafitti written in the finest of the Queen’s English without the aid of spell check. The constant theft of tea bags and the illegal trafficking of Viagra. How could we simple plebs from Suffolk Park not sympathise with your frustrations? We had an OP (old people) zoning slapped
into the future. He will cost this community dearly. Dailan Pugh Byron Bay ‘Ethically bankrupt and economically irresponsible’ – Belongil Beach rock wall. More important than whether or not the state ‘did not support it’, the citizens of Byron Shire did not support it. Five councillors demonstrated their contempt for democratic process by voting in favour of the Belongil beach rock wall with ‘reasonable expectation’ that the majority of Byron Shire citizens objected to paying $2 million – and object to paying a further $1 million – to protect the private property of millionaires who chose to build or purchase homes on a sand spit. The pretence that the legal realities of the Jonson Street and Belongil Beach rock walls are identical is ‘ethically bankrupt’. Other than both being made of rocks the two rock walls have little in common, thus it is not ‘hypocritical’ to support the Jonson Street rock wall and oppose the Belongil beach rock wall/s. The number of persons, value of public property and Q
on us years ago without community consultation and are constantly returning slippers, pipes and unregistered walkers to their forgetful owners. Let’s hope future generations are more compassionate when your ‘use-by date’ approaches and haven’t adopted the ‘open landfill’ solution. Rest assured that site shall never be built on owing to the unstable foundations. Despite the mayor’s recent backflip, rest assured that when the corks are popping and the ribbons need cutting his melon will be in front of every flashing camera. Jeff Barnes Suffolk Park
Music magic
Here’s a shout-out to the rest of the shire from the Biggest Little Town. This weekend is the Mullumbimby Music Festival and, as Molly might say, do yourself a favour and come on over. Festival director Glenn Wright has unerring taste and a finger on the pulse of indie, eclectic and quality musicians of every musical style from
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private property protected by the Jonson Street rock wall justifies the cost and construction. However, the Belongil Beach rock walls are the consequence of illegal dumping of rocks upon Crown land, effectively enabling private property owners to annex Crown land and prevent the general public from accessing Crown land (the beachfront – all the land between natural low tide and high tide). When making the decision to protect a handful of private property owners, Council negligently failed to factor in the greater risk to the general public posed by the installation of the geobag wall (barrier to safety). The cost of the geobag wall far exceeds any benefit to the general public. As for Cr Sol Ibrahim’s declaration: ‘they are not rich’ – oh, do behave! Belongil Beach properties are worth upwards of $2 million. From the perspective of 99 per cent of the residents of Byron Shire, the suckers who are expected to pay for the stupidity of millionaires, that is rich – in both the literal and literary senses of the word. Morgan (Ms) Byron Bay
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Be sure your transport of delight has its gear engaged before backing up. – Baba Num Dass
both Australia and overseas. It’s also the most sustainable festival around. There is no festival ‘site’. It happens in the venues of the town, mostly down the length of Dalley Street, linked by the hilarity of the Hippie Bus. It’s affordable, relaxed, family friendly and safe for all ages. The sleepy village comes continued on next page
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Wednesday 19 November
SARAH GRANT Thursday 20 November
DAN HANNAFORD Friday 21 November
BOHEMIAN COWBOYS Saturday 22 November
DAWN PATROL Sunday 23 November
MARK KELLY Monday 24 November
ADAM BROWN Tuesday 25 November
CHRIS ARONSTEN The Byron Shire Echo November 18, 2014 11