Letters
Rocks go up, shire collapses Q It is utterly preposterous that a majority of Byron Shire councillors voted on Thursday to hand an open cheque of our ratepayers’ money to the rock wall construction at Belongil beach. This will go down in history as the single issue that will have sent the entire shire flat broke within 20 years. This will be the start of our economic collapse, as this precedent goes viral along our coastline, in concert with climate change’s sea level rising and increased rogue climate events. How foolishly short-sighted and ignorant our national leaders have been for 30 years regarding climate change, but for our very own ‘intelligent, sustainable and alternative’
Protect volunteers During my last four years as a Byron councillor I had a running battle with the then GM over my attempts to address staff deficiencies reported to me by the community. The GM deeply resented (feared) what he saw as interference with his authority and potential embarrassing disclosure, although it is the elected council that remains ultimately accountable to the community. His apparent weapon of choice in attempting to silence me was to level constant complaints against me under the council’s code of conduct. Four were filed, three of which failed and one was lost in transit by the GM. They all cost the ratepayers heaps. The code has since been revised and in my re-reading I was struck by an anomaly in the treatment of council volunteers. While councillors and staff members are entitled to a system of complaint assessment by outside reviewers, volunteers can be left solely in the hands of the GM. This means that the GM is in a position to assess complaints against volunteers without revealing their source (which can be the GM), then impose sanctions without independent review. The finding doesn’t even have to be reported to the elected body. Hypothetically a GM could use this mechanism to silence a volunteer who may have come across embarrassing or illegal activity in the course of their work
present-day local leaders to be actually discussing, let alone passing and financing, such a ludicrous ‘solution’ is sheer lunacy that attempts to eclipse the magnitude of the Pacific Ocean itself. And what for? A few people that have enjoyed million dollar lifestyles for decades, and refused to sell up and profit in time to even greater climate denialists? We must stand up and protect our environment and our rates. There are far more pressing needs for our hard-earned rates to be spent on. Tim Shanasy Byron Bay Q Really, for abject silliness this council takes the cake.
for Council, and it’s all prosecuted in strict secrecy. Volunteers are the selfless women and men who save the council/ratepayers many thousands of dollars and who, the Recognition of Volunteer Rights NSW Conference said, ‘should be supported overwhelmingly’. Tom Tabart Bangalow
Lifeguard required After the recent rain I was walking again down Middle Pocket Road (minus the dog) and I came across a couple of kids fishing in a pothole. The boys were actually quite close to the edge of the pothole and, as the wind had generated some quite vicious surface chop and waves which were breaking over the edge of the pothole, they were in a fairly dangerous situation. Both boys were under 14 so they didn’t need a fishing licence; therefore they were doing nothing wrong, but I am sure that I saw a shark fin moving through the water a bit further out in the pothole and given the dropoff from the edge of some of our local potholes, if the boys had fallen in, they would have found it very difficult to get themselves out again. Now I am not a wowser and I think that legislation that is introduced to protect people from themselves is a waste of time, but I do feel that the council could put up signs near some of the larger potholes to let people know that there is no water skiing, boating, fishing or
Rocks dumped at Belongil, sand trundled from one beach to another, road diversions through wetlands, diesel trainloads of the rich transported through modest suburbs chuffing out stinking fumes and annoying noise. Back in the day when Business Bay was a real place before the money moved in, the environment had a fighting chance and some fine things were achieved by the grassroots community. Alas, incremental decline set in with burgeoning gentrification encouraged by the flourishing real estate business. Byron was losing its mojo. There appeared to be a heartening possibility of some balance again after the last BSC
election with a strong showing from the Greens. Alas, after an act of betrayal unmatched since Judas achieved dubious immortality, that hope was blown to the winds like gold dust off a developer’s cheque. However, there are great stirrings afoot and changes rumbling. Byron Bay may emerge from the blight and shine again to take possession of its motto ‘Expect Respect’, to include its glorious environs and flora and fauna. In the words of the unforgettable sign at Bentley Blockade, it’s PEOPLE POWER BABY! that will save the day. Jill Keogh Federal
swimming allowed. If this can’t be done then I would recommend the appointment of a full-time lifeguard to patrol our local potholes, especially after rain events. Ray Linabury Middle Pocket
How can BSC fine a private builder for allowing siltation to leave his building site while BSC allowed a much larger amount of siltation from their work site to infiltrate the stormwater system at the same time? This is hypocrisy at its best. Alan Dickens Brunswick Heads.
In reply to Ray Linabury (Letters, May 20): Potholes in Byron? Looxury, Looxury. You should see them in Mullumbimby. I was walking on the footpath in my street and I saw a nice Akubra hat in the middle of a puddle in the road. I reached across the water and lifted it off and there was a man’s head under it. I offered to help him out of the hole but he said he was okay and he was more concerned for the horse he was sitting on. Peggy Balfour Mullumbimby
Q
Hypocrisy Byron Shire Council has fined a builder who was working on a house site off Orana Road, Ocean Shores, for sediment leaving his building site during the heavy rainfall in March. I witnessed the amount of contamination that left Council’s work site just a kilometre up Orana Road from the builder’s site. There was no attempt by Council to restrict the amount of silt that disappeared into the stormwater drains during the high rainfall period and flowed into Marshalls Creek and Ocean Shores Golf Course.
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This money-creating system threatens to sweep all power, most assets and most money towards a tiny percentage of the world’s people. Even more exciting is the possibility of reversing much ecological destruction, much unemployment and much loss of democracy. A public bank would be an easy way to avoid debt and austerity. A diverse credit creating system is very possible. Read some of Ellen Brown’s works, or those of Positive Money. Or come along in June and learn what can liberate us all! Dr Liz Elliott Mullumbimby
Inability to share The wars of civilisation, especially in this ‘modern’ period, are based mostly in the inability of humans to share material resourcing; one group
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A very popular talk was held in April about the financial system, and many people asked to attend ongoing discussion groups. These are being arranged at Mullum’s Pioneer Hall in June. They will be at 4.30pm Tuesday afternoons June 9, 16, 23 and 30. Ninety-seven per cent of money is created as bank credit, out of thin air, often created for house price booms and speculation.
THE
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Adam van Kempen Lauren Donnellon Olivia Munro Sarah Nagel
The money system
of people feel they have primary call for resourcing and others are not as deserving. Paul Smith (Letters, May 6) says that ‘Australia’s decision to fight in 1914 was based on … Australia’s security from the rising power of Japan depended on Britain’s naval power, which Germany was directly threatening.’ J W Smith in The World’s Wasted Wealth 2, quoting from several sources, says, ‘It seems probable that if war had not come in 1914, London would have had to share with Germany the regulatory power over world trade and economic development …’ My reading of this is that Britain did not want to share. If Britain were a small child, and in terms of national maturity it obviously was, then it might have been sent to a continued on next page
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John Turton 28 May – 10 June Exhibition of Recent Work
Earth to Sky John will be demonstrating his dry pastel and oil wash technique at 1pm Sunday– Wednesday of both weeks www.johnturton.com.au Facebook: john turton art
28 Lawson St, Byron Bay NSW Open 7 days 10am–4pm
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 28 May
LITTLE BIG WOLF Friday 29 May
RAGGA JUMP Saturday 30 May
RUMBLEFISH Sunday 31 May
KALLIDAD Monday 1 June
ANDREW MORRIS Tuesday 2 June
MATTY ROGERS Wednesday 3 June
CASS & AL The Byron Shire Echo May 27, 2015 9