Letters did at least try to address the motion. This was a motion which gave councillors an opportunity to go well beyond ‘roads, rates and rubbish’ but apparently we have at least two councillors who believe these are the beginning and end of their role and are happy to say so. Jenny Coman Bangalow
Ewingsdale siege There are moves afoot, well underway, to have the LEP amended to suit developers of the site known as Lot 101, being the property next to the new hospital. In order for this mega development (under the pretentious name of ‘senior housing’) to proceed, the LEP needs to be adjusted. Why do we have an LEP in the first place if anybody can come along and get it changed? Ewingsdale has been and still is a rural residential subdivision. When we bought there, over 20 years ago, we bought for that reason. We wanted space around us. We didn’t want to chop up our garden to make a profit. We enjoyed having certain amounts of privacy and freedom. We also expected this to last. Is it ‘selfish’ to want what we were promised to remain
that way? Is it unreasonable to expect the councillors that represent the people of Byron Shire to do the job they are paid to do and look after the interest of the people and not kowtow to outside developers with their over-the-top plans to denude and destroy our way of life with the stroke of a pen? If this development goes ahead, including a shopping centre the size of the IGA complex, it will forever change the gateway to Byron Bay. No matter what the architects tell us they intend to do with their fancy words and modern ideas, it will be a sprawling blight in the Byron Shire. This is all about money and profit, not caring for the elderly, and I assure you that if this goes ahead we will all look back and wonder ‘How did we let this happen?’ Jenny Gordon Ewingsdale
Business in abuse It’s a pity that more of the large gallery present for public access at the beginning of last week’s first Council meeting of the year didn’t stay for at least the first item of business, which was Cr Dey’s motion to reject doing business with companies that abuse human rights; he clearly had those responsible for the appalling treatment of our asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus in mind. Cr Dey’s motion was passed with some very worthy speeches in support, notably an impassioned and farreaching but wholly relevant one from our mayor, but the responses from those who opposed the motion I found so offensive that I struggle for words to describe them, – narrow-minded, ignorant, uncaring, even xenophobic come to mind, certainly largely irrelevant; Cr Woods
Letters to the Editor
cluding my concerns about the level of infiltration occurring during high rainfall into the gravity sewer mains in Mullumbimby. The previous director of water and recycling and his engineering staff submitted to Council in 2011 that the infiltration of the Mullumbimby gravity mains had been resolved. The evidence used to support this was a reduction in sewer-
Q Following this week’s High Court decision on offshore detention on Nauru, the Greens have called on the prime minister to rule out sending children and their families back there. Sending children to Nauru would be child abuse and Malcolm Turnbull needs to decide whether he is willing to authorise that. The evidence is clear and it’s undeniable that Nauru is unsafe for women and children. This is a major test for the prime minister. Will he keep these children safe, where they can thrive and prosper, or will he dump them back on the prison island of Nauru? I was so disappointed this week when the Labor and Liberal-National parties voted down a Greens motion calling on the Turnbull government to grant amnesty to these 267 vulnerable people, including 37 babies, so they don’t have to be sent to Nauru and Manus Island. The snaprallies held around the country this week demonstrate Australians do not think this is fair or reasonable. Dawn Walker Greens candidate for Richmond
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Send to Letters Editor Michael McDonald, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
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I have written several letters over the past years concerning Byron Shire Council, in-
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The Byron Shire Echo February 10, 2016 11