Letters
Poor decision
Council’s media release of July 21 claims the appointment of the current general manager for a further four years with Byron Council was ‘confirmed unanimously by councillors’. That was not the case. There are processes at the end of a GM’s contract. Step 1 is that the GM advises Council several months out of their wish to continue or not. Step 2 of this council was to delegate the response to a team of four councillors. Step 3 was the team heard the wishes of the other five councillors. The final outcome was negotiated on that basis. It does not reflect the wishes of all councillors on the matter. Hence the claim of unanimity is not correct. The council of 2012–16 had the immense benefit of appointing its own general manager and the result was excellent. The outgoing councillors decided, however, to take that opportunity away from the new council, to be elected next month. I think that was a poor decision. Cr Duncan Dey Main Arm
Ocean Shores DA
In regard to a DA to build eight townhouses on two blocks at 4–6 Roundhouse Place, Ocean Shores. The eight townhouses are boxlike industrial-style construction, which is totally inconsistent with the surrounding development character and visual amenity. The DA has completely disregarded the ‘three-metre space between buildings’ requirements in order to squeeze the most out of the site to the great detriment of
acceptable design practice. In some cases there is less that a metre space between buildings. Surrounding properties in Kanandah Court and others in Roundhouse Place will have significant privacy intrusions from the proposed townhouses. Screening will not be possible because of a long sewerage easement which covers most of one of the blocks. Roundhouse Place is a small cul-de-sac and the road is only six metres wide in most sections. Eight townhouses will generate significant increased traffic flow and parking issues. In all likelihood, vehicles will have to park in Orana Road, which will be a nightmare for traffic on such a busy road. There are also other issues concerning waste management, prevention of solar access, shadowing, car parking and floor space ratios. I urge everyone to have a look at this DA on Byron Council’s website and voice their objections to Byron Council and the elected councillors. It appears this DA is being rushed through at a time when Council is in limbo owing to upcoming elections next month. Jim Morton Ocean Shores
Fantastic plastic
Now that Mullum’s Dennett’s IGA has eliminated the plastic shopping bag – which had its uses as a bin bag – when will they eliminate from their store the less-reusable green bags in the fruit-and-veg department, the clingwrap on bunches of celery, on half-pumpkins… the plastic wraps on breads, the many
hundreds of other ‘single-use’ plastic containers/wraps on their products? And when will their prices be reduced to account for their discontinued cost of supplying such bags ‘free’ to shoppers? The timing of this Santos-led ‘bag war’ was uninformed; the Lismore waste facility now accepts plastic shopping bags for recycling. What is the difference between re-using plastic shopping bags as bin liners and buying plastic bin liners, apart from the direct charge to the consumer? They still end up in landfill. As I refuse to purchase plastic bin-liner bags, I just might have to move my shopping to Woolworths to get my ‘free’ bin liner supply. Gordon Haynes Federal
Stolen land
Inheritance law is one of the fundamentals of our British system. It is to be hoped this will be front and centre in our considerations of Aboriginal land rights and a treaty. Our wealth, our commonwealth, is built on Aboriginal land. The owners have been disinherited. Jim Nutter Main Arm
The Koho DA
As a long-term resident living in Mullumbimby I do wonder about all the hoohah surrounding the development application in Stuart Street. After checking out their website it seems to me that the developers actually have a social conscience. They are involved in designing and building crisis accommodation up on the Gold Coast and I drove past their development in Sun-
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motion to negate the previous approval was successful. It was successful owing to Cr Woods changing her decision because in her own words to me, ‘I think it is very sneaky for Koho to be getting such a scheme through under affordable housing when it is not affordable housing’. I know there are community members reviewing all procedures regarding this DA and if there has been any error in planning procedural law, a third-party challenge will be possible in the Land and Environment Court against this council’s last hurrah! I suggest CAN seriously consider whether a vote for Cr Spooner can now be sanctioned as a vote for a trustworthy candidate who will support grassroots community. He came to power as an independent but is now backlit by the optic gleam of ambition for the Labor Party’s prizes and is tainted by such demonstration of sleight-of-hand.
rise, The Kollective, and I liked how it looked. People want to live in this area and if some interestingly designed one-bedroom units can be incorporated into our town, where is the harm in that? It seems a lot better to me than people renting out their garages for $300 per week or their caravans for $250 per week. As a property manager in this area I deal every day with people looking for rentals and owners wanting to rent. Most owners are putting their own homes on Airbnb and bunking in with friends in peak periods. Consider for a minute that Koho are actually trying to do a good thing and help people who would like to stay in this area. Maybe, just maybe, this development will allow ten local people to stay in the area and continue to contribute to the community that we all enjoy being part of. Leah Ashenhurst Mullumbimby Q Who among us, when we elect our local councillors, considers we give them our permission to ‘negotiate’ with developers/planners into the night using tactics we’ve never heard of (recommittal) to approve DAs in a format that no-one not on the futures-exchange floor on said night has ever seen? Insider horse-trading with Cr Spooner the chief whip! Earlier that day community objectors to this precedent for pseudo-affordable housing (ARH SEPP) by Koho witnessed debate and after two to three hours left the meeting when a rescission
THE
Go for Cate Cooney and, with the rest of the Greens team, Sarah Ndiaye from Byron Bay, and bypass the aforementioned operator. June Grant Mullumbimby
God bless America?
If Trump becomes president of the USA, it will be a lunatic running the lunatic asylum. It’s bad enough with what we have here in Australia. Father, do not forgive them for they know what they do. Or do they? What’s to say Clinton will be any different? Paul Brecht Goonellabah
The Hunter DA
I read, with a sense of unreality, the headline to your August 3 article, ‘Councillor’s DA all good’ and, as I read down, I wondered what alternative universe the council’s staff are living in. The reality is that, in the collective recollection of my and Cr Alan Hunter’s ‘longcontinued on next page
Putting our community back into the decision making processes of council will only happen if we insist upon it. Come and meet the candidates for the upcoming Byron Shire Council election and find out what they stand for. Make your vote count. RSL, Auditorium, Dalley St. Mullumbimby. Thursday18 August, 6.30pm-8.30pm. Further details, contact Sonia 66841961
Mullumbimby Residents Association
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 11 August
THE PROPELLERS Friday 12 August
THE SWAMPS Saturday 13 August
THE HIGH GRADE Sunday 14 August
THE JUKE JOINT Monday 15 August
JAMIE ASHFORTH Tuesday 16 August
LEIGH JAMES
Wednesday 17 August
MONTGOMERY BROTHERS
The Byron Shire Echo August 10, 2016 11