Letters Easement? Nowhere can I find included in the meaning of easement: best if left untouched for years at a time, suitable for creating a rockery in, great for throwing old fence palings into or perfect place to build your own chicken coop. Matt Andrews South Golden Beach
The Queen’s shower Last Friday I was about to wash the sand off my dog at that fabulous shower in the reserve opposite Treehouse restaurant in Belongil when a hapless Council worker just finished dismantling the shower and was carting it away. He said it was on Crown land, not Council land, and it had to go. I guess ‘Crown land’ means it’s owned by the Queen. The shower had been attached to the power pole by Council decades ago in a more carefree time. It was a very popular shower. The nearest public shower is kilometres away at the surf club. All year round hundreds of ratepayers and visitors lined up to use this marvel-
lous amenity, washing the salt and sand off themselves and their dogs, so they could get back into their cars or enjoy a meal at one of the local cafes. I guess they’ll just stop coming now. Perhaps in a more enlightened time, Council might speak with the Queen and replace such an amenity with a better shower before removing the old one. Michael Balson Upper Wilsons Creek
Housing needed My dearest friends from Sydney just sold their home for a crazy price in Sydney and they have purchased a property in Mullumbimby. They were left with plenty of change so it was a great deal for them but it is one of many purchases that is putting affordable housing out of our reach more and more. I’m grateful they will be my neighbours but it worries me that they are one example of hundreds of people that have seen our property market become out of reach for my kids and my friends. I have friends living in cars, in
garages, looking desperately to rent, let alone buy, so they can keep their kids in school and keep their jobs. Affordable housing is the most pressing issue of our Shire and we are in a total crisis. I am so grateful for the activism and initiative of projects like Brunswick Eco Village. Not only is it a beautiful place to potentially live, it is a very real, innovative option for affordable housing that has been designed and supported by longtime locals and professionals looking for affordable ways to continue living in this Shire. The success of BEV impacts upon future potential developments in our Shire. More housing will be built in our Shire whether we like it or not; developments like West Byron have shown us this. So what do we want, people? I say lots of affordable communities – otherwise we are at the mercy of developers encouraging individual ownership only by those who can afford it. It’s great to see Byron Shire Council approving pilot programs for affordable housing and I’m pleased to see that
Letters to the Editor 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.
Australia
TOWARDS
ONE PLANET LIVING ...a vision of a world in which people enjoy happy, healthy lives within their fair share of the earth’s resources, leaving space for wildlife and wilderness. Suzette Jackson - Exec. Director, Bioregional Australia Sasha Mainsbridge - Local Woman of the Year 2017 Dan Fitzgerald - Small Giants
Thursday 6 July, 2017 7.00 - 9.00 pm Brunswick Heads Memorial Hall
Tickets at eventbrite.com.au -One Planet Living or on the door
$15 Full $10 Concession Catering by Hub Grub Caterers Pumpkin Soup | Carrot Cake | Apple Crumble | Chia and teas
BEV is now one of these options to explore. Jannine Barron Mullumbimby
have ever experienced. With the main street of Brunswick Heads actually cracking and not far from being a dirt road with bits of asphalt. People’s lives are now being compromised by the state of the roads in the shire. I work in Lismore and they have seen catastrophic floods and rain and have a large area of roads to service, yet the majority of their roads are still maintained and in good condition. Lismore Council also has a Facebook page where residents can give feedback. Whereas Byron Shire Council has no option for this and no clear way of sending feedback except for email or a phone call. I think Council owes its ratepayers the ability to travel safely on its roads. Luke Ingram Wilsons Creek
Bloody roads Byron Shire Council, you have a lot to answer for: high rates paid by only 15,000 people, no tourist tax for the two-million-plus visitors each year. Further increases in rates and the worst bloody roads in the area. In 30 years I have never seen/hit so many potholes from Sunrise to Bruns and Mullum. Shameful. Don’t just look after Byron Bay! I have just got home from picking up my son from school, following numerous cars swerving all over the road, in the wet, to try to avoid/hit (causing damage to my car) the massive amount of potholes. In the last three days I have seen road conditions in Sunrise, Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby being some of the worst I
THE
Bed tax? It was pleasing to see Cr Spooner on the morning ABC news expressing dismay
at the seemingly difficult task of creating a bed tax owing to state government resistance. I recently requested an update from Cr Lyon on his previous information in The Echo about some ‘coalition of councils’ to look at this issue. As Cr Spooner failed to mention this during his interview, can Cr Lyon or someone from Council update the community on this issue, if indeed it exists? There are only two possibilities to this question – either there are discussions underway with the state government or Cr Lyon has tried to fob off ratepayers and my question to avoid the issue for some reason. Further to this, the state treasurer’s bleating about NSW being the ‘envy of the western world’ for being in the black after selling off community assets, something any fool without an economics degree could do, is simply an insult to intelligence. If the state government is allegedly continued on next page
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 29 June
SARAH GRANT DUO Friday 30 June
THE SWAMPS Saturday 1 July
SOREN CARLBERG TRIO Sunday 2 July
THE PROPELLERS Monday 3 July
HAYLEY GRACE Tuesday 4 July
LEELI
Wednesday 5 July
SILK & OAK
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo June 28, 2017 9