Letters
Mullum land theft
Last November all nine councillors voted in favour of taking 29 hectares (lot 22) of Mullumbimby recreation ground and rezoning it urban land for development. Council bought lot 22 in 2004 for sportsfields. It did nothing to develop it except for the Community Gardens. Now Council is relying on 14 years of inactivity to change the zoning and develop a manufactured-home estate on floodprone land. Councillors relied on a Draft Recreational Needs Assessment Report that states, ‘Overall, Mullumbimby is well supplied with land for sport, especially considering the Mullumbimby Recreation Ground is under-utilised. Lot 22 does not need to be retained for sporting purposes.’ It’s under-utilised because Council does not maintain it to an adequate standard; just ask the Cricket, Netball, Soccer, Tennis, Hockey and Little Athletics, clubs all of whom were not contacted regarding the assessment! And, according to the Soccer Club, based at Pine Avenue, and Cricket
Club at Brunswick Heads more land is needed. When denying the residents of Ocean Shores sportsfields councillors said that the Mullumbimby Recreation Ground, when developed, could accommodate both Ocean Shores and Brunswick Heads sporting needs. Residents should be rightly concerned about the increases in flooding from filling this site and councillors giving away their recreational parkland of the future. Voice your objection. Karl Allen Mullumbimby
A timely reminder
I used to walk my dog regularly past the ponds of the old South Byron sewage treatment plant over a five-year period. During that time I observed wood duck, pacific black duck, coots, water hens, little grebes, black swans, hard-head ducks while herons and egrets hunted around the margins. It was also used by pelicans, gulls and terns – particularly during stormy weather. Building houses along the
area will restrict the north and south movement of animals to a narrow strip between the path and the beach, which makes them vulnerable to predation. David Gilet Byron Bay
West Byron
The West Byron Urban Development will soon be assessed by the Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP). Let’s be quite clear about this site: it is a wetland area, previously part of the Cumbebin Swamp, and is subject to flooding even under current climate conditions. To overcome the flooding issues the developers propose to raise the height of the building blocks to just above the level of Council’s projected 100-year maximum flood level. The amount of fill required, as stated in their geotechnical report, exceeds the amount of material that can be extracted from our four local quarries, resulting in mining on a massive scale that will exhaust our quarries and involve trucking fill from distant sites.
One of the first things I noticed in the geotechnical report is that the water table lies no more than 20cm below ground level in some parts of the development site. This is a wetland area and would frequently be under water had not early settlers dug out massive drainage channels. A careful look at the Flood Impact Assessment (FIA) includes numerous maps to show the extent of flooding under various scenarios. The maps clearly show that flooding will occur on a number of blocks even under current climate conditions. All the maps show some level of flooding in the development area, with increasing levels over time. Some show flooding up to 0.8m with the whole site surrounded on three sides by flood waters to a depth of 2m. What is surprising, and calls into question the modelling used, is that in 2100, with sea water levels predicted to be at least double those of 2050, the extent and depth continued on next page
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New Roundabout On The Way‌ BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL wishes to advise that a contract for the construction of a new gateway roundabout at the intersection of Bayshore Drive and Ewingsdale Road, Byron Bay was awarded to SEE Civil Pty Ltd. This work is due to commence on 23 April, 2018. SEE Civil will stage the project to facilitate construction. The ďŹ rst stage of construction will not detour any trafďŹ c but will likely increase congestion in the area so please allow additional travel time if commuting through this area. SEE Civil will provide notiďŹ cation two weeks prior to the following stages advising of the impact and proposed detour/s. More information and further updates on the progress of the project will be provided fortnightly on Council’s Bayshore Drive Roundabout web page found at: www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Works-Projects/Bayshore-Drive-roundabout.
– Ethel Barrymore
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Letters to the Editor
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The Byron Shire Echo April 18, 2018 11