Letters/Articles continued from page 12
I can’t help thinking about the possible scenarios and whether Alfred has similar concerns for whoever it is that eventually hits him or is injured or killed avoiding him. He must be taken off the roads before the inevitable happens. D Pettifer Mullumbimby
Palestine
Desmond Bellamy sent a lengthy letter to The Echo about the suffering of sheep and the live export trade, but he didn’t respond to my challenge to cite a single historical fact about Palestine from recent editions of The Echo, even though he labelled me a ‘keyboard warrior’ for criticizing Israel and decrying the apparent lack of concern for the plight of Palestinians under Zionist occupation. I am now wondering whether Desmond has more sympathy for sheep than he has for Palestinians. John Scrivener Main Arm
Consent matters
Pru Goward, the minister for something or other, was quoted last week as saying that, before having sex, men needed to ask the woman involved to say ‘Yes’. I object to that; the woman should be required to say ‘Yes, please’. Either way I am reminded
North Coast news daily:
of a statement attributed to a Hollywood movie mogul in the 1930s: ‘A verbal contract is not worth the paper it’s written on’. Oh, did I tell you I was raped? About 25 years ago I found myself agreeing to sleep in the same bed as a somewhat younger woman. As she wasn’t my type I didn’t see any danger in the idea – silly me. During the night I was woken by her passionately frotting up against me, to which I responded briefly in a manly fashion, before realising that no way did I want this. If such were to happen now I could probably bring a rape charge, given that female teachers have been jailed for having sex with male high school students. This is something that could not have been imagined as a cause for complaint back in the day. My experience as described above is not dissimilar to one of the Swedish charges brought against Julian Assange; he’d had consensual sex with a woman in the evening and when he later wanted more she’d apparently declined but he had (allegedly) proceeded as if being in bed with him in itself constituted consent. So, girls, did I consent to what happened to me by agreeing to share a bed? Fast Buck$ Coorabell
Planning Panels
Notice of Public Meeting Northern Regional Planning Panel • 2017NTH028 – Byron – DA10.2017.268.1 28 Parkes Avenue Byron Bay. Erection of buildings containing 60 ‘pocket living’ apartments and associated amenities, plus subdivision to create 1 additional Community Title lot. When:
Tuesday 24 July 2018 at 10.30am
Where
Byron Shire Council Conference Room, 70-90 Station Street Mullumbimby
Relevant documents will be available on the Planning Panels website (www.planningpanels.nsw.gov.au) at least seven days before the meeting. To register to speak at the meeting, please contact the Planning Panels Secretariat before 10am on Monday 23 July 2018 on (02) 8217 2060 or email enquiry@planningpanels.nsw.gov.au
For more information: (02) 8217 2060 or visit planningpanels.nsw.gov.au
14 July 11, 2018 The Byron Shire Echo
BLZ146508R
Any person may attend the meeting to observe. The Panel is required to make an audio record of the meeting and make the recording publicly available on the Planning Panels website. You should be aware that this may include your personal information if you are presenting to the Panel.
Action needed to prevent koala extinction
A Friends of the Koala poster warns of the need to take action to prevent local extinction. Photo supplied
Lismore’s Friends of the Koala (FoK) says it’s not too late to prevent koalas going extinct in the wild on the north coast, but our window of opportunity is rapidly closing. Australia has one of the world’s worst records of modern extinction (54 species) and longest lists of threatened species (909). And with koalas listed as vulnerable to extinction, FoK says it is human actions that are perpetuating the situation and human actions that can halt it. The registered volunteer group, which is arguably rescuing more koalas than any other in NSW, warns that koalas will disappear from this part of the world unless behaviours change. They are calling for a community effort to prevent a local extinction. Dr Steve Phillips, one of Australia’s leading wildlife ecologists who has studied koala populations extensively, says vulnerability usually precedes ‘the inexorable slide towards endangerment and
CHESS
The Panel will meet to determine the following:
netdaily.net.au
by Ian Rogers For decades Canberra’s Doeberl Cup has been Australia’s premier open tournament, the gap between the Doeberl Cup and its rivals widening after O2C took over organisation and major sponsorship in 2007 and turned each Easter’s Doeberl Cup into an international event. Finally, however, the Doeberl Cup has a rival. In its 26th year, the Gold Coast Open has followed the Doeberl Cup and become an international open, with Master and Grandmaster qualification performances possible. Inviting the complete Australian open Olympic team plus some overseas stars helped ensure a record entry of 181 at this year’s Gold Coast Open, albeit a number just 60 per cent of the Doeberl Cup’s record attendance set in 2014. Following his Doeberl Cup triumph in April, returning US GM Timur Gareyev was top seed but a first round loss to local star Gene Nakauchi, following a series of crowd-pleasing but unsound sacrifices, set the favourite back.
‘The rate of this extinction is only determined by society’s willingness to intervene and demand the necessary change’ the chance of a localised extinction event’. ‘The rate of this extinction is only determined by society’s willingness to intervene and demand the necessary change,’ Dr Phillips says. Habitat loss is a core driver of the koala’s march to extinction. In northeast NSW koala populations have declined by approximately 50 per cent owing to residential, commercial and infrastructure development. Friends of the Koala president Dr Ros Irwin said locals only needed to look at the enormous development planned for West Byron. ‘They’re talking about a huge increase in Byron Bay’s population with a development facilitated by legal amendments to prevailing land-use planning on primary koala habitats,’ she said. ‘That’s happening in a Gareyev continued to play swashbuckling chess – see the game below – but his comeback was brought to an end by a fellow Uzbek-born player, 17-year-old Temur Kuybokarov. Kuybokarov, now a Perth resident, played the tournament of his life to edge out another 17-year-old, Anton Smirnov, and secure the final world class performance he needed to become a Grandmaster. Australian number one Smirnov finished in second place., half a point behind. 2018 Gold Coast Open White: T Gareyev Black: F Zulfic Opening: Grob’s Attack 1.g4!? h5!? 2.g5 h4 In view of White’s novel reply, Black will probably prefer 2...g6 in future. 3.g6! fxg6 4.Nf3 d5 5.c4 d4 6.Rg1 Qd6 7.c5! Qxc5 8.b4! Qd6 9.Na3! Rh5! 10.Nc4 Qxb4 11.e3 dxe3 12.Ba3! exd2+ 13.Nfxd2 Re5+?! Having taken the fourth sacrificed pawn, Zulfic makes his first misstep. 13...Qc3 was more sober. 14.Be2?! 14.Nxe5! Qxa3 15.Bd3! was hard to meet. 14...Qc3?! Now the queen is in trouble. 14...Qb5 was risky but playable. 15.Rc1 Rxe2+ 16.Qxe2 Qh3 17.Rxg6 Bf5? Missing Gareyev’s idea. 17...Nf6 would have left the position crazily unbalanced. 18.Qh5! Kd8 19.Nf3! Bxg6 20.Qxg6 Nd7 20...Qxf3 21.Ne5! is also hopeless. 21.Ng5! 1-0 A game more reminiscent of the 19th century than the 21st.
coastal strip which is home to a dwindling population of fewer than 240 koalas. ‘Going ahead with this development will support an ongoing litany of habitat clearing and fragmentation that’s slowly driving koalas to extinction.’ Other coastal koala populations under pressure include Tweed’s now fewer than 100 koalas and Ballina’s 285–380. Even Lismore’s estimated population of around 1,800 is following suit. ‘Every tree counts,’ Dr Phillips says. ‘With 0.34 koalas per hectare, southeast Lismore has the highest density of koalas we’ve recorded anywhere on the far north NSW coast, and a very high occupancy of up to 70 per cent of available habitat. ‘This suggests habitat is at peak carrying capacity. ‘The majority of koala
habitat is on private land, reinforcing the importance of land owners to koala survival. ‘Maintaining habitat connectivity across the landscape is crucial for sustaining healthy, genetically diverse populations.’ Friends of the Koala is urging people to act. ‘We’re asking people to help us prevent a local koala extinction by taking some of the ten actions on our Action List, and asking friends and family to do the same,’ says Dr Irwin. Some of the actions people can take include: • sharing our koalas’ plight with others • protecting habitat and opposing destruction • writing to politicians, • planting koala food trees • maintaining a careful vigil for koalas especially on the roads • containing dogs, and • plant koala food trees. Q For injured koalas, call the FoK 24-hour rescue hotline: 6622 1233
Special needs school opens much-needed new facilities Pacific Hope School, the only transdenominational special needs school in Tweed Heads South, officially opened new facilities on Friday June 29. The school has completed construction of modern learning centres to cater for its ongoing expansion. The facilities will greatly assist the school in its specialist role in teaching students who have been diagnosed with mild to moderate intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, for whom a mainstream school environment is not suitable. ‘This is very a exciting day for Pacific Hope School,’ said director Klaus Knobloch. ‘We have seen strong
growth in our student numbers since we first opened in 2015 and we can now offer state-of-the-art facilities to our students, teachers and parents, making this the largest and most modern school in northern NSW and southeast Queensland. ‘Another point of difference is that our sister school, Pacific Coast Christian School, is right next door on the same campus and each day there is interaction between our students and theirs.’ The new facilities were opened during a ceremony in which local dignitaries unveiled a commemorative plaque and planted an olive tree.
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo