Byron Shire Echo – Issue 25.51 – 31/05/2011

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THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 25 #51 Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week

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RELEASING THE FREE ENERGY DOCUMENTS

Optus tower for OS Country Club

A message from thousands of voices in Byron Shire:

Hans Lovejoy

Optus has confirmed it will be locating a new mobile facility on the rooftop of the Ocean Shores Country Club. An Optus spokesperson said it is to ‘build upon the 3G mobile services to the local area. ‘The new rooftop installation will be erected at the existing site to minimise the impact to the area.’

No DA required The proposal is classified as a lowimpact proposal under planning legislation, according to the spokesperson, and ‘due to the type and location of the facility, it does not require a formal development application to council.’ As for community consultation, the spokesperson says there has been ‘notification provided to local residents in the immediate area and we do currently have a consultation period until may 31 for those residents to provide feedback.’ They also added that Optus will be happy to receive community feedback after this date. continued on page 3 Thousands of demonstrators gathered on Sunday at Main Beach Byron Bay to send a clear message to governments and mining companies. The rally was to highlight the dangers of fracking (Coal Seam Gas), which is the process of drilling deep into the earth with toxic chemicals to release and capture natural gas. Similar protests were also held on Austinmer Beach, south of Sydney. Photo above supplied by Jimmy Malecki, thanks to Byron Copters, photo below Jeff ‘Coal Still Seems Stupid’ Dawson Ray Moynihan

Marine Park protections rolled back Global scientific concern as fishers’ political influence grows

The state government will cut the size on no-fishing zones in two marine parks, even before its scientific review of parks gets underway. Existing sanctuary zones banning fishing in the Jervis Bay and Solitary Islands parks will be thrown out, and returned to narrower boundaries set in 2002. Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said the government was committed to policy ‘based on science, not politics’ arguing the current zones had been ‘rushed through’ by the previous Labor government. However, a spokesperson for the Australian Marine Science Associa-

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tion immediately attacked the roll back of protections for important ecosystems, saying the current zoning had not been rushed through, but was the result of a ‘great deal of consultation’ over more than two years. NSW branch president Dr Melanie Bishop, representing 100 marine scientists, says the government was ‘putting politics back into marine parks’ and making a ‘complete mockery’ of public consultation. ‘If they are going to do this with marine parks, what about other state assets?’ she asked. It’s unclear what the latest move means for no-fishing zones inside the Cape Byron marine park, which have been around longer than the zones at

Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, and the Solitary Islands park at Coffs Harbour. While the government says a scientific review of all parks will start in August, it’s yet to announce terms of reference and who’ll run it. Describing his group as the ‘driving force’ behind that review, Ecofishers chief Ken Thurlow told The Echo recently sanctuary zones inside Cape Byron park would also be wound back. Local environmentalist Dailan Pugh says government has ‘capitulated to the whims of the extremist Ecofishers’, and he’s worried Julian Rocks may lose its current protections in any zone changes. With the O’Farrell government continued on page 3

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Byron Shire Echo – Issue 25.51 – 31/05/2011 by Echo Publications - Issuu