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THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 26 #21 Tuesday, November 1, 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 23,138 copies every week
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D E C L A R I N G P E AC E I N T H E WA R AG A I N S T
Mullum turns on community food Chris Dobney
The first Mullumbimby Local Food Festival on Saturday saw Mullum doing what Mullum does best: grassroots creativity with enthusiasm, authenticity and originality. And lots of fun. Where else would you see a pink unicorn playing guitar in a community garden? The beautiful mandala garden was full of twisting paths, herbs, veggies and permaculture perennials such as amaranth, arrowroot, lemongrass, comfrey and much more. The sunny day led to lots of long chats, large cups of homemade lemonade and organic pizzas hauled straight from the handmade clay oven. People sitting around on hay bales listened to gardening guru Jerry Coleby-Williams of ABC’s Gardening Australia and local-food pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge. Staffing the Byron Council stall was none other than mayor Jan Barham herself, lounging in a lovely sun frock and yarning to constituents about how nice it was to be back in the Shire after weeks spent in Macquarie Street meetings. There were many other stalls too, from seed savers to bush foods and
West Byron Project draws flak Hans Lovejoy
Face painter and garden fairy Yahandi frolics among the fennel at Saturday’s Local Food Festival held in the Mullum Community Garden. Photo Jeff ‘My Yellow Is Still Mellow’ Dawson.
hemp farm promoters. The day’s event – the first of its kind – raised a few hundred dollars for the garden, which will do doubt go quite a long way given the volunteer nature of the place.
But its real value was in the publicity it afforded. One resident who lives right by the garden had never visited until Saturday – and was amazed by what she saw. ‘I had no idea it was so organised and established,’ she told The Echo.
‘It’s great that people are prepared to put so much energy into projects like this.’ The day was sponsored by Byron Shire Council. Q For more pictures visit Monday’s edition of www.echonetdaily.net.au.
Questions regarding population projections and traffic management of the West Byron Project have emerged this week after a public meeting was held by the Department of Planning and the developers. Plans for the significant new land release, which would effectively add a new suburb to Byron Bay, is currently on display. The meeting drew some criticism by community members who were also concerned about the lack of discussion and unanswered questions. Activist and representative of the Byron Environmental and Conservation Organisation (BEACON), Dailan Pugh, told The Echo he was disappointed because BEACON had only agreed to attend after the department of planning and infrastructure assured them that they would be given the opportunity, along with other members of the community, to discuss alternative uses of the site and present their concerns directly to the department. continued on page 2
Ex-GJ Gardner Ballina director denies wrongdoing Simeon Michaels
C and E Structures director Michael Hodgkinson has spoken for the first time since the collapse of the GJ Gardner Ballina franchise, claiming that his company tried to repay the money owed to tradesman. The franchise was terminated by the statewide GJ Gardner office last month, and Mr Hodgkinson confirmed to The Echo that the company owes an estimated half a million dollars. ‘About half is owed to tradespeople, the remainder to suppliers,’ he said. He believes that he and Mr Eagles are among C and E Structures’ largest creditors, having injected funds into
the business to keep it afloat. While he admits that tradespeople have been left seriously out of pocket, he denies that debts were run up wilfully or recklessly. ‘In the building game, there are seasonal cash-flow problems and we were experiencing one in August. ‘In the past an investor helped us to cover the shortfall, but he was caught up in the collapse of a super fund and unable to finance us that time around. ‘Rather than get in deeper we approached the GJ Gardner Tweed Office. At the time we had six or seven unfinished homes and four new homes on the books. ‘Completing all of those would have
seen $250,000 in profit, so in late August we offered the Tweed office our franchise for $250,000.’ Mr Hodgkinson says they intended to use the money to pay out the tradespeople. ‘We opened our books to Tweed and NSW Head Office. They came back to us with an offer of $75,000. ‘We refused it,’ he said.
Offer refused It was then, according to Mr Hodgkinson, that GJ Gardner NSW terminated the franchise. The NSW office initially agreed to allow C and E Structures to complete the homes, but Hodgkinson says, ‘At that stage head
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office knew we weren’t in a position to.’ While Mr Hodgkinson acknowledged that it’s hard to find a buyer for a failed business, he says that he and Mr Eagles attempted to exit the business in a manner which would allow them to pay out the tradespeople.
NSW office reposnds However, Matthew Hope of Gardner’s NSW office says that the unfinished houses on Ballina’s books were a $400,000 liability and that Ballina were ‘completely unreasonable with their demands.’ He also provided The Echo with an email from Mr Eagles asking head office to write off $133,000 in franchise
fees. ‘We were left with no option but to terminate our relationship with C and E Structures Pty Ltd given the amounts owed under the franchise agreement and the growing number of complaints,’ he said. ‘Our Tweed Heads office is now trying to assist customers to complete their homes with the assistance of the Home Owners Warranty Scheme. ‘We have also met with the local tradespeople to assure them that they will be given the first right at any upcoming work in completing these homes,’ said Mr Hope. Mr Hodgkinson expects to face a court-appointed liquidator in the near future.