THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 26 #44 Tuesday, April 17, 2012 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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Harmony Day celebrates diverse community The annual Harmony Day multicultural festival was held at the Byron Community Centre on Saturday and the sounds and smells of Asia and beyond wafted through the town. Children were the focus of many of the activities this year with kids being taught the intricacies of flamenco hand and feet movements by El Bari’s Louise Robinson. Children also had the crafty chance to make banners and listen to interactive plays and stories with puppetry and of course no day would be complete without the ever popular facepainting. Food again was a highlight and punters had the opportunity to sample delights from Indonesia, Chile, Italy, and Japan and rumour has it that the beef rendang and nasi goreng were excellent. MC Tjintana Matahari presented a variety of artists to audiences during the afternoon community concert. AIAA artist-in-residence Made Denis, a Balinese musician originally from the traditional village of Tianyar, performed on the gamelan. Also on stage was an Indigenous Welcome to Country with Nigel Stewart and Lewis Walker as well as the El
Bari flamenco troupe, Belladonna’s Bollywood belly-dancing troupe, Passion Flamenca, the Barefoot Gypsies tribal belly-dancing troupe, music from Kobya Mozambique-roots, latin tunes from Pasando and Yolanda and a Hawaiian dance with Lilith. Harmony Day coordinator Yvonne Jessup said the event was a great success all participants enjoying the activities. ‘The celebration of cultural diversity meant as much to the performers as it did to the audiences. ‘People are always amazed at how wonderful it is’. According to the federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), ‘Harmony Day is celebrated around Australia each year. The day is also the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. ‘Harmony Day… gives people the opportunity to celebrate what makes each Australian unique and share what we have in common. ‘The continuing message for Harmony Day in 2012 is that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, Nigel Stewart and Uncle Lewis Walker, who opened the Harmony Day Festival, flank Bahati Samima from the regardless of their background. TranceQ dance group. Now a resident of Byron, Bahati is originally from Rwanda. Photo Jeff Dawson
Bangalow pool plan stays afloat despite Council staff safety fears Luis Feliu
Bangalow residents may yet see their historic and popular Bangalow Weir retained as a swimming pool after Byron Shire councillors rejected a staff recommendation to demolish the 90-year-old structure due to safety fears. Staff had recommended a $60,000 demolition job on most of the old weir after recent severe deterioration sparked safety fears and an assessment pointed out 12 major defects including cracks in the concrete wall. They also say restoring the weir to ‘swimming pool standards’ would cost over $1 million. Councillors have instead voted to explore options to remove part of the
weir wall to make it safe for swimmers and other users, while retaining elements of the wall for a heritage monument. Council will also consult the community over options, including a plan to restore the weir, pool and upstream reaches of the creek to a natural environment, before any works start.
Weir fenced off In the meantime, the weir will be fenced off and monitored once a week for further deterioration. ‘Whether the Bangalow Weir could be rebuilt as a safe swimming hole was still unknown at this stage and the options study will tell us more,’ council’s community infrastructure head, Phil Holloway said.
Mr Holloway said the assessment found the weir wall collapsed because it was not anchored onto a solid rock foundation, was not reinforced, had poor quality concrete, and the age and unusual shape of the structure. Staff will now develop a $5,000 brief for a quote on assessing engineering, environmental, social and heritage issues for the works. Mr Holloway said to remove part of or the entire weir wall would cost around $60,000 and to rebuild to a swimming pool standard with environmental assessments and Fisheries requirements would cost more than $1 million. Community spokesman David Pont welcomed the move, saying the value of the weir and pool to the locals
had been underestimated and warranted further investigation. Mr Pont, representing Bangalow’s land and rivercare, community alliance and historical society, earlier told councillors the staff report was flawed and its case for demolition was not strong enough. He said staff used emotive and unscientific language on water quality in the creek to back their claim the pool was unsafe for swimming.
Natural waterways ‘That infers that now, all our waterways are off limits’,’ Mr Pont said. ‘These are natural waterways and for 90 years people have been swimming here and you won’t find one person in Bangalow who says it’s a risk. ‘All our creeks and rivers will be
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closed to swimming if this position is carried. It is arguable that the weir and pool do not need to be classified as a “public pool” for the purposes of the upcoming Public Health Regulation, when traditionally Council has maintained the historic structure as a simple creek pool with a commonsense safety approach and people take their own decisions about swimming there. ‘The idea of chlorinating all swimming waters is ludicrous.’ Mr Pont said Bangalow groups had already talked to state agencies about design and planning aspects of the weir and pool, including a fish ladder for fish passage, to satisfy ‘legislation, swimmability, safety and reasonably low cost maintenance’.
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