Letters
Pay parking and motorcycles Letters in the last two editions of The Echo raised issues about motorcycles and pay parking, which is about to kick off in Byron town centre. I’ve passed the issues on to Council staff and expect a media release soon. Some issues are being considered. Others will be at the six-month review of pay parking (ie in mid-2016). I’m lucky, too – I travel mostly by motorcycle. On normal streets a bike can park nose-out (no reverse gear). Under pay parking, bikes can share a car space but each bike will still have to enter its rego number at the pay station. Each bike will pay
Legends! To local surfers Daniel and Declan: words cannot describe how thankful I am that you came to my rescue in the surf at The Pass on Saturday December 5. I will be forever grateful for what you did. Thank you so much; you are the best! Tracey Payne Gold Coast
Coastal realities Asking for ‘realistic advice’? I agree when Mark Gibbs wrote that adaptation advice for coastal communities depends on what ‘externalities’ are part of or left out of the analysis (Echo, December 9, ‘Sea level rise is real’). The Port Philip plan that he cites is very careful to announce
Motorcycle taxis in Thailand. Photo Shankar S flickr.com/shankaronline
or need an exemption. I will move at the mid-year review to have motorcycles pay half price for parking, or at least for their ‘locals exemption’. Staff are already onto al-
locating the leftover bits from angled car spaces, for motorcycle use. Again, that’s likely to happen in 2016. I apologise for not thumping the table about all this
it does not ‘cost other valuable considerations… such as social values, safety, amenity, quality of life or heritage values.’ This means bookkeepers can still say in the face of more ‘extreme flooding’ that ‘retreat is not necessary’. Specifically, spending ‘$19 million per annum’ in repairs on Southbank is ‘economically viable’ because of $768 million ‘predicted economic benefits’ (unspecified) by 2100. Then his reference to ‘Rebuild by Design’ (http://bit. ly/inhabdesign). One designs ‘living breakwaters’: macro and micro reefs in water, community centres on shore. There’re toilets, fountains, monitoring equipment, watercraft, labs, cafes, nature ob-
servation platforms, dunes, revegetaton and ‘flexible gathering spaces’. Copying marine ecosystems, making habitat for life – including a billion oysters plus local people – the future of Staten Island looks very different from Southbank’s. What matters to us is that we get advice for our Coastal Zone Management Plan about externalities we care about: safety, ecology, food security. The recission vote at Council on December 10 means we won’t get advice about planned retreat or sand nourishment. These important issues are raised by the state. The community expects good information and a transparent, open process. In
Letters to the Editor Send to Letters Editor Michael McDonald, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
Notice
Children under the age of 14 years can not be left unsupervised at the
Mullumbimby Memorial Centre Petria Thomas Swimming Pool. Your children are important to us - please don’t drop and run! Due to safety concerns, parents will be phoned and asked to collect their children.
The Mullumbimby Pool is following the Royal Lifesaving Keep Watch @ Public Pools Policy. s Under five years, a parent or carer must be in the water at all times and within arms’ reach of the child. s Children under 10 years need to be under the active supervision of a person 16 years or older. s Between 11 to 14 year olds must be supervised by a parent or carer. For further information, contact pool manager Craig Davidson on 6684 2494. Open Monday to Friday 6am to 7pm. Saturday 7am to 6pm and Sunday 8am to 6pm.
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in 2015. Councillors were thumping it on too many other pet concerns and I didn’t want to add more diversions, or an excuse to pull the pin on the whole project. I support pay parking as a means of decreasing parking demand (ie increasing supply) in areas that get parked out. I also support a more equitable exemption system. Townies pay $50, which is about 14c/day. Hermits like me only visit town quarterly, which is about $14/trip. And I will ask about people owning more than one vehicle paying only one exemption. Cr Duncan Dey Main Arm
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spite of naysaying councillors, these issues – and related ones – persist. M Gardner Byron Bay
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Renewables move
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Congratulations, Byron Shire Council, on becoming one of the first Australian regions to join an international network of cities and regions aiming for 100 per cent renewable energy. The move comes in the same week as some of the world’s leading brands, including the BMW Group and Coca-Cola, announced that they will also source 100 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy such as solar. Australian communities love solar and are to follow the shining example set by Byron Shire. You are showing our nation and the world that more renewable energy
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THE
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 17 December
KELLIE KNIGHT TRIO Friday 18 December
THE SOULSHAKERS Saturday 19 December
JIMI BEAVIS
Sunday 20 December
SIMON WRIGHT Monday 21 December
PHIL BROMMERS Tuesday 22 December
TULLARA CONNERS DUO Wednesday 23 December
MESCALITO BLUES North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo December 16, 2015 13