THE BYRON SHIRE
Northern Rivers Women in Business
Volume 30 #38 Wednesday, March 2, 2016
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
pages 16-17
T U R N B U L L I N N O VAT E S L I K E I T ’ S 1 9 5 9
CAB AUDIT
These are the days of our Council – p9
Local, regional newspapers up for sale – p7, p10
What’s all the fuss about with micro party prefs? – p14
Health & Healing – p18–21
Online in
netdaily
Bruns housing estate ‘swallows up’ habitat www.echo.net.au/152339
Belongil residents threaten Council
One big, sick swell
Supreme Court ruling expected soon Hans Lovejoy
The Eastern seaboard was hit by cyclone Winston last week after it ravaged Fiji. Experienced surfers made the most of overhead waves. Pictured is a brave surfer taking on Main Beach. Photo Jeff Dawson
Round two: bypass DA now public Byron Shire Council’s Butler Street bypass development application (DA) is again up for public scrutiny after the first was withdrawn last year. Public submissions close April 1, 2016 and the DA will be on display for a total of 37 days. And all that time may be required to assess it, given the document comes in 12 parts and totals 963 pages. The plans are to widen Butler Street from Byron’s police station south, running west of the railway line. After passing the market site and houses, it will continue through wetlands, turn left and emerge at the Mitre 10 corner on Jonson Street. Why did the first get rejected? According to the new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), there
were inaccuracies and issues within the first application. A significant component called a BioBanking Statement failed to meet state government requirements. The idea of a BioBanking Statement is to commodify vegetation and wildlife by offsetting the direct and indirect impacts of removal with ‘credits’. And in this case, the site is considered a ‘red flag’, owing to 74 ecosystem credits being needed for the offset. It reads: ‘Council has commenced investigations into properties in their ownership that may satisfy the BioBanking credit requirements of the proposal.’ The plans around Mitre 10 and Byron Music still propose reduced parking – and no compensation – owing
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to the width of the lanes running between both buildings. As for the option of using the disused rail corridor – which is proposed by Butler Street residents – it says, ‘Use of the rail corridor is subject to resolution of complex issues such as land purchase and competing objectives for the available area (including providing for the proposed rail trail and retaining rail line infrastructure for possible future use).’ And it appears that the state government and former Nationals MP Don Page’s preference for the route also played a part in the decision: The report reads: ‘… the preferred route was supported by the longstanding local state member.’ continued on page 2
A member of a committee overseeing the development of the shire’s coastal zone management plan (CZMP) has warned councillors he and his fellow residents are ‘determined to protect their rights’ and claim that the ‘planned retreat’ policy is not lawful or enforceable. Furthermore, lawyers acting on the behalf of residents say that if ‘planned retreat’ is part of Council’s new draft CZMP, ‘then our clients will be pursuing the council for further damages… and challenge the legal power on the part of the council to make such a decision.’ Coastal management practices are generally categorised into either protection works, such as rock walls, or ‘planned retreat’. Protection works are known to erode beaches over time. John James, a Brisbane-based developer with a Belongil property, told councillors in a letter on February 4: ‘Some of the legal impediments arise from Council’s construction and maintenance of the Jonson Street structure which is the subject of the Supreme Court proceedings.’ The Echo asked Mr James to clarify how many residents he represents and their names; however, he did not answer the question within his extensive reply. He did say that it was irrelevent how many residents bought post 1988, when Council stipulated homes had to be relocatable.
‘The dune at Belongil is about 6,000 years old and protects the freshwater estuary and wetlands behind it from the ocean. Reports endorsed by Council conclude that removal of the existing protection at Belongil would cause the dune to fail and the Belongil Estuary and Belongil Wetlands (that are home to a variety of bird and water life) would be destroyed. Other Council papers record that a failure of these dunes would also destroy tens of millions of dollars of public infrastructure which this community has no financial means to relocate or replace. ‘Overarching these issues is the now accepted fact that the manmade structure to protect the town centre has caused the erosion at Belongil. Council has accepted and endorsed a report which says the effect of the Jonson Street structure extends beyond the Belongil Creek entrance. Mr James believes ‘Council has ignored our claims’ over planned retreat as an option within the ongoing preparation of the draft coastal zone management plan (CZMP). Such a policy, he says, could not be ‘legally implemented or would give rise to a massive liability in damages.’
Argument based on Jonson St structure A four page letter from global law firm King & Wood Mallesons accompanies Mr James’s letter and says continued on page 3
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