Letters
Get your wishes in for Ocean Shores Byron Shire Council will shortly be asking our local community to prioritise their list of much-needed facilities and infrastructure in the north of the Shire. Information booths will be set up at Ocean Village Shopping Centre and New Brighton Farmers Market to survey exactly what the community wants. We have $3million from the sale of the Roundhouse blocks to work with, and many groups and individuals have already written submissions to allocate the funding to roads, mostly at South Golden Beach, but Coun-
cil has government funding from Roads to Recovery that should be utilised equitably across the Shire to repair our roads properly. Granted, Beach Avenue at South Golden Beach is atrocious as roads go, but Coomburra Crescent is totally disintegrating, too, and needs reconstruction as well, but we don’t have enough money available at the moment to fix all our roads now, so let’s think objectively about what’s needed in our area. The early wishlist was a huge $20m worth of infrastructure, so it had to be whit-
tled down considerably, and in the process, shamefully, no cycleways in Ocean Shores were considered by councillors, but that doesn’t mean you, the residents, can’t add them to your priorities on the survey. So, what about play equipment for our kids in Ocean Shores? With 2,663 children in a population of nearly 10,000 here, with 28 per cent of those children school age and 17 per cent aged between nought and 12 years, can anyone tell me exactly what our Council has provided for our kids over the past 50 years? Very little, unfortunately,
and three generations of kids here missed out time after time, so how about supporting Waterlily Community Playscape (www.facebook.com/ waterlilyplayscape) and help our community provide a safe, healthy, central, playful space for our kids to have fun with real playground equipment? Council shares their priority facilities and infrastructure list with our community soon, so tell them loud and clear what your priorities are, after missing out for so long. Tina Petroff President, Ocean Shores Tidy Town Committee
At the Zero Emissions Byron project information night, Professor David Hood, QUT engineer, gave a fascinating insight into the current state of the climate. The reality is very sobering seeing what changes are already locked in and the scenarios we could face. The message was very clear – this February was globally the hottest month by
a long shot, meanwhile Australia’s emissions are rising and we have no government leadership on this issue. However, there were many inspiring stories of communities around the world taking action. It is evident that we the people must lead if we ever hope to protect our world from the extremes of climate change.
The COREM (Community Owned Renewable Energy Mullumbimby) volunteers are working to transition our area to run on renewable energy and decarbonise our local electricity system. COREM was born out of the Bentley blockade, and with that passion and creativity we are building a groundbreaking and inspirational model that
other areas can follow, but it needs your support. It is a grassroots campaign, so if many of us chip in a bit now – just five minutes of your time and any size donation will ensure Mullumbimby continues to lead the way in changing our local fossil-fueldominated electricity market. Visit https://planetfunder.org/ projects/corem to see how your tax-deductible donation will be used again and again in COREM’s revolving community energy fund. Let’s wrest the control back from the electricity giants to democratise and decentralise our electricity system. Think globally and act locally, knowing a donation today really will make a difference. Dave Rawlins Mullumbimby
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.
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gs n i n r o m y a d r Open Satu day r u t a S r e t s a E including
THE
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THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 24 March
TWO RIVERS BLUES
Come in and see our friendly staff for a choice of local, grass fed, organic and free range meats - all antibiotic and hormone free. Our smallgoods range includes locally produced smoked leg ham, salami and a variety of gluten free sausages.
Friday 25 March
LUKE MORRIS BAND Saturday 26 March
RAGGA JUMP Sunday 27 March
SOUL’D
Monday 28 March
PHIL BARLOW AND THE WOLF Tuesday 29 March
70 Dalley Street, Mullumbimby Phone 6684 2137 North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
NICK CUNNINGHAM Wednesday 30 March
LUKE MORRIS SOLO The Byron Shire Echo March 23, 2016 13