THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 31 #03 Wednesday, June 29, 2016
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week CAB AUDIT
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS PAGE 18
R E M E M B E R : S T O P V O T I N G F O R S O C I O PAT H S
Mungo looks over the remains of a long, long political campaign – p10
Book reviews for the upcoming Writers Fest – p17
Are you entertained? Seven will make sure that you are – p31–37
Online in
netdaily
Pollies dash madly around electorates as poll looms www.echo.net.au/pollies-dash-madlyaround-electorates-poll-looms
Bypass ahead
Within a crystal galaxy
Hans Lovejoy
Sorry, Butler Street residents – you are about to make way for a bypass. The last hurdle for the $10m Byron Bay project was cleared last Wednesday night in the Mullumbimby Council Chambers by an ‘independent’ panel. It is called the northern Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) and is one of six NSW government-appointed panels that determine largescale developments across the state. This panel is headed by former National Party MP, Garry West.
Political appointment
Estimated to be 120 million years old, two of the world’s largest known crystals have a new home at the Crystal Castle in Byron’s hinterland. Both are 5.5 metres and are a smoky quartz geode and an amethyst geode cave. Manager Naren King says it’s the result of a ‘monumental deal with a Uruguayan farmer and long-term friend of the Castle.’ Pictured are Molly-Rose and Roxy. Photo Jeff ‘I Said Atheist, Not Amethyst’ Dawson
State govt refuse seawall funding By the time you read this, councillors who hold the majority of power will have met on Wednesday and presumably voted to forward its incomplete coastal policy to the state government for consideration. While the long-running saga of building a 1.1km Belongil Beach seawall may well have exhausted public interest, the significance of
its outcome may have enormous implications. According to Cr Paul Spooner, adopting this Coastal Zone Management Plan Byron Bay Embayment (CZMP BBE) could send Council broke and force an eventual amalgamation. From start to finish, it has been redrawn, recalibrated and rewritten, while questions regarding its
legal standing and compliance with legislation remain unanswered. The latest cost blowout is $4.8m, with the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) advising staff within a report that it will not commit to funding the plan. Staff say in this week’s report, ‘Without the assumed funding from the NSW government via OEH, this
then puts a different complexion on the extent of funding Council will need to contribute to the CZMP BBE, changing the funding model to landholder and Council contributions only.’ Those who have consistently pushed for the seawall are Crs Ibrahim, Woods, Hunter, Cubis and continued on page 3
With such a political appointment, The Echo asked NSW planning minister Rob Stokes how the panel could be considered ‘independent’, which is a description published on the JRPP website. The Echo is yet to receive a reply; however, the minister’s office did say that he was appointed by former Labor premier Kristina Keneally. And as for the panel’s track record? According to JRPP’s own website, 56 major NSW regional developments have been approved by all six panels since 2013, with one refusal and three deferrals. Nonetheless, an upbeat press release by Mr West that followed failed to mention any opposition to the project and instead concluded with, ‘The bypass will help cars, cyclists and pedestrians to move around continued on page 5
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