THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 31 #08 Wednesday, August 3, 2016
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Liftout feature, centre pages LEARN THE RULES LIKE A PRO SO YOU CAN BREAK THEM LIKE AN ARTIST: PICASSO
CAB AUDIT
Your astrological needs found here! Stars with Lilith – p42
Health All things Need a tradie or & Healing pertaining to the professional? – p16 – 19 good life – p36 – p45–49
Last Council meeting should be a doozy approved it to go before the public in May, despite Cr Ibrahim giving fellow councillors just two days’ notice on the changes. Many councillors were clearly not across the reworked policy at the time, with Mayor Richardson and Crs Dey, Spooner and Cameron voting against. According to a staff report in
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Thursday’s agenda, more than 830 submissions were received, and the ‘prevailing concern [is] a lack of trust and confidence in the process and strategy to deliver on these outcomes.’ ‘The overall view was that the consultation does not reinforce a two-way relationship between the continued on page 2
There’s a new chapter in the longrunning dispute with neighbours and a Byron Shire councillor’s selfstorage operation on a short, narrow rural road in Myocum. Cr Alan Hunter is apparently now operating legally and, according to Council staff, ‘the commencement of operations lawfully occurred on August 24, 2015 with the issuing of the occupation certificate. Therefore as per consent conditions, the consent will cease in August 2017.’ They explained that Cr Hunter’s development application consent ‘ceases two years after the commencement of operations (as per consent conditions).’ It’s a surprise to neighbours, who believed that Cr Hunter’s trial had expired in May, and indicates a weakness in Council protocol regarding such ‘trials’. Not only were neighbours not advised that his trial had finished, but it appears such trials automatically become a consent activity and are not subject to review or a council vote. Additionally, questions regarding a staff compliance investigation into breaches by the high-profile National Party member have gone unanswered. The two-year trial was criticised at the time by neighbours for being approved despite no traffic or noise assessment, and as the DA did not meet Council’s traffic sight or stopping-distance requirements. But Cr Hunter defended his operation, claiming at the time that a continued on page 9
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Lennox Head-based nature photographer Craig Parry managed to capture a rare close-up glimpse of the white humpback whale, Migaloo, last Tuesday morning. Craig said, ‘We turned off the engines to keep our distance and drifted along, snapping pictures like crazy. Over about 30 minutes, he slowly made his way over to us to get a closer look before giving us a little high five in the way of a fin slap on the water and continuing on.’ Craig claims that his imagery was captured in accordance with The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Marine Mammals) Regulation 2006; the law aims to protect marine mammals such as whales ‘while allowing people to appreciate them in the wild’. For more information visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/whaleregulation.htm. Photo Craig Parry Photography
Council’s draft Rural Land Use Strategy (RLUS) is again before Council, and drew the ire of residents after it was reworked at the last minute by Cr Sol Ibrahim, senior council staffer Shannon Burt and a handful of unnamed town planners. The Council majority of Ibrahim, Woods, Wanchap, Cubis and Hunter
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Councillor’s DA all good
Hullabaloo for Migaloo
Bring your pillows and popcorn! Council’s last official meeting before going into ‘caretaker mode’ for elections is this Thursday, starting at 9am. Just one of the many topics to be tabled will be the lack of public trust in Council’s process regarding a major planning policy which aims to guide rural zoning and land use.
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