Letters/Articles
A typical day at the beach in Byron Bay Story & image S Sorrensen
The young bloke has no shirt and is wearing pants so low, the bush of his pubic hair sits above the belt-line like a desert plant burnt brown by a still-fierce autumnal sun and tenuously rooted in the pot of his shorts. He’s carrying a small backpack, which he drops, with a clinking sound, at the approach of a young fella with bleached hair and a shirt. He carries a firestick which he twirls, unlit. They greet, grab hands in a formal shake, then pull themselves close to bump chests in that modern way that echoes the warrior greetings of past eras. They stand in the sun on the grass of the park next to Main Beach. Behind them the ocean is crystal and relentless in the barrage of smooth waves it sends to crash against intimidated swimmers who
keep to the shallows. Others, unafraid, harness the power of these waves and surf them to shore. Out behind the waves, someone is riding what seems to be a motorised surfboard, no longer needing the natural forces of ocean meeting shore, but getting his (or her – but the stance seems masculine) momentum from the long-buried energy of old forests covered by earth millions of years ago. Oh, the freedom that petrol gives him. The climate karma is of no concern on a perfect day like this. ‘Today is today. Tomorrow is tomorrow,’ says the lowpanted fella to his twirling mate. I try not to stare at his pubic bush. That’d be a bad look. But, though long used to the fashion of low-riding pants, I have never seen a pubic parcel as exposed as this, sprouting right where a penis should be.
I’m not the only one looking. Around me in the shade of a Norfolk pine, are groups of people enjoying the beachside ambience. To my left I hear Chinese being spoken. There is an elderly woman on a camping chair, a young couple, and a child in a pram. The older Chinese woman
laughs and points at Bush Boy. The younger woman looks up from her phone, sharply says something in Chinese, and the older woman stops laughing and pointing. But still she titters. You probably don’t see this sort of thing in Beijing. Oh, the freedom that democracy gives us.
Bush Boy and his mate chat. The mate twirls on, dropping the firestick onto the backpack during a difficult manoeuvre. Alarmed, Bush Boy checks the backpack for breakage, withdrawing a brown-papered bottle from which he takes a long slug. To my right is another family, this one nuclear. They speak a language I can’t pick, but I reckon it’s MiddleEastern. The couple sits on a blanket. He swipes his phone, while on his lap a toddler fingers a noisy tablet. Beside them, the woman’s right hand tethers a crawling baby eager to explore mysteries beyond the blanket. A young woman in sarong and bikini top passes by. Bush Boy ditches the twirler mate and walks over to her, his pants staying on. He grabs her in a full-body Byron hug, his bush no doubt cushioning
the blow. She smiles politely but leans back from the embrace, a glint of panic in her eye. A platoon of Hare Krishnas comes to the rescue, harmonium siren blazing, cymbals crashing. They dance around the couple, allowing the woman to escape the furry embrace on the pretence of dancing. So, there they are, Bush Boy stumble dancing, the get-me-outa-here young woman dancing towards the road and freedom, the firestick twirler twirling and four Krishnas dancing in mantric bliss, oblivious to the imminent danger of firestick impalement. The older Chinese woman can’t help herself, and shrieks with laughter. Q See more of S’s work at
echo.net.au/here-and-now
I had good reasons to vote against the draft residential strategy The Echo on March 1 reported that I voted against moving forward with the Draft Residential Strategy that included measures for delivering ‘affordable’ housing. I fully support measures for low-cost housing to ensure that Byron is a broad demography, not just an enclave of well-heeled retirees and refugees from the city scattered among empty holiday let houses. Disclosure: I am a refugee from the city. I voted against accepting the draft residential strategy because the strategy assumes that we must have yet more development to meet a population target that has been inflated. The strategy claims that Byron Shire’s population of 30,700 (at the 2011 count) will increase over 20 years by 7,440 people, needing 4,210 new dwellings, by 2031. Yet
the Department of Planning and Environment’s latest projection is that by 2031 our population will only grow by 5,950 people, needing 3,300 new dwellings. For reasons unknown, Council’s strategy has increased projected population growth by 1,490 people (25 per cent), inflating future housing needs. Why? I do not support the residential strategy as I do not support the underlying assumption for increased development and growth that is not evidenced by any data. I do support evidence-based strategic planning done with genuine community input. If we are going to do strategic planning for the next 20 years, let’s get the numbers right – by how much are we actually likely to grow; how much housing stock do we
already have; what is the shortfall and where should we grow? The Far North Coast Regional Strategy of 2006 required Council to prepare a growth management strategy to meet a target of 2,600 new dwellings (104 per year) by 2031. With no growth strategy we have delivered 200 new dwellings annually in that time, so at this rate in three years we will have met the original 2031 targets. It should be noted that Byron is the only shire in the region that met its dwelling targets yet it was not identified as a growth centre, unlike neighbouring shires. Despite having no overarching strategic plan, masses of new housing have already been approved – the subdivisions of West Byron, Habitat, Bayside Brunswick, Seacliffs,
Ballina Road, Carthona, and Coorabell add around 1,435 dwellings, most of which are yet to come online. Added to what’s already been approved, the Department of Planning’s revised target of 3,300 new dwellings by 2031 is almost already met. The residential strategy considers new land releases at Mullumbimby Hospital site (for 30 dwellings), north of Mullumbimby (200), adjoining Tallowood Estate (95), west of Tallowood Estate (65), Stuart St, Mullumbimby (100), Ann St, Mullumbimby (150), Saddle Road (400), Billinudgel (60 dwellings), adjoining Bayside Brunswick (50), Ewingsdale Rd, Byron Bay (20), Skinners Shoot (400+), Granuaille Cres Bangalow (10), and Ballina Road, Bangalow (85) – in total over 1,600 dwellings. And
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sion.’ Seriously? What are we, a bunch of zombies? Exactly who is Council representing? Residents are entitled to ask why Council has not indicated to the DOP the level of community opposition; the number of noise complaints; the gridlock of Brunswick, Ocean Shores, Byron Bay; the fact that there are already two million visitors annually with an infrastructure that was never designed to cope with these numbers. What about the road damage, the takeover of the Shire by megafestivals, the broken promises made by NBP, the
importance of Byron Council having responsibility to grant approval for future festivals under the approval given by the Planning Assessment Commission? Although that may no longer be a good idea as it’s pretty clear that Council is completely deaf to community concerns. Sue Arnold Australians for Animals NSW Inc Ocean Shores
Firstly, to set the record straight in regard to Tom Tabart’s comments: if that land is zoned or is capable of being zoned as industrial, then the current owners are entitled to obtain the best price. That price is most unlikely to be obtained from the Antoinette Ensbys of the world indulging themselves in reforestation, splitting the land into small parcels to grow food for local markets, community gardens and a recreational park. Secondly, the original proposal made no mention of continued on page 20
off-street pedestrian/cycleway access must be a key consideration’. Nary a word about the appalling loss of amenity for Brunswick’s 1,636 residents. Or the faeces in the parks, beaches, illegal camping, booze bottles, trash, lack of rangers. Worse still, Council recommends that NBP have two public meetings as ‘early engagement with the community may lead to better outcomes in terms of the design and development and limit potential community opposition to the proposed expan-
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
Bangalow elite How elitist are our precious Bangalow anti-development campaigners?
all this without factoring in the land releases proposed in the Rural Land Use Strategy. In the four years between 2011 and 2015, 296 secondary dwellings were approved. In just one year, 2014–2015, there were 134 secondary dwellings approved. Continuing this trend, across the next 15 years we would conserva-
tively reach 1,110 new secondary dwellings – most of which are now Airbnb holiday lets. If you add it all up we don’t need more growth to house our people; we need more homes. But that requires action on illegal holiday lets and that is another letter. Cr Cate Coorey Byron Bay
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The Byron Shire Echo March 15, 2017 15