THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 31 #52 Wednesday, June 7, 2017
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Another agile Peeking inside the week for Turnbull: hell of Manus and Mungo – p10 Nauru – p7
Fine food, drinks and places to enjoy them – p28 – 30
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Planning minister silent over West Byron development CP www.echo.net.au/planning-minister-silent
Court approves Butler Street as bypass route
Buggin’ out
Chris Dobney
Much cuter than real bed bugs: Quincy, Sophia, Ginger, Miri, Maayan and Eve May were just a few of the 240 performers who put on a reprise of 25 years of Spaghetti Circus performances at their Mullumbimby Showground HQ last weekend. Photo Jeff ‘Buggin’ Photos Since 1986’ Dawson
Flood response still churning through bureaucratic pipes Aslan Shand
Disaster recovery payments for individuals to assist with recovery following cyclone Debbie are now in the hands of the federal agencies, two months and one week after the devastating flood ripped through the north coast. The delay? It appears the federal attorney-general’s department dropped the ball in asking for data from Byron Shire Council. Council’s director of corporate management and community ser-
vices Mark Arnold confirmed with The Echo in an email on May 29 that: ‘Council has not received any requests for additional or other supporting information and we are following up through the Regional Recovery coordinator with the state to determine what the concerns or holdups are.’ Residents of Mullumbimby, Ocean Shores, New Brighton, South Golden Beach and Billinudgel were heavily affected by flooding. Disaster recovery payment for individuals were quickly declared for Tweed and Lismore local government areas
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(LGA) by the federal government. Council staff say they have now been asked by the federal attorneygeneral’s department to supply further information regarding the severity of the impact on Byron Shire residents. The key to releasing the funding appears to be in the words ‘a severe enough impact across the entire local government area to meet the criteria for activation of the disaster recovery payments.’ That is, if the entire Shire hasn’t continued on page 4
A resident group’s appeal against Byron Shire Council’s plans to build a Byron Bay town centre bypass along Butler Street has been dismissed by the Land and Environment Court. The court case delayed the project by at least a year and the council’s cost to defend the case was about $450,000. The council’s legal services coordinator Ralph James said Friday’s judgment approved the bypass in its entirety, including all the conditions of consent. The decision brings to an end an almost 12-month legal battle with the Butler Street Community Network (BSCN), which brought on the challenge after their street was approved for the bypass by the Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) in June last year. BSCN claimed there was room on the adjoining rail corridor for a bypass, rail services and a bicycle track. But Council argued that it had no ownership of the rail corridor, which is controlled by the state government, and that it was not wide enough for all three purposes. Mr James said that, ‘as far back as 1988 the Butler Street route was identified within the Byron Local Environmental Plan (LEP) as the location of the town centre bypass,’ adding that ‘in 2014 the Butler Street alignment became the preferred route’. ‘Key to the decision was the fact that the Butler Street alignment comprises the existing road network, road reserve and Councilowned land. This means that the
council will be the owner and custodian of this land in perpetuity,’ Mr James said.
Protected wetlands ignored BSCN said the Land and Environment Court commissioner ‘did not enter into consideration of assessment of alternative routes as required by the EIS; she dismissed concerns raised by the group in this respect and found no basis to warrant refusal of the development in the protected wetlands.’ Group spokesperson Paul Jones said the council ‘clearly refused to assess and compare the rail corridor option in terms of ecological impacts in the wetlands and we believe it is still in breach of the Environmental Protection and Assessment Act 1979 requirements.’ ‘Byron Bay will now lose a valuable and irreplaceable component of its social and cultural heritage along Butler Street. A 50km/h main road will replace the local cul-de-sac road; Jonson Street traffic and all heavy vehicles will be diverted onto a clearway in the critical habitat wetlands straight out into a residential area with no pedestrian crossings in one of the busiest residential pedestrian areas in town. ‘The iconic Byron Markets will have to go from their home grounds as a bus station and multistorey car park has been planned. The final blow is Council’s expressed intention to now rezone the Butler Street neighbourhood commercial and continued on page 3
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