THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 32 #50 Wednesday, May 23, 2018
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
pp.14 –15
G L O R Y B E T H E O N E W H O K N O W S W H AT T H E F U N K ’ S A B O U T
What’s the go with private hospitals in Byron? – p12
NORTEC loses court case
An argument against Airbnb – p17
The dream of good design – p19
Whose milk is best, ours or the US? – p20
Youth centre goes multicultural
Hans Lovejoy
Beleaguered employment and training provider NORTEC has lost a court case against local lawyer Mark Swivel in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. It’s the latest chapter for the government-funded organisation, which terminated the leases of local small businesses and sold three business incubator sites last December. Swivel, who is also fronts Russian men’s choir Duskyesky, told The Echo his claim against NORTEC was it charged rent it should not have charged after last year’s floods. ‘My claim that I shouldn’t have paid rent from the flood in April to when the works started in July was successful.’ ‘The Tribunal found that the premises were not fit or safe to be used as offices… so NORTEC should not have charged rent. Simple really. ‘NORTEC resisted every step before and during the hearing. Everyone in the organisation, including the former CEO, denied we had a claim. [The result of the case was] they are obliged to refund rent for that period and compensate me for the cleaning I did that they should have done. Other tenants should be compensated the same way.’ Swivel says he contacted NORTEC to ask if that will happen but is ‘yet to receive a reply’. ‘To be fair, they’ve reimbursed me already. It was always an outrage that they didn’t waive rent from the flood onwards.’ NORTEC was contacted for comment but did not reply by deadline.
Byron Youth Centre hosted Taste of Byron Multicultural Festival last Saturday at its HQ at 1 Gilmore Crescent. The day brought families together to celebrate the Shire’s – and nation’s – cultural biodiversity with perfomances, workshops and food. Pictured are Kizuna Taiko, with young drummers Elshin and Bodhi. Photo Jeff Dawson
Online in
netdaily
Fix Youth unemployment, NBN: ALP Page candidate www.echo.net.au//fix-nbn-youthunemployment-pages-alp-candidate
Govt inaction delays Byron school upgrade A missing government traffic study has caused a delay to the long-awaited upgrade to Byron Bay Public School. The Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP), an ‘independent’ organisation appointed by the government, deferred making a decision last Thursday in Mullumbimby owing to the missing report. Labor candidate for Ballina Asren Pugh said, ‘students, parents and staff would be very disappointed by this decision’. The school’s mouldy old demountables, with peeling paint and grass growing through the floor are, according to teachers at the school, ‘a nightmare to work in’ and a completely unsuitable learning environment. Instead, Mr Pugh said, ‘we need to be giving our students the best learning environment possible.’ continued on page 3
Real estate agents warned over letting Paul Bibby
Real estate agents across the Shire are being formally warned that they could face prosecution by Byron Council if illegal holiday letting is taking place at any of properties they manage. In a move that opens up a new front in the fight against short-term letting, Council is sending letters to every real estate agency in the Shire declaring that from now on they, and not just the owner of a property,
could be held responsible for illegal short-term letting. The letter states, ‘To date agents/ agencies have expressed the view that it is the owner of the property who is responsible ... and not the agency.’ ‘[But] having taken legal advice, Council is of the view that a real estate agency can be held to be in breach of the law by using the land for short-term accommodation, contrary to the conditions of the development consent.’
The agencies are being told to ensure that the properties they manage are not being used for unauthorised short-term letting or face the prospect that Council ‘may commence proceedings’. Greens councillor Mike Lyon said the letters were not an empty threat and that Council would ‘absolutely’ prosecute a local real estate agent who managed a property where illegal short-term letting was taking place. ‘We will do anything we need to
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to bring about the return of these properties to the long-term rental market,’ Cr Lyon said. ‘We’re under attack as a community and we are determined to tackle this issue head on.’
Sabre rattling But agents said the letters were little more than ‘sabre rattling’ and had no legal weight. ‘I don’t think they’ve got a leg to stand on to be honest,’ said Tony continued on page 4
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