THE EARTH IS A FINE PLACE AND WORTH FIGHTING FOR – ERNEST HEMINGWAY The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 34 #11 • Wednesday, August 21, 2019 • www.echo.net.au
Council ‘fail’ on bypass Aslan Shand While the Byron bypass protesters have been evicted from the site following two arrests last Thursday, and the construction continues to move ahead, there are still local residents who believe Byron Shire Council is failing the community. Last week Council stated that the issues raised by local Greens MP Tamara Smith regarding the subtropical rainforest at the site were out of date. However, this is disputed by former Byron mayor and Greens MLC Jan Barham, who says that the 2015 mapping Council refers to is not the most up-to-date mapping that council has of the area. ‘My concern with the survey work is the lack of recognition of the subtropical rainforest,’ she told The Echo. ‘I’m in disbelief that they have failed to recognise the rainforest as identified in their 2017 mapping. Why do they keep going back to mapping that was done in 2014/ 5 when the mapping in 2017 was a far more detailed analysis as part of the e-zone review. The bypass application did not do surveys in the rainforest area.’ Issues have also been raised by local activist Fast Buck$, who sought to view the ‘Construction Environment Management Plan’ (CEMP) that is required by the Land and Environment Court ruling to be held on site and be available publicly. Having tried to view the CEMP on site Mr Buck$ was told that he would need to contact Council. Then having been told by Council he could view it the next day at their offices he was refused the opportunity to read the document. (See more in letters p18). Ms Barham agreed that public information is lacking. ‘The lack of detail and information in the DA and EIS resulted in the Land and
Environment Court’s significant consent conditions for an additional 10 management plans that are required prior to construction of the bypass,’ she said. ‘They should be publicly available. Council is playing multiple roles as the proponent and the consent authority for these plans. ‘This requires them to be open and transparent. This is what was done previously with major works projects, all documents publicly available and on the website so the public could access them. Council should be making the bypass implementation process as open and transparent as possible.’ Mayor Simon Richardson confirmed just prior to going to print that the CEMP is now available to the public at Council’s head office in Mullumbimby.
Endangered species Council is currently in discussion with the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Energy following public concerns raised with the department. ‘My understanding is that the federal government Department of Environment and Energy has been in contact with Council about their failure to refer the project under the EPBC Act in relation to the Nationally Critically Endangered Mitchells Rainforest Snail,’ said Ms Barham. ‘The council is the proponent and they didn’t voluntarily refer the plans to the Department of Energy and Environment, which they are required to do because there is a nationally endangered species being impacted upon. The council selfassessed that they didn’t meet the requirements and that it was unlikely that the snail was in the bypass footprint. The discovery of a live snail has certainly raised the bar in terms of the impacts.’
Byron Shire Council Notices ▜ p12
It’s time to address the climate crisis, stop excessive clearing in Indonesia (and Australia), and save the orangutan
World Orangutan Day and Indonesian Independence Day representatives came together this week to join students planting trees in the Shearwater Steiner School rainforest grove. Pictured L–R Panut Hadisiswoyo (Founder Orangutan Information Centre North Sumatra ), Nayla Azmi (Communications Officer Orangutan Information Centre), and Indonesian consul-general Heru Subolo, Indonesian Consulate Sydney. Photo Jeff ‘Orangutan is the new black’ Dawson
Public kept in the dark over ‘Disco Dong’ Byron Council has refused to release a structural investigation report detailing serious safety issues affecting the ‘Disco Dong’ sculpture on the Bayshore Drive roundabout. As councillors prepare to vote on a motion to remove the sculpture at this week’s full Council meeting, the report that is likely to inform their decisions has been kept from public view. It is one of three documents in relation to the sculpture in the agenda to the meeting that Council has refused to release, including information about the possibility
Ticks are coming out to play – how do we treat them? ▜ p20
WĹ˝Ç ÄžĆŒ ŽžƉĂŜLJ ^ŚŽŽƚŽƾƚ
zŽƾ Ä?ĂŜ Ć?ĂǀĞ ĹšĆľĹśÄšĆŒÄžÄšĆ? ŽĨ ÄšĹ˝ĹŻĹŻÄ‚ĆŒĆ? Ä‚ Ç‡ÄžÄ‚ĆŒ Ä?LJ Ć?ĞůĞÄ?ĆšĹ?ĹśĹ? ƚŚĞ ĆŒĹ?Ĺ?Śƚ ÄžĹśÄžĆŒĹ?LJ ƉůĂŜ͕ Ä?ƾƚ ĹšĹ˝Ç ÄšĹ˝ LJŽƾ ĨĹ?ŜĚ ƚŚĞ Ä?ÄžĆ?Ćš ĚĞĂů Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ LJŽƾÍ? Ç€ÄžĆŒÇ‡ Ç‡ÄžÄ‚ĆŒ Ĺ?Ĺś :ƾůLJ ÄžĹśÄžĆŒĹ?LJ Ä?ŽžƉĂŜĹ?ÄžĆ? Ć?Ğƚ ƚŚĞĹ?ĆŒ Ć‰ĆŒĹ?Ä?ÄžĆ? Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ ƚŚĞ ŜĞdžƚ Ç‡ÄžÄ‚ĆŒÍ˜ Ď´Ď´Ď´ ^Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ dĞŏ ŚĂĆ? ĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞĚ Ä‚ Ć?ƉĞÄ?Ĺ?Ăů Ä?ĂůÄ?ĆľĹŻÄ‚ĆšĹ˝ĆŒ Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ Ć‰Ĺ˝Ç ÄžĆŒ ƉůĂŜĆ? Ç Ĺ?ƚŚ Ć?Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ Ĺ˝Ä¨Ä¨ÄžĆŒĆ?Í• Ć?Ĺ˝ LJŽƾ Ä?ĂŜ Ç Ĺ˝ĆŒĹŹ Žƾƚ ƚŚĞ Ä?ÄžĆ?Ćš Ä‚ĹŻĹŻÍ˛ĆŒĹ˝ĆľĹśÄš Ć‰ĆŒĹ˝Ç€Ĺ?ÄšÄžĆŒ Ä¨Ĺ˝ĆŒ Ç‡Ĺ˝ĆľÍ˜ ƚŚĞ žŽĆ?Ćš žŽŜĞLJ ÄžÇ€ÄžĆŒÇ‡ Ç‡ÄžÄ‚ĆŒÍ˜ dĹšĹ?Ć? Ć?ƉĞÄ?Ĺ?Ăů ĆŒÄžĆ‰Ĺ˝ĆŒĆš Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ Ć?ĹšĹ˝Ç Ç‡Ĺ˝ĆľÍ—
bĕşĆ? ĈĹ&#x;ŕǕ ĎĕŕĆ?ĜÍĹ? ÄŞĹ&#x;Ĺż Ĺ•Ĺ&#x; ĈĹ?ĕÍſ ſĕÍƆĹ&#x;Ĺ• When asked why the structural investigation report was being kept confidential, Council declined to provide a clear answer. ‘Decisions to make attachments confidential are made for a number of reasons, not just on the basis of commercial in confidence and the matter is in any case to be debated by Council next week,’ Council’s director of corporate and community services Vanessa Adams said. The agenda to this week’s
The Bangalow perspective ▜ p23
Ď˛Í˜Ď˛ ĹŹt ůĂĚĞ ĂŜĚ ^ƾŜĹ?ĆŒĹ˝Ç ^ƉĞÄ?Ĺ?Ăů Ď˛Í˜Ď˛ ĹŹt Ͳ ĎŽĎŽ dž ^ÄžĆŒÄ‚Ć‰ĹšĹ?Ĺľ ůĂĚĞ ĎŻĎŹĎŹt ^ƉůĹ?Ćš Ğůů WĂŜĞůĆ? ,Ĺ?Ĺ?ĹšÄžĆŒ zĹ?ĞůĚ ƾĞ ƚŽ ÄžĆšĆšÄžĆŒ ^ŚĂĚĹ?ĹśĹ? ZÄžĆ?ƉŽŜĆ?Äž
Ď͘ ĹśÄžĆŒĹ?LJ >Ĺ˝Ä?ĂůĆ? Ͳ ^Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ WĆŒĹ˝ĹľĹ?Ć?Äž ĎŽĎŹĎŽĎŹÍ˜ y ,Ĺ˝Ç ĆšĹ˝ ĆľĆ?Äž Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ Ä?ĂůÄ?ĆľĹŻÄ‚ĆšĹ˝ĆŒ ƚŽ ĎŽÍ˜ KĆŒĹ?Ĺ?Ĺ?Ĺś ĹśÄžĆŒĹ?LJ Ͳ ^Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ KƉƚĹ?ĹľĹ?Ć?ÄžĆŒÍ˜ ĨĹ?ŜĚ ƚŚĞ Ä?ÄžĆ?Ćš Ć‰ĹŻÄ‚ĹśÍ˜ ĎŻÍ˜ WĹ˝Ç ÄžĆŒĆ?ŚŽƉ Ͳ >/d ͘ y tŚLJ ^Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ &ĞĞĚ Ĺ?Ĺś dÄ‚ĆŒĹ?ĨĨ ĆŒÄ‚ĆšÄžĆ? Ä‚ĆŒÄž ŜŽƚ ƚŚĞ Ä?ÄžĆ?Ćš Ç Ä‚Ç‡ ƚŽ Ä?Ĺ˝ĹľĆ‰Ä‚ĆŒÄž ƉůĂŜĆ?͘ y ,Ĺ˝Ç ĆšĹ˝ Ĺ?Ğƚ ĞǀĞŜ ĹľĹ˝ĆŒÄž ƚŚĂŜ ƚŚĞ Ä‚ÄšÇ€ÄžĆŒĆšĹ?Ć?ĞĚ ĆŒÄ‚ĆšÄžĆ? Ä?LJ ƉůĂLJĹ?ĹśĹ? Ć‰Ĺ˝Ç ÄžĆŒ Ä?ŽžƉĂŜĹ?ÄžĆ? Ä‚Ĺ?Ä‚Ĺ?ĹśĆ?Ćš ĞĂÄ?Ĺš Ĺ˝ĆšĹšÄžĆŒÍ˜
meeting provides a little information regarding the findings of the investigation, noting that people have been climbing the structure and stopping on the road to take pictures. Pieces of the structure had recently been found on the ground. The agenda item noted that the structural investigation, undertaken on July 16, costing $8,000, found there was a ‘risk of serious personal injury being sustained by a member of the public owing to climbing and falling from the sculpture’. Added to this was ‘the eventual risk of the sculpture’s structural integrity being compromised’. â–ś Continued on page 4
Tracking democracy and the house next door ▜ p24
džÄ?ĹŻĆľĆ?Ĺ?ǀĞ EÄžÇ KÄ¨Ä¨ÄžĆŒÍ—
KĆľĆŒ dŽƉ ĎŻ WĹ?Ä?ĹŹĆ?Í—
Ăůů ĆľĆ? ĂŜĚ Ç Äž Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ ĞžĂĹ?ĹŻ LJŽƾ Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ Ć?ƉĞÄ?Ĺ?Ăů ĆŒÄžĆ‰Ĺ˝ĆŒĆš ĂŜĚ ĂůÄ?ĆľĹŻÄ‚ĆšĹ˝ĆŒ ƚŽ ŚĞůƉ LJŽƾ Ä?Ĺ˝ĹľĆ‰Ä‚ĆŒÄž ÄžĹśÄžĆŒĹ?LJ Ĺ˝Ä¨Ä¨ÄžĆŒĆ? Ĺ?Ĺś ĎŽĎŹĎĎľÍ˜ &Ĺ?ŜĚ Žƾƚ ƚŚĞ Ä?ĆŒĆľÄ?Ĺ?Ăů ÄšĹ?Ä¨Ä¨ÄžĆŒÄžĹśÄ?ÄžĆ? Ä?ÄžĆšÇ ÄžÄžĹś ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ Ć‰ĆŒĹ˝Ç€Ĺ?ÄšÄžĆŒĆ? ĂŜĚ Ç Ä‚Ç‡Ć? LJŽƾ Ä?ĂŜ Ć?ĆšĆŒÄžÄ‚ĹľĹŻĹ?ŜĞ Ç‡Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ Ä?ŚŽĹ?Ä?Äž ƚŽ Ć?ĂǀĞ
of undertaking further work on the beleaguered installation.
Paul Bibby
Magical Murwillumbah ▜ p27
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