Byron Bay Film Festival program in this issue!
WHEN THE DEBATE IS LOST, SLANDER BECOMES THE TOOL OF LOSERS – SOCRATES The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 34 #17 • Wednesday, October 2, 2019 • www.echo.net.au
Ĺ• ĕƜşĕŕƆĜưĕ ÄŤĹ&#x; ƹĜĆ?IJ Ć?IJĕ Ç– Ĺ&#x;Ćą Aslan Shand ‘The Additional Flowpath Project’ isn’t an attention-grabbing title but its price tag of more than $1.2m prompted Cr Cate Coorey to point out at last week’s council meeting that Council’s infrastructure staff needed to supply more information. She also felt they needed to complete the required environmental reviews as well as follow councillors’ directions around community consultation before they got their blank cheque. What happens to the water – that stuff you flush down the loo with your poo – from the Byron STP (sewage treatment plant) is under the spotlight. When the Byron STP was built, around 15 years ago, it was predicted that the water that came out of the plant after treatment would be re-used throughout the shire on farms, to flush toilets,
This time bomb is not a hoax!
on the golf course and more. There is even a consent condition on the STP requiring it. However, the predicted level of re-use has not been achieved, leaving neighbouring farmers with water-logged fields as the amount of water that the STP puts out daily continues to increase. It was originally predicted that 1 million litres a day (Average Dry Weather Flow, or ADWF) would be released over neighbouring farmland but currently that is up to between 3 to 4 million litres per day.
Needs to be resolved Cr Coorey highlighted the fact that no-one disagreed with the need to deal with the flows from the Byron STP that were having negative impacts on local landholders. However, as the change in flow would impact on Belongil Creek, the Marine Park and other sensitive â–ś Continued on page 2
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a leaderless organisation demanding system change to rapidly replace fossil fuels. Early on Monday a small contingent of XR activists took to the main intersection in Mullumbimby to highlight the need to stop the ‘fossil fuel business barons taking us to our heat death’. Lily Josephine, Sapoty Brook, Alex Buralli and Kien Hannah want to make citizens aware that on October 7 Extinction Rebellion will begin an intensive global phase of civil disobedience and many people are going to Brisbane to stand in solidarity. Check out www.facebook.com/extinctionrebellionseq for more details. Photo Tree Faerie
‘Wild Boy’ rides for mental health
Farm Bill to jail knitting nannas? Aslan Shand Farmer’s fears of trespass have been hijacked by the NSW government’s Right to Farm Bill 2019. Not only will the bill reduce the rights of people to protest against logging, but it will also restrict farmer’s own rights to object to projects on neighbouring properties. ‘These laws are directly aimed at criminalising protest and those
Kiwi born world explorer and ‘Wild Boy’ adventurer Brando Yelavich has just finished Expedition Dust to raise awareness for mental health. He cycled 5,555km over 130 days in his coast-to-coast pushbike ride through the deserts of Australia’s vast interior. Brando completed the ride when he arrived in Byron Bay last Saturday, September 28.
Sustainable tourism? ▜ p6
Byron Shire Council Notices ▜ p8
ĹŻĹ?žĂƚĞ ĹľÄžĆŒĹ?ĞŜÄ?LJ͊
How dare you?! ▜ p15
^ĂǀĞ žŽŜĞLJ ĂŜĚ ŚĞůƉ Ć‰ĆŒÄžÇ€ÄžĹśĆš Ä?ĹŻĹ?žĂƚĞ Ä?ŚĂŜĹ?Äž Ç Ĺ?ƚŚ ^Ĺ˝ĹŻÄ‚ĆŒ WĹ˝Ç ÄžĆŒÍ˜
exposing serious environmental breaches and animal cruelty,’ said Greens MP and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge. ‘Trespass is already illegal in NSW and in 2016 the government imposed a large number of additional penalties to target protesters. The bill quadruples the penalty for aggravated unlawful entry on inclosed lands from $5,500 to
Find out about some interesting things: In Good Company ▜ p19
Who are the helpful local tradies in your neighbourhood? Ask the Echo Service Directory ▜ p40
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$22,000 and imprisonment. ‘The Right to Farm Bill 2019 includes forestry as an agricultural activity and makes any activity that hinders, attempts or intends to hinder logging an “aggravated offenceâ€?,’ NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said. ‘In a time of climate emergency and an extinction crisis, it is an unprecedented and reprehensible â–ś Continued on page 2
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