Letters ABC funding
Cartoon by Gary Cavanagh – Instagram: @gary_cavanagh
Illegal dwellings In response to lifting the lid on Byron Shire Council’s unauthorised dwelling amnesty, I write to support the comment that ‘if you come forward, you enter a potential bureaucratic nightmare. It is so convoluted and expensive and can give people nervous breakdowns.’ As a landowner currently trying to get a permit for an unauthorised dwelling (which I had been told would tick all the boxes for Council certification), I can confirm the nightmare and expense. I am a DIY person, but the Council requirements force you to hire a long line of very expensive experts for every aspect of approval. Not only that, but I am forced to upgrade from an inexpensive, low-resource, waste management system, which my research shows is environmentally safe and friendly, to an expensive system that is much more resource-intensive. The stress in trying to find DIY low-resource and low-cost solutions while navigating confusing requirements has indeed driven me close to a nervous breakdown. The total bill looks set to be $35,000 (not a cent of which will improve my life in any way) and I have given up trying to adhere to
Letters to the Editor Send to Letters Editor Aslan Shand, email: editor@echo.net.au, fax: 6684 1719. Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
my low-cost/low-resource principles, which is souldestroying. No wonder Byron Shire has a problem with affordable housing! Asphyxia Byron Shire
Paid parking Recent comments in The Echo indicate a divide between Council and Brunswick Heads business owners/residents regarding parking meters. Opposition is understandably passionate. Council needs revenue, businesses fear losing trade, and residents face a fee for ‘exempt’ parking. What is more worrying is the approval of dwellings that will permanently alter the community in more ways than parking meters. Both are of concern for different reasons. Variables such as meter location, charges and operating times can be easily altered. Not so with inappropriate development in sensitive streetscapes and river frontage areas. Once constructed, they then become justification for more of the same. Economic arguments, community feedback and survey results regarding
meters are relatively transparent – unlike processes fuelled by the big dollars pushing for indiscriminate development. Council has done little to identify and protect key ‘heritage type’ areas of BH. In the Memorial Park area there are concrete, steel and glass monoliths that clearly don’t ‘fit in’ to the surrounding area. Yet, the designs are compliant. Guidelines are not enforceable. It’s not about being anti-development. In the same area, relatively new and renovated dwellings arguably ‘fit in’ beautifully. Council consulted the community in 2019 (DCP Character Narratives, Brunswick Heads). Further comments are possible until 24 July. I intend to request that Council review its definitions of key sensitive streetscapes and river frontage areas and adopt enforceable criteria to ensure the preservation of the unique ‘coastal village’ feel of BH. I urge all locals to do likewise. John Circosta Brunswick Heads
▶ More paid parking letters online in Echonetdaily: www.echo.net.au/letters
For Jim Rose. Our taxes pay for public emergency, health and education services. The people involved in these professions ‘earn’ their salaries because they provide an essential service. ABC employees also ‘earn’ their funding by providing many essential services. To name a few: news/ weather forecasts, as well as emergency information for regional and remote communities. Education programs, which are used in schools across the country. Home grown Australian comedy and drama. Programs exposing injustice and corruption, as well as stories about various Australian and overseas cultures and communities. The ABC provides watchers and listeners with access to a wide variety of genres of music and has always been a strong supporter of Australian performance and visual arts projects. The ABC is allotted funding for three years, and this amount is fixed. Come the last budget the last amount was reduced. That sounds like a cut to me. The present funding nowhere near replaces these agreed amounts. One of the ‘confoundly’ stupid. Lyle Clarke East Ballina
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Mullum hospital site Many of us over have been concerned to know how plans are progressing for Mullumbimby hospital site. Gill Lomath and I were invited to attend an update on the project. The bad news is that ▶ Continued on next page
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www.echo.net.au/byron-echo Byron Shire Echo archives
Sunday 26 july
Ragga Jump Monday 27 july
Chris Aronsten Tuesday 28 july
Jason Delphin Wednesday 29 july
Jon J Bradley `ƖōƷ ǩǩǽ ǩǧǩǧ The Byron Shire Echo 11