THE MAIN THING IS TO BE MOVED, TO LOVE, TO HOPE, TO TREMBLE, TO LIVE – AUGUSTE The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 35 #11 • Wednesday, August 26, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
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Ă˜ÄśĹ&#x;Ĺ•ČœĆ† ĹźĹ&#x;ĹżĆ?ſÍĜĆ? Ĺ&#x;ÄŞ ĂŤĹ• ĂŤĹżĆ?ĜƆĆ? Ć?ÍŊĕƆ Ç– ĜčIJĆ? Paul Bibby Australia’s most famous art competition, the $100,000 Archibald Prize, is back on after a delay caused by COVID-19, and no-one could be happier than Mullumbimby artist Zion Levy Stewart. Zion, who has Down syndrome, has entered the competition for the second time with a portrait of another talented local – glass artist and abstract painter Noel Hart. The extra tight deadline didn’t faze the 41-year-old who sprang into action as soon as the competition’s revised date was announced. ‘The tight deadline might have been a problem for some artists, but not for Zion,’ the artist’s mother Christine Levy says. ‘As soon as he found out he started doing some initial sketches on canvas.’ Zion entered the annual competition for the first time last year and, although he wasn’t selected among
Zion has entered a portrait of local glass artist and abstract painter, Noel Hart, into the Archibald Prize. Photo Jeff ‘Abstracted’ Dawson
the finalists, his eye-catching portrait of Aboriginal elder, artist, musician and educator Walangari
Karntawarra added to his growing reputation among local and overseas collectors when it was selected
for show in the Salon des RefusÊs at TAP Gallery in Sydney’s Surry Hills. TAP Gallery has also offered Zion
an exhibition of his own. Every Friday Mr Hart comes to the house that Zion shares with his mother in Mullumbimby to support him with his artistic endeavours, which include sketches and â–ś Continued on page 4
Byron Shire Council accused of maladministration over bypass Aslan Shand A formal complaint of maladministration by Byron Shire Council (BSC) over the management of the Byron bypass process and implementation has been lodged with BSC’s general manager, Mark Arnold. However, the lodgement of the complaint has been problematic with the original emails sent on the 10 and 19 August going into both the GM’s and Council’s general email spam folders. After multiple phone calls the emails were finally
Byron lights up ▜ p5
retrieved, 15 days after they were sent. Community Alliance Byron Shire (CABS), who lodged the complaint, stated that BSC was presented with ‘clear evidence of irregularity and inadequacy’ relating to ‘the shortcomings of their field work, assessment and biobanking approval conditions prior to commencement of the destruction of habitat’. This relates in particular to the impact on the Mitchell’s Rainforest Snail, which is the ‘first species to receive a Critical Habitat determination under the former NSW Threatened
Byron Shire Council Notices ▜ p6
Species Conservation Act 1995 and is listed‌ as a species that is “unable to withstand further lossâ€?, including loss of habitat within its range’.
Ongoing failures The six-page document states that the failure ‘to adequately assess the environmental impacts of the protected Cumbebin Wetlands’ is the basis for ongoing failures throughout the process. This includes affecting the outcome of the NSW Land and Environment
Farewell to Big John ▜ p10
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Court decision and both state and commonwealth approvals which CABS claim were based on ‘flawed and deficient data’. If the importance of the habitat to the Mitchell’s Rainforest Snail had been recognised through effective fieldwork CABS state in the complaint that the bypass ‘would almost certainly have been stopped dead in its tracks’.
Snail underpass The underpass and biobanking solutions meant to compensate
Creative destruction: A note from BB Chamber president ▜ p12
for the destruction of the snails’ habitat don’t adequately address the losses inflicted on the species by the building of the bypass, say CABS. They highlight that the 40m long concrete fauna underpass, that also doubles as a stormwater culvert, is likely to encourage predation of the snail owing to exposure, and that it lacks any natural ground cover. They further point out that Council’s solution, of placing logs and leaf litter in the culvert, will most ▜ Continued on page 4
Making Spaces – a fab new feature ▜ p13
Mandy on mojo ▜ p19
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT: FREE RAFFLES! FRIDAY NIGHT: 20 X $40 MEAT TRAYS SUNDAY LUNCH: $700 WORTH OF RAFFLES
DINNER 10% DISCOUNT
$10 LUNCH OFFER
7 nights a week when you make a BOOKING prior to 5pm
Monday – Thursday: when you make a BOOKING prior to 11am
(Sunday Lunch: Bonus FREE raffle tickets with any meal purchase)
Dinner: 5 – 8pm
Lunch: 12 – 2pm
The Club has a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place to comply with all restrictions and keep the community safe. Jonson St, Byron Bay • 02 6685 6878 • www.byronbayservicesclub.com.au