Letters
Cartoon by Holly English – www.hollyenglish.com
Koala protection Last week’s performance by the National Party in NSW will go down in history for its utter arrogance and total contempt for our vulnerable koalas and other wildlife. The major cause of the decline of koalas is habitat loss, and it cannot be dismissed by ‘if a farmer or a private landholder wants to take a few logs off to have a livelihood‌’. With widespread clearing of habitat on private land and the ongoing logging (on public land), let alone the massive loss of habitat from the unprecedented
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.
bushfires, we need to protect their habitat. John Barilaro, your comment that the National Party stands for a thriving koala population and wants to see the koala population double is not supported by the actions you are now taking. You say one thing and then continue to support unchecked land clearing. Since the new Native Vegetation clearing codes were introduced in March 2019 – 51,000 ha have been cleared for agriculture. It appears the National Party has been on another planet for the last couple of years and have not listened to, seen, or understood what the majority of Australians are asking for protection of our environment and our wildlife. Here in the Northern Rivers, Bangalow Koalas has been busy creating and connecting koala habitat to form a koala wildlife corridor from Byron Bay and surrounds, out towards Tenterfield, north to the Queensland border, and south towards Grafton. The majority of our landholders are farmers. We
are in a regional area, and farmers far and wide in this area are jumping on board to protect and save our koalas. I believe you are out of touch with the very people you claim to be representing. May you all hold your heads in shame.(See p20). Linda Sparrow President, Bangalow Koalas
Atttacking hippies In the 1970s Byron Council made their first attack on the alternative (hippy) newcomers to Main Arm who had built dwellings with little money. They were saved by hippyfriendly Councillor Frank Mills who, whilst agreeing to Council’s policy to purge the new dwellings, said first attention should be paid to the illegal cabins, garages and sheds and understorey flats in Byron Bay itself. The purge fizzled out. Roll on to the 1990s and Greens Mayor, Tom Wilson, and in 2010/11 Jan Barham had another go; both using an alleged septic tank inspection program as access to examine Main Arm properties. These programs was alleged to be about cleaning
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up the creek, and again only targeted Main Arm, but it too fizzled out when it was seen that the hippies didn’t live near the creek, but the cows did; pooing all day long into the stream Now it’s the 2020s and Main Arm is again singled out. A flood of show cause letters have been sent, but only to Main Arm’s owners of allegedly unapproved dwellings – and an illegal drone has been spotted – will this too fizzle out when the Murdoch press runs headlines ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREENEST COUNCIL CLEANSES POORER RESIDENTS OF BYRON SHIRE WITH EVICTIONS’? We would prefer some help with provision of affordable lodgings. Name withheld
Corrections It’s no secret to Echo readers that Alan Dickens has been a thorn in Council’s side for a while, but while thorns can be irritating, well-argued criticisms and probing questions are a bulwark of democracy. In the current world situation, it’s something we all need to value and guard. However, Alan’s letter (2 September) mentioning my attendance at a Waste Water and Recycling committee meeting needs some correction. The meeting was in May 2018, not 2019. I was briefly in Australia and two councillors invited me to contribute from my extensive experience in Belongil matters. I wasn’t ‘paid’. Alan thinks the meeting wasn’t minuted, but I made some notes. The discussion ran for three hours and covered many topics. On â–ś Continued on next page
Uki Buttery Bazaar Market Last of the 70s style markets Third Sunday of every month
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www.echo.net.au/byron-echo Byron Shire Echo archives
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