VENI COVIDI VICI The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 35 #15 • Wednesday, September 23, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
Rural residents prepare for compliance invasion Residents asked to foot bill for Council’s lack of planning records Aslan Shand
given complex, historical issues of unauthorised dwellings in the Shire. During a meeting called by Main Arm Residents Association (MARA) last Saturday, to discuss community concerns over the letters, it became clear that Council staff failed to check historical mapping, and their own rates history, to determine if the dwellings had been there prior to Council’s planning records. This led to numerous approved properties receiving the ‘robo’ letters. One elderly property owner told The Echo they were told by staff that they will have to pay up to $180 per hour for Council to search aerial photographs and their rates history, as well as further costs for inspections, to confirm their property is authorised. The charges by Council are based on the Unauthorised Dwelling Policy 2020 fact sheet, which is a result of the June resolution, led by Greens Cr Sarah Ndiaye. That policy was buried as a sub-section in another resolution dealing with unauthorised dwellings in Skinners Shoot. Like the ‘robo’ letters, councillors were unaware of these cost ▶ Continued on page 4
Byron Shire residents are questioning why Byron Shire Council is cost shifting their responsibilities, after it emerged that Council staff are seeking to charge property owners up to $180 per hour to confirm any developments on their property are authorised. It comes as Council staff recently sent out ‘robo’ or ‘show cause’ letters to a significant number of ratepayers in Upper Main Arm, without councillors’ knowledge. Staff claimed landowners have ‘unauthorised development’ on their property. Plans to send out the same letters to the entire hinterland have been confirmed by Greens Mayor Simon Richardson and Director Sustainable Environment and Economy, Shannon Burt. Ms Burt justifies the aggressive approach by saying it gives landowners a ‘heads up’, and is based on the Unauthorised Dwelling Policy 2020. Yet that policy is yet to go on public exhibition and hasn’t been adopted by councillors. Many questions have been raised around how such a policy could be achieved,
QLD/NSW bubble expanded from Oct 1 News that the QLD/NSW border will reopen to northern NSW from October 1 has been welcomed by NSW Business Chamber Regional Manager Northern Rivers, Jane Laverty. She says, ‘Thank you to every one of you for standing shoulder to shoulder (virtually of course) on
the QLD border closure issue, your contribution has been significant’. She added, ‘I am so pleased that the QLD government have listened and understood the impacts to businesses and workers in the Northern Rivers, and remembered that while we are two states, we are one community’.
Byron Shire Council Notices ▶ p8
BISTRO
ON JONSON
OPEN 7 DAYS FOR LUNCH & DINNER
The Club has a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place to comply with all restrictions and keep the community safe.
Where fungi ǖ şƖſĶƆIJĕƆ Those saddened at the loss of the fig tree at the southern entrance into Mullum will be happy to know it has a new life. Martin Martini salvaged the limbs of the fig and is now producing fungi food on them. If you’d like to learn how to grow these edible giants, Martin and his buddy, Jason Lau, will be teaching one day workshops in Goonengerry on October 3 and 4. To get involved, email therealmartinmartini@gmail.com. Photo Eve Jeffery
Fate of former Byron Hospital up this week Paul Bibby Responsibility for the management of the old Byron Hospital site may well be handed over to an incorporated not-for-profit company this week, which will have the power to decide who will be part of the new community services hub being set up there. In a move that is partly being conducted behind closed doors, owing to its ‘commercially sensitive’ nature, Byron Council will decide at this week’s Council meeting whether or not to award a head lease to a company called Old
Byron Hospital Pty Ltd. The vote itself is set to take place away from public view, and three of the four key documents in relation to project have been listed as confidential on Byron Council’s website. A Council spokesperson told The Echo that making the documents public, ‘may jeopardise negotiations between the head lessee and eventual tenants of the site’. However, The Echo has learned that Old Byron Hospital Pty Ltd is made up of the same group of community members who birthed the idea of returning the disused site to
PM’s gas-led recovery is a pipe dream – Mungo ▶ p12
The making of beautiful spaces ▶ p17
3 WEDNESDAY NIGHT: FREE RAFFLES! FRIDAY NIGHT: 20 X $40 MEAT TRAYS SUNDAY LUNCH: $700 WORTH OF RAFFLES (Sunday Lunch: Bonus FREE raffle tickets with any meal purchase)
the community in 2016. ‘It’s same group of people that Council entrusted from the start’, the Chair of the company, local realtor, Chris Hanley, said. Should it be granted the head lease as expected, Old Byron Hospital Pty Ltd will have the power to decide which organisations are given leases to operate out of the Shirley Street site. The Echo understands that they will come from the welfare, health, education and cultural sectors, and that Southern Cross University is among those tossing their hat into the ring.
Spring into the school holidays ▶ p18
Live Munisgihcts Friday
25/9: SARAH GRANT 9/10: HARRY NICHOLS 16/10: JOCK BARNES
Jonson St, Byron Bay • 02 6685 6878 • www.byronbayservicesclub.com.au