WHAT IF WE ALL STOPPED PAYING TAXES? The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 35 #23 • Wednesday, November 18, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
Possible future beach retreat for Byron Bay Paul Bibby The state government is set to install sand bags at Clarkes Beach to protect the Beach Byron Bay cafe and Whites Cottage from the coastal erosion that has decimated the popular strip. But it says the bags are just a temporary measure to give the building owners time to ‘reconfigure’ their premises, and that the cafe owner has been told to prepare for ‘future retreat’. Management strategies were discussed at an urgent meeting held last month by the various state and local agencies who have responsibility for the Clarkes Beach area, including Council, Crown Lands and the Environment Department. Clarkes has been severely affected by erosion over the past 12 to 18 months, with tonnes of sand stripped away exposing a rock shelf beneath. The beach is littered with uprooted pandanus trees, and the eroded dune line is now within metres of the Beach Byron Bay cafe. There has also been further exposure of Aboriginal middens. A report of last month’s meeting, contained in the agenda to this week’s Byron Council planning meeting, states that NSW Minister for Property and Water, Melinda Pavey, has ordered the installation of geobags (sand bags) in front of the cafe and cottage under emergency works provisions. The bags are only to remain for 90 days, to ‘allow time for works to be done to reconfigure those buildings and to avoid an “uncontrolled incident”,’ Council staff said in their
Mullum P&C happenings and plans ▶ p5
Smiles for an ancient culture
report of the meeting. At the end of the 90 days these bags, along with the sand bags that Reflections Holiday Parks have already installed next to their Clarkes Beach caravan park, will be removed. In a crucial development for the Beach Byron Bay cafe, the report declares that: ‘The cafe lessee has been directed to take steps to separate the beach side deck from the main building to ready it for removal if required, and to commence preparation for reconfiguration of the building for future retreat’.
ĕǖ ĕĈƐĶşŕƆ ƱëŕƐƆ ƆëŕĎćëīƆ Ɛş ƆƐëƷ However, Reflections Holiday Parks told the meeting that they would seek to make the bags in front of their caravan park a permanent addition. According to the Council report, they have engaged consultants to provide them with advice on the potential to prepare a development application for the works. This could set the stage for a ‘battle of the bags’ akin to that taking place at the badly eroded Belongil Beach between Byron Council and the owners of multimillion dollar beachside properties. Representatives from a number of the agencies also expressed their views about the causes of the erosion; most were generally in agreement. This included an expert from the NSW Environment Department’s Sciences Group, who said the erosion was owing to a general ▶ Continued on page 2
Performers and artists, Áine Tyrrell, Bindimu, and Emily Wurramara took part in last Friday night’s NAIDOC concert at Bangalow’s A&I Hall. NAIDOC celebrations were held across the nation, and locally, from November 8 till 15. The local mob are the Bundjalung Arakwal Bumberlin people. Photo Jeff ‘Mobbed Since 1986’ Dawson
¨ſëǔ ĶĈ ōĶīIJƐƆ Īşſ 0ƱĶŕīƆĎëōĕ ĶŕƐĕſĈIJëŕīĕ Hans Lovejoy Byron Shire is about to have its first traffic control signals installed. Owing to ‘significant delays’ and ‘safety hazard with traffic queuing on the southbound slow lane of the highway’, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) have announced $750,000 for traffic lights. Referred also as ‘metering’, it aims to ‘manage traffic flow and reduce highway congestion during peak traffic periods for motorists travelling to Ewingsdale and Byron Bay’. The two page project update available at www.rms.nsw.gov.au
What is happening in The Pocket? Land clearing results in a hillside washing into a creek ▶ p16
OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND SALE!
does not explain what public consultation occurred, or what other options were considered to reach the decision. It does say however, ‘Traffic modelling shows traffic control signals at this location will improve traffic flow from the Pacific Highway onto Ewingsdale Road’. ‘TfNSW is also working with Byron Shire Council to explore whole of transport solutions to the travel patterns in the Byron LGA’. Changes to the Byron Bay Hospital roundabout were made in 2019, say RMS, ‘In an effort to reduce congestion along Ewingsdale Road’. Inexplicably, RMS designed a
So much health and healing, so little time... ▶ p18 ±ƋƚųÚ±Ƽ Ɨŏ x ƚĹÚ±Ƽ ƗƗ cŅƴåĵÆåų ŀ±ĵ ě ăŞĵ
Rainforest Ceramics will be open for the Australian Ceramics Open Studios weekend with new pieces made by Richard Jones fresh out of the kiln. Each piece sold saves rainforest. Don’t miss it!
Retopia Gallery is hosting the event. This hidden gem has many beautiful paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptural works by local @retopiagallery artists. CARD PAYMENT AVAILABLE
FĹŧƚĜųĜåŸ× ŠLjƖš ƅƅíƀ ŎĿLjLj ųĜÏʱųÚÄų±ĜĹüŅųåŸƋÏåų±ĵĜÏŸţÏŅĵ Äų±ĜĹüŅųåŸƋÏåų±ĵĜÏŸ ƵƵƵţų±ĜĹüŅųåŸƋÏåų±ĵĜÏŸţÏŅĵ
Where to go× Ăƅ :ĜƋƋŅåŸ X±ĹåØ {ŅŸŸƚĵ ųååĩ From Bangalow ô XĜŸĵŅųå ÚØ ĀųŸƋ £ ųŅ±ÚŸØ ƋƚųĹ ųĜčĘƋØ ĀųŸƋ ĬåüƋţ From Coorabell – Friday Hut Rd, ÏųŅŸŸ {ŅŸŸƚĵ ųååĩØ ƖĹÚ ųĜčĘƋţ
one lane roundabout in front of the new Byron hospital, which has resulted in a bottleneck for traffic. Tom Lane, who will soon hand over The Farm on Ewingsdale Road to new owners, told The Echo he had been in discussion with RMS over a numbers of years to sell some of the land to widen the road.
ÉĶĎĕŕĶŕī ƐIJĕ ſşëĎ He said, ‘But we haven’t been presented a design, or been given info on how much land is required’. He added that the impact on The Farm is unknown, as ‘infrastructure will have to be relocated’.
The entertainers are stirring – Seven entertainment ▶ p31