The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 35.27 – December 16, 2020

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SPAWNED FROM WITCHES THEY COULDN’T BURN – SINCE 1986 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 35 #27 • Wednesday, December 16, 2020 • www.echo.net.au

Byron Bay Surf Life Saving Club seeks to maintain groynes Hans Lovejoy

Bay battered by La NiĂąa Photographer Tao Jones shot photo this on Monday, as large swells continued to hammer the fragile coastline. Waves broke over the seawall adjacent to Fishheads, and more trees that hold the fragile dunes together were washed into the sea.

West Byron’s approval – what to expect? Paul Bibby The judge’s gavel has fallen on one of the two DAs for a major housing development at West Byron, setting in stone the proposal from Tower Holdings to create 149 housing lots on the much fought-over site. Some locals will be gnashing their teeth, others celebrating, while a fair few in the middle will be quietly acknowledging that things could have been a lot worse. But what are we actually going

Future-proofing our food supply ▜ p3

to get at West Byron? First, the good news. The plan for 149 lots is half of what Terry Agnew’s Tower Holdings (operating under the name Villaworld for the purposes of the recent court case) had asked for, and it is significantly less than the company’s original projections about the ‘maximum developable potential of the land’. Given the relatively small size of the housing lots, it is unlikely that the future owners will be able to

build dual occupancies, even if they wanted to. However, it won’t stop them building smaller secondary dwellings that could then become holiday rentals. Byron Council’s attempt to significantly limit short-term holiday rentals in all new development in the Shire was not well received by the NSW Department of Planning, and the location of the site makes it prime territory for Airbnb accomodation. But back to the good news.

Sort of. Fewer houses mean fewer people and fewer extra cars on Ewingsdale Road – a key concern for many locals. However, the bad news is, using the general rule of thumb that a house generates 10 traffic movements each day on average, the Tower Holdings/Terry Agnew development will produce an extra 1,490 traffic movements each day on Ewingsdale Road. Aside from the Byron bypass, no major changes to the already ▜ Continued on page 4

A councillor’s perspective Shock, horror! Shopping local, on the Main Beach Naughty words in and other fun festive Shoreline Project â–ś p9 headlines ▜ p22, 51 activities ▜ p24–50

ÄžÇ Ä‚ĆŒÄžÍŠ dĹšĹ?Ć? ŽƾůÄš Äž zŽƾÍŠ

Vale Mungo The Echo is very sad to report that Mungo MacCallum died last Wednesday, a week after announcing he was unable to continue writing. His funeral and wake was Tuesday afternoon, as The Echo went to press.

â–ś Tributes on pages 10, 18 & 19

Some fishy business going on in the Good Life ▜ p55, 57

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ŚĞĂƉ ^ŽůÄ‚ĆŒ Ͳ EŽƚ tĹ˝ĆŒĹŹĹ?ĹśĹ? WŽŽĆŒ /ĹśĆ?ƚĂůůĂƚĹ?ŽŜ Ͳ EĹ˝ ^ĆľĆ‰Ć‰Ĺ˝ĆŒĆš

In their submission to Council regarding the Main Beach Shoreline Project, Byron Bay Surf Life Saving Club (BBSLSC) have outlined their concerns about the potential impacts of all proposed options, and say maintaining the existing groynes is their preferred outcome, ‘until an evidence-based alternative is identified’. The Main Beach Shoreline Project aims to address the failing groynes at Jonson Street and, according to Council, ‘enhance the town’s coastal protection, while improving public safety and amenity so that everyone can enjoy Byron’s iconic Main Beach into the future.’ Byron Bay Surf Club president Paul Pattison provided their submissions to The Echo upon request, and he said, ‘With the weekend and today’s big swell and tides, it has shown how vulnerable the shoreline is’. ‘Appropriate protection works for our much loved, used and internationally acclaimed beach need to be progressed as a matter of urgency. â–ś Continued on page 4

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WĹš ĎŹĎŽ ϲϲϴϴ ϰϰϴϏ


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