Letters No GC please If one house has six parked occupant vehicles belonging to multiple renters in its driveway on Alidenes Road, imagine what would happen if there were 15 houses (similar to the one built there, now), and squeezed into a small parcel of land? We chose to live in Wilsons Creek, instead of the Gold Coast. We chose quiet, peaceful surroundings. So perturbed are we, as owner-occupiers, about the proposed subdivision of an owner-developer’s property near the Wilsons Creek Alidenes Road property where we live that we again openly express a few more concerns. We reiterate our disappointment at lack of community consultation before Council’s seeming okaying and wanting to push ahead with this ‘not okay’ proposal. We are not persuaded by judgment and opinion potentially based on possibly limited sampling of conditions of a place and space. Max and Beverly Joffe Wilsons Creek
Elements existing DA Well, well, well, the area that the shonky section of councillors, and Council’s planners, proposes to rezone for development on the Elements site (formerly owned by Becton and Club Med) is actually part of the 57ha that was supposed to be transferred to the adjacent Nature Reserve in the State Government Becton Consent Condition. It appears that residents, who for decades have risen up to protect the site from overdevelopment, have had some belated success, as Becton and the
Lyon’s holiday-letting restrictions? They have also, again, portrayed their incapacity to oversee Shire development. For me, Crs Coorey and Cameron are the only councillors that retain any merit for re-election. My correspondence with the GM on this Elements planning mess is as yet to clarify how Council will respond. The Becton Consent was not supported by the community or Council. Should there be attempts to bulldoze the Rezoning through, then the ‘No Becton Bay’ campaign may have to be revisited and re-badged to No Elements Enclave? John Lazarus Byron Bay
Councils abused
Cartoon Gary Cavanagh – Instagram: @gary_cavanagh. next purchaser, Elements, forgot to activate the State Government Consent, which includes – ‘That 57 hectares in the north and west are to be transferred to a public authority’. Becton purchased the site with 78 tourist accommodation units, and originally proposed an increase up to 728. After major public opposition, Becton reduced their proposal to 144 units, but the impacts did not stack up for Council who rejected even that (where have those sort of community responsive, environmentally sensitive councillors gone?). Whereupon Becton took the development application (DA) to the state government who passed it. But, as it remained unactivated, that
consent is now stale and invalid, and the site only retains the development consent in place prior to the Becton DA. The councillors who voted to rezone it, which includes all of the green (wash) councillors, demonstrated no concerns for the site’s ecology, or even understanding of what existing planning consents were in place, which evidences their incapacity for re-election. Ndiaye is an anathema on the new Greens election ticket, and the other detritus of exGreens councillors who have coagulated into the Lyon group. This includes the excouncillor Westheimer who used to (still does?) run an investment Holiday Let unit in the Bay. Does he support
Letters to the Editor and cartoons Send to Letters Editor Aslan Shand, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au 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.
Suffolk Park Community Garden Expression of Interest
I sympathise with Ballina councillor Ben Smith’s outburst at the NSW government, as reported by David Lowe in last week’s Echo. Cr Smith described the relationship between councils and the government as ‘abusive’, with councils expected to absorb growing financial shortfalls without being able to charge appropriate levies. It has been ever thus. In my 20-plus years as a journalist and editor for The Echo, I often observed the Macquarie Street MPs, the Department of Local Government and the state planners treat country councillors as yokels who needed to be placated, abused or lied to. Countless planning ‘strategies’ have been dished up, peppered with buzzwords such as ‘sustainable growth’, but rarely adhered to, especially when a minister finds him/herself at lunch with a prominent developer.
When the vaccine passport kicks in I hope all you antivaxxers really love Mullum. Mick Malloy Suffolk Park
A little control? Dog controls – is there any chance Byron Council could start properly funding and enforcing animal control across the Shire? I am out in the community every day and the last time I saw one of the ranger vehicles was probably more than a year ago. If you own a dog and it is wandering by itself,
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Thursday 8 July
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Devils Kiosk Leigh James
For more information and to submit your EOI visit Council’s website at www.byron.nsw.gov.au/public-notice.
Simon Meal
Sunday 11 July Monday 12 July Tuesday 13 July
Expressions of interest will only be accepted via the online form.
Sunstone
Enquiries: Julia Curry 6626 7295 or email jcurry@byron.nsw.gov.au
Wednesday 14 July
Expressions of Interest Close 21 July 2021
I Love Mullum
It’s never too late!
86 JONSON ST, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 therailsbyronbay.com
Council invites Expressions of interest (EOI) for an initial one year licence to establish a community garden on a part of Council’s land known as Linda Vidler Park, 46 Beech Drive Suffolk Park.
www.echo.net.au
Councils have been admonished to rein in their financial profligacy because, heaven knows, the state government never played fast and loose with the public purse. The only defence against the hubris of the state seems to be when citizens who have attracted the attention of the news media rise up with firebrands and pitchforks to protect their region. (In case the AFP is reading this, the last sentence contains a mildly amusing allusion to Frankenstein movie tropes, not an actual call to arms.) Michael McDonald Bairnsdale VIC
Adam Hole Duo `ƖōƷ Ǯǽ ǩǧǩǨ The Byron Shire Echo 11