The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 37.04 – July 6, 2022

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N A I D O C W E E K : G E T U P ! STA N D U P ! S H O W U P ! The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #04 • July 6, 2022 • www.echo.net.au

Developer fees and charges cut

Girl surf rules

Paul Bibby

It might be cold, but that didn’t stop women and girls competing in the first Challenge Her Team’s Classic, held in Lennox Head on Sunday. According to Her Wave Program Manager, Claire Ellem, ‘It is an inclusive team format that encourages everyone to have a go and takes the pressure off individual performance and focuses on fun, participation, team camaraderie’. Pictured are the Mermaids team: Coco Gallagher, Cinta Hamilton, Max Pentacost, Pauline Menzcer, Danah Besson, Miliani Tighe and Roisin Carolan. Photo Jeff Dawson

‘Soft stabilisation’ works for Byron beaches Paul Bibby Byron Council will undertake a major dune recovery operation at Main and Clarke’s Beach, after securing much-needed government funding for the project. This part of the Shire’s famous coastline has experienced significant erosion and recession over the past two years. Particularly devastating were the storms and historically high tides that occurred in December 2020, which removed the entire front face of the dune system, along

with large volumes of sand, and the majority of dune vegetation. Nine of the 14 access paths had to be closed owing to safety issues. Last month, Council was advised that its application to the State Government’s Coastal and Estuary Grants Program was successful, subject to Council meeting the balance of funds for the project, and agreeing to the funding terms.

Sand dune ecosystems The project aims to restore the sand dune ecosystems of Main and Clarkes Beach, using various

methods, including ‘soft stabilisation’ techniques. It is hoped this will rehabilitate and restore the dune system to its pre-storm form and function, increase sand volumes stored within the dune to re-establish the coast’s natural defence mechanism, and improve the public’s beach safety, access and amenity. ‘The project will involve beach scraping and dune reprofiling, which involves moving small to medium quantities of sand harvested from the swash zone and lower part of ▶ Continued on page 4

Knitters celebrate their Here’s a tiny violin for tenth nannaversary all the whinging wealthy ▶ p10 developers ▶ p12

Council fees for construction and development in Byron were the equivalent of paying $160 for a coffee, making it ‘entirely unviable’ to invest here, industry representatives told the Council last week. And it appears councillors heeded the claims, voting to significantly reduce a number of construction levies to bring the Shire’s fees schedule more closely into alignment with other surrounding Council areas. Adopting a recommendation from Council staff, all councillors voted to significantly reduce the amount developers are charged when they need to temporarily use areas of Council land such as footpaths and road reserves during construction. Currently, Council charges $10 per square metre per day for footpath closure. This is approximately 30 times more than is charged by Gold Coast City Council, and roughly eight times more than is charged in the Ballina, Lismore and Tweed local government areas, on average. Under the new fees schedule adopted last week as part of the 2022/2023 Delivery Program and Operational Plan, Council will charge $1 per square metre per day for low impact use of Council land and $3 where footpath verge closure is required. Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the changes and did not question whether the fees and charges had provided a disincentive for overdevelopment in the Shire.

The stars and crossword have moved! ▶ p31

It is unclear how significantly the changes will impact Council’s budget bottom line, which has already been affected by the recent floods and COVID-19. Mayor Michael Lyon said Council had been looking at the fees and charges issue for some time, and that the changes had been proposed in response to more than 50 public submissions during the exhibition period. ‘It still places us as the most expensive Council in Australia, but we’re a lot closer to the pack, which seems reasonable,’ Cr Lyon said. Speaking during the public access section of the meeting, Hannah Hopkinson from property developer MPGroup, said that if Council were to treat another industry the way it had treated builders and developers there would be ‘a very vocal backlash’. ‘It would be like charging $166.50 for a coffee,’ she said. ‘The new schedule of fees we can live with. For a 40-by-five metre area of land, this works out to be $420 compared to $2,667. This equates to $7.11 for a cup of coffee, which is still expensive but it’s manageable.’ Dominic Biancardi, representing developer, Podia, said Council policies should encourage investment and better urban design rather than discouraging them.

‘Unviable to invest’ ‘Add this to Council’s levies during construction and it’s entirely unviable to invest at any ▶ Continued on page 3

Tradies galore ▶ p41

A whole page dedicated to sport ▶ p47

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Ăůů sŝŶĐĞŶƚ ^ĞůůĞĐŬ ĨŽƌ Ă &ƌĞĞ ŽŶƐƵůƚĂƚŝŽŶ


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The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 37.04 – July 6, 2022 by Echo Publications - Issuu