THE BYRON SHIRE
Summer Holidays
Volume 26 #29 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
CAB AUDIT
Pages 8 17 and 1
IT’S THE END OF 2011 AS WE KNOW IT
Happy new year, peeps Council overhauls dispute policy Hans Lovejoy
South Golden Beach couple Anouk Etournaud and Terry Fitton were two – of an estimated 10,000 – that celebrated the New Year in Byron Bay on Saturday night. Photo Hans Lovejoy Eve Jeffery
Revellers smooched under a sky lit by fireworks as 2012 was brought in at Byron Bay. Businesses in and around the town all agreed that the general behaviour of the public was good and most say they had busy trade – a welcome change from the same time last year. Co-owner of the Byron Bay Hot Bread Shop, Sandra Vickers, says that the 24-hour bakery experienced a great Christmas and New Year’s Eve. ‘The crowds this year have been one of the the most easygoing, cruisy I have seen,’ she told The Echo. ‘They have definitely been very happy and up from last year’. Cody Prasser, manager of Bay Kebabs, said that the festive season has in general been fairly busy and that New Year’s Eve brought more of the same. ‘The crowds were great,’ said Cody on Monday morning. ‘They have been really well behaved and
there were no scuffles. There are still plenty of people around. I have had a lot of people come in from the Gold Coast and Brisbane as well as plenty of regulars and locals’. The fun also spilled out of town, with both Bangalow Road and Ewingsdale Road lined with cars. Carol van Rensburg from the Ozigo takeway told The Echo it has been a good holiday season so far with very reasonable crowds and a hectic work load for staff. The beachfront was the main focus for most party-goers – however, and St John Ambulance superintendent Dennis Trevithick said that the usual injuries of cuts, scrapes and overconsumption were all they had to deal with. Byron’s chamber of commerce (Byron United) president Paul Waters added that it was too early to tell if business has prospered over the holiday period but said the night was a great success. ‘The celebration in Apex
Park was a huge success and the area was packed – there must have been five or six thousand people just around the stage area. Everyone I have spoken to says it was giant and it was great that Council managed to have the town pretty much cleaned up by daybreak’. Police appear to be happy with what they saw as a quiet New Year’s Eve event and were in good spirits during the traditional early morning breathaliser check at the eastern end of town. The only major issue dealt with by police was an incident at a caravan park on Ewingsdale Road. They are investigating the circumstances surrounding the malicious wounding of two men at about 8.20pm on Saturday evening. Two youths, both 19 years old, were struck by a bottle, possibly fracturing the cheek bone of one of the men, and causing a significant laceration to the face of the other. Both victims were conveyed to Byron Bay Hospital for treatment and an investigation is underway.
The way in which disputes between the community and Council are dealt with look to be overhauled under a new policy, which is now on public exhibition on Council’s website. The Dispute Resolution Committee is the current mechanism by which the public can have cases heard; for example a DA or compliance complaint. As reported in The Echo in October last year, John Anderson, aka Fast Buck$, submitted his long-running squabble on illegal dwellings and his MO (multiple occupancy) application to Council’s Dispute Resolution Committee. At the time it was revealed that the committee had not dealt with disputes for around seven years. Despite Mr Anderson’s recent submission, Council has so far failed to reactivate the committee and has instead put up a Draft Amended Code of Meeting Practice document to replace the current policy. It aims to encompass all Council’s code of practice for meetings and committees. Deep within the complex 46-page document is Council’s plans to replace the Dispute Resolution Committee and create a Planning Review Committee and Strategic Planning Committee. The Planning Review Committee appears to deal specifically with development applications (DAs), while compliance matters are not mentioned. The Strategic Planning Commit-
tee will, ‘…lead research and policy direction on key strategic issues for Byron Shire.’ Another aim according to the charter is ‘…facilitate strategic policy development on a range of strategic issues concerning Byron Shire Council and is to determine strategic policy.’
Mr Anderson ‘special’ Mr Anderson told The Echo that his case, among only a few others, is ‘special’. ‘My case was the only one dealt with in confidential meetings,’ he said, ‘along with an illegal dwelling case in Myocum, and now the more recent holiday letting cases. ‘As far as I am aware these are the only cases that have been delegated to the general manager.’ Mr Anderson also claims the current crop of councillors are lazy. ‘They are making it up as they go along. ‘When it’s a legal matter, they always vote for the general manager to manage it – they wipe their hands of any responsibility. ‘Also councillors don’t do site visits anymore, so they are only reliant on what staff are saying. ‘When I was on Council we inspected properties and met with owners.’ Council had not responded to The Echo’s questions by the time of going to press, possibly due to public holidays. Submissions for the draft policy close Friday, February 10, 2012. Q See editorial, page 10
Man dies after rolling car near Mullum A young man in his early 20s has tragically died after rolling his car on Left Bank Road near Mullumbimby. The Echo understands he had just returned from overseas and is from a long-established local family.
Police have confirmed the accident happened at 12.45am on Saturday December 31, however a name is yet to be released. Flowers have been placed at the scene.
ABN 82 087 650 682 AFSL/ACL No. 241000
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