THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 27 #22 Tuesday, November 6, 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
Inside this week
alth He & BEAUTY ONETOUCH™ NEURAL TRACKING ENABLED
CAB AUDIT
Tex Perkins back on the Horse – p22
Mungo attacks – p10
Pretty in punk, steamed
More debate on the E zones – p11
Fascinating Mullum Science Show ready Fest – p15 to go – p16
PAGE 17-19
Byron Shire Council Notices Pages 44–45
Groups square off on E zones Luis Feliu
Two new groups, one a new alliance of north coast environmentalists and the other representing rural landowners, will square off over the protection of forests, wetlands, wildlife habitats and corridors in the wake of the government’s controversial review of local environment plans (LEPs). Yesterday, the alliance of environment and conservation groups called Save North Coast Nature launched its website and campaign to prevent what it says is the government’s plan to ‘remove essential environmental protection from nearly 60 per cent of the far north coast’s forests, wetlands and wildlife habitats’. But the Byron Rural Action Group says much of the mapping and overlays for the new E2 and E3 environmental zones in the draft Byron LEP is inaccurate. The group, which welcomed the government’s recent intervention to remove the zones from the LEPs of Byron, Tweed, Ballina, Lismore and
Kyogle councils in order to review them, will hold its third public meeting on the issue on Wednesday, November 7, at 6.30pm at the Bangalow Bowls Club. And Byron Shire Council will hold a workshop on the issue on Saturday, November 17, at Mullumbimby Civic Hall from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. Save North Coast Nature spokesman Andy Baker said the alliance’s campaign aims to unite environment groups, local government, tourism and the community ‘to demand our region keep the same environmental protections available to the rest of the state. ‘Our region’s remaining natural areas already face enormous pressure from massive residential and tourist developments along the coast and emerging industries such as coalseam gas extraction and private forestry further inland,’ Mr Baker said. ‘Yet, in the face of these threats, NSW minister for planning and infrastructure, Brad Hazzard, wants to make it easier for damaging activities to be approved in our most sensitive
and vulnerable natural areas.’ But landowners group spokesman Rex Harris said that Council’s objective to ‘obtain improved ecological outcomes doesn’t simply materialise by the rezoning of land’ but relied on the ‘goodwill, financial and physical resources of landowners’. Mr Harris said that many farmers were already protecting the environment by regenerating their land and were inspired to do so rather than be ‘whipped by Council to do it’. The Bangalow macadamia farmer said he had planted 60,000 rainforest trees on his 200-acre property, installed nesting boxes and other wildlife attractions. But Mr Harris said the draft LEP showed ‘there’s a wildlife corridor overlay right through my property’, yet some of that land was ‘wall to wall in macadamias’. He says his farm was ‘already’ a wildlife corridor with the work he’d undertaken but was now devalued by the new zonings. He said the ‘great big track right through the Shire called continued on page 3
Bees are the buzz for Mullumbimbee group
Nimmitybel Parkes’s costume took out first prize on the weekend in the Steampunk-themed Shearwater Wearable Arts extravaganza – ‘Time Is On Her Side’, a reimagining of tomorrow as it used to be. The show saw the first use of Shearwater’s new hall. See more at www.shearwaterperformingarts. com. Photo Jeff ‘Dedicated Follower Of Fashion’ Dawson
Council officer in corrupt conduct: ICAC A former Byron Shire Council officer had engaged in corrupt conduct by accepting gift vouchers from suppliers in return for increased orders and sales, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in
a report released last week. ICAC has made corrupt-conduct findings against 41 people, including 22 staff or former staff of 14 councils and 15 employees of supplier companies, in continued on page 9
The ‘Mullumbimbees Natural Beekeeping Group’ is a newly formed group encouraging men and women of all ages to learn about beekeeping without the use of chemicals and with the bees’ best interests in mind. The upcoming course ‘Introduction to Natural Beekeeping Workshop’, run by apiarist James Creagh of Nimbin Natural Beekeeping, is the first event for the MNBG. The one day course will show how the hive works, where and how to set up a hive and a demonstration of building a hive box and frames, and much more. Anyone interested in booking for the next course can email mullumbees@gmail.com or see them on Facebook – Mullumbimbees Mullumbimbee Kat Gawlick and Mullum little bee Senna are excited about Natural Beekeeping Group. flowers and honey and everything bees. Photo Eve Jeffery
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