BONUS
BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU FOLLOW THE MASSES. SOMETIMES THE M IS SILENT The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #17 • October 5, 2022 • www.echo.net.au
magazine in this issue!
Bubbles cause mayhem!
It was a big weekend of acrobatic feats at the National Circus Fest, held at the Mullum Showgrounds. Ten-year-old Emily told The Echo the first act she saw was called the Wheel of Death, which was ‘a lady doing tricks on tricks wheel. Some of the tricks she was about to perform seemed impossible at first, although she managed it. One of the best tricks, in my opinion, was when she hung onto the wheel and spun upside down. She then proceeded with a trick where she fitted her whole body in a tiny hoop’. Photo Jeff ‘Amazebubbles’ Dawson
Pay Parking push is back on for Bruns, Mullum The perennial push by Council to deploy pay parking in Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby was voted through at last week’s meeting – all with the support of every councillor except Alan Hunter. At the end of debate, councillors agreed to allocate $140,000 ‘to fund an updated parking study including an expansion of the pay parking areas and an assessment of current supply and demand, time limits’.
A further report was requested from staff by April 2023 ‘on the above, and also on comparative pay parking rates in other local government areas’. As for the unfolding pod development on Prince Street, Mullumbimby, staff have been instructed to ‘Consult with Transport for NSW in relation to parking/overflow associated with the temporary housing within the rail corridor and
possible legacy outcomes from this initiative related to parking areas; and provide a further report on options to progress/fund a revised parking study’. A further report was requested ‘on options to progress/fund a revised parking study’ for Mullumbimby. During debate, Mayor Michael Lyon told the chamber that this was an election commitment with regards to revenue raising and the
easing of traffic congestion. He said, ‘I’ve noticed it’s now easier to park in Mullum over the last few months… I suspect more people aren’t living in the town because of the floods’. Yet staff said later that pay parking, if adopted in Mullum and Bruns, would not be a revenue raiser and instead could cost Council to run the sheme. ▶ Continued on page 2
Floodplain risks to be highlighted to NSW premier Council have recognised 1,454 flood-affected homes in Byron Shire that could benefit from the government’s much touted assistance via its Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC). Within Greens Cr Duncan Dey’s motion, passed at last week’s Council meeting, councillors resolved to lobby NSW Liberal Premier Dominic Perottet around making existing buildings safer against flood risks. In a letter to be sent to the premier, councillors will thank him for the NSW Government’s ‘efforts on flood-relief and on re-housing flood-displaced people’. The letter will also remind him of ‘the opportunities as expressed in the state’s Floodplain Risk Management Plans to make existing buildings safer against flood risks’. The ‘legacy role of the state in having approved buildings in flood-prone areas’ is also highlighted, as is ‘the likelihood that many of Byron Shire’s buildings can be returned to use by these actions (especially house raising), because peak flood levels are not as deep as in other areas’. A quantum of funding potentially required for the Shire’s buildings to be made more resilient was included, ‘costed [at] an indicative average of $100,000 per building at a minimum of $145m, excluding buybacks, which could be an additional $35m’. Council’s Floodplain Management Advisory Committee will also receive a report on flood resilience options, and on further investigation needed for properties impacted by the 2022 floods.
Byron Rangers CEO Arakwal Aunties Cafe Does David Heilpern ‘Art washes away from the accused of unethical opens in Broken enjoy the footy? soul the dust of everyday life’ behaviour ▶ p6 Head ▶ p11 ▶ p12 – Picasso. Arts feature ▶ p22
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Be amused, Seven ▶ p26