DON’T LET ANYONE ROB YOU OF YOUR IMAGINATION, YOUR CREATIVITY, OR YOUR CURIOSITY – MAE JEMISON The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #24 • November 23, 2022 • www.echo.net.au
Byron High’s Battle of the Bands a raging success
Byron High has an illustrious history of turning out amazing musicians. The Buckleys and Parkway Drive spring to mind. Year 12 student, Luca Greig, had a vision to hold a
Battle of the Bands competition over five lunchtimes at the school. Last Friday saw this band, Wild Rocket (Zephur and Kai) battle it out with Erin Woolsey to become the eventual winners.
Luca said, ‘I reckon it’s safe to say that days like these, which involve the whole school supporting, enjoying, and celebrating music at Byron Bay High, are going to keep on happening.’ Photo Jeff Dawson
Council to ‘draw a line’ under Broken Head development Police youth assault case back to court Paul Bibby Byron Mayor, Michael Lyon, will attempt to have a large part of the Linnaeus Estate given a new Environmental Living zoning in a bid to prevent further applications for development there. The stunning 111-hectare estate has been a source of angst and controversy in recent years thanks to a series of changing development proposals that some feel have diverged considerably, and inappropriately, from the original vision for the site. Cr Lyon will move a motion at this week’s Council meeting which proposes ‘drawing a line’ under the matter by rezoning a significant
part of the land from SP1 Mixed Use to a C4 Environmental Living Zone. This would be done with the aim of ensuring that ‘no additional development can be undertaken on the site other than the existing approved land uses’. ‘Linnaeus is one of these legacy items that we were landed with in the last term of Council,’ Cr Lyon said. ‘We have had several goes at trying to draw a line under it without success. ‘The latest DA approval from the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP) has created a use on the site that had not been approved under the 1988 LEP and was not envisioned as part of the transfer
David Heilpern laments the failings of the justice system ▶ p8
Piccadilly Circus comes to Mullum ▶ p14
into the 2014 LEP.’ ‘Whilst it is clear that there has been disagreement between various landowners and parties involved, both internal and external, it is my hope that a resolution can be reached such that future Councils are not burdened with trying to sort it out.’ The ‘DA approval’ referred to by Cr Lyon is the 8 November decision by the NRPP to grant consent for 27 new ecotourist facility cabins, seven additional buildings; including a wellness facility, and other associated works. The panel also granted the owner’s change of use request, under which 14 education ▶ Continued on page 6
A naked, 16 year old boy was handcuffed and struck repeatedly by police in Lateen Lane, Byron Bay on 11 January, 2018. The youth was capsicum sprayed, tasered and struck with a baton more than 18 times, including a number of strikes that occurred after he was in handcuffs. The incident left the boy with a fractured rib. The question was, were the actions of police in that incident justified? Was it a matter of reasonable force, or not? Following an investigation by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), which provides independent oversight of the NSW Police Force, a charge of common assault was laid against Senior Constable Michael Greenhalgh.
Magistrate Michael Dakin found in favour of Greenhalgh and the charges were dropped in February 2021. However, the case was appealed to the NSW Supreme Court in July 2022 where NSW Supreme Court, Justice Mark Lerace, upheld the appeal and found there was a key error of law according to the ABC report by Mayeta Clark and Mario Christodoulou. The case has now been sent back to Magistrate Dakin in Lismore court to be redetermined, and is scheduled for a judge-alone summary hearing in February 2023. The NSW Police confirmed that ‘The officer involved is no longer employed by the NSW Police Force’.
Museum Mullum Shop Local Arts & Industry Making healing is a for Christmas in Byron Bay wonderful thing ▶ p17 begins ▶ p21 ▶ p28 spaces ▶ p30
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