ARE YOU READY FOR THE GRAND SOLAR MINIMA? NASA ISN’T The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #39 • March 8, 2023 • www.echo.net.au
Residents devastated by Feros’ plans to redevelop Photo & story Eve Jeffery With the Feros Care Board announcing to residents and families the closure of Feros Village Byron Bay last Tuesday, questions are being raised around the board’s decision to redevelop the large and valuable Byron Bay land as an ‘intergenerational community’. Plans are now underway to redevelop Feros, located at 29-33 Marvell Street, into a new, ‘state-of-the-art community, purpose-built facility’. It comes just weeks after a damning performance report on the facility; the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) found its elderly residents were subjected to substandard care across every aspect of the service. The board claimed at the time that the issues had been rectified and that the facility has been reaccredited by the ACQSC. And while all current residents have been offered relocation to Feros Care Bangalow, or Feros Care Wommin Bay, there are no guarantees by the board that they will be given priority to return to their home when a new facility opens. Residents will be re-homed over the coming months, says the board. The board also say staff have been offered employment at other Feros Care Villages or in Feros’ Home Care service. Yet some Feros residents, families and friends are distressed and angry at what they say are lies and betrayal by the Feros Care Board, and have said they are not going anywhere. Ninety-five-year-old Kate Smorty had a letter published in last week’s
Markets hit Byron’s streets
Echo, praising Feros, but now she just feels betrayed. Kate came to live at Feros five years ago. ‘I reluctantly agreed to come up here for respite. So I came up here just for two weeks, but after a couple of days, I hurried to the office and said “put my name down”.’ ‘Now, I’m in shock! They say we have to leave and they haven’t given us an exact timeframe, but they did say, legally, they only had to give us two weeks!’
Accepts the distress A spokesperson for Feros Care said they completely accept that this news has created some distress for residents, their families and staff. The meeting with residents was the notification of the new strategy, they said, and follows the Feros Board’s review of Feros Village Byron Bay’s future. The home no longer meets the federal government’s requirements for aged care, they say, and it is not feasible to bring it to the required standard. Feros Care Chairman, Jason Bingham, told The Echo, ‘Our ambition for Byron Bay is to create a new intergenerational community, where seniors and younger adults live together in harmony. It will be based on the learnings from international models in the UK, US and Europe. ‘Feros Care is a charity, and the needs of our community come first. In the near future, we will invite our community to collaborate with us in re-imagining this development for our region’s seniors in Byron Bay.’ Feros Care, CEO, Karen Crouch, ▶ Continued on page 4
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Byron’s CBD became a pedestrian friendly zone on Sunday, as the Byron Bay Community Market spread through the rail corridor, Railway Park and onto Jonson Street. Traffic was diverted via Fletcher Street as Jonson Street, between Marvell Street and Byron Street, was closed to traffic. The markets are held on the first Sunday of every month, and the next market in Byron’s CBD will be Sunday April 2. It runs from 8am till 3pm. Pictured is Felicitas, from Byron’s Roller Derby team. Photo Jeff ’Skates Like George Benson’ Dawson
Mayor pushes for holiday letting enforcement A motion within this Thursday’s meeting agenda by Mayor Michael Lyon, if successful, would ask compliance staff ‘to enforce existing consent conditions which prohibit the use of a property as short-term rental accommodation (STRA)’. Compliance staff would also be asked to continue to ‘prohibit the use of short-term rental of housing in new approvals (secondary dwellings, standard homes in the residential areas, and business zones of the Shire)’. Within his motion, Cr Lyon says, ‘It is becoming clearer that pre-existing consent conditions are enforceable, and that we may
still be able to impose enforceable consent conditions on new approvals’. Cr Lyon suggests ‘maintaining our own register of properties that are prohibited from STRA’, and also sending out another round of letters to property owners.
Low-hanging fruit He described it as ‘low-hanging fruit in the battle to return shortterm lets to the long-term pool’. ‘I think we may need to be creative in future about our evidencegathering, and how we can utilise information to encourage compliance. The absence of rental bond data or a lease agreement covering
Brother Stewie and his Get yourself a scoop shifty band of Robodebt of some good stuff rogues ▶ p24 ▶ p28
each premises would be a good start. While we await the judgment of the IPC and new government on our 90-day/365-day STRA precinct proposal, we can send a clear signal of our intention to protect our residential communities’. Within her long and detailed reply in the agenda, Shannon Burt, Director Sustainable Environment and Economy, provided historical context and detailed the ‘considerable’ conflicts between provisions in the Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), and Section 4.2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. ▶ Continued on page 4
These women mean business ▶ p29