UNLIKE THE BRAIN, THE STOMACH ALERTS YOU WHEN ITS EMPTY – AFRICAN PROVERB
The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 38 #14 • September 13, 2023 • www.echo.net.au
Social housing bill to pass, but is it enough?
NSW govt looks to ‘urgently’ fund Byron homeless hub Hans Lovejoy Calls from local Greens candidate Mandy Nolan for Labor to provide funding certainty for essential homeless service, the Fletcher Street Cottage, may be working, with the NSW Homelessness Minister, Rose Jackson (Labor), telling The Echo her government is ‘urgently working to identify new potential sources of funding’. In a press release last week, Ms Nolan urged local federal Labor MP, Justine Elliot, to immediately intervene, given Labor are in government at both the state and federal level.
protection in our Shire,’ said James Barrie, one of the leaders of the conservation campaign. In its Development Application, Clarence Property says that over 18 hectares, or 60 per cent of the site, will be retained and enhanced as conservation zones. They say this will effectively negate any impact on native species. Yet Mr Barrie describes it as offset green-washing. ‘The ecological offsets detailed in the “landscape plan” come up seriously short and are grossly inaccurate in claims of preserving the ecology on the ground’, he said.
The cottage receives no ongoing funding from governments, and is reliant on public donations, which pay for staff, meals and facilities in Byron Bay. Despite increased demands, Ms Nolan says the cottage ‘is on the brink of cutting essential services’, and has ‘only fundraised $240,000 out of the total $1 million they require to keep services operating’. Mrs Elliot told The Echo such services and programs were ‘matters for state and territory governments’. ‘The Australian government will provide states and territories $1.7 billion in funding under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement. This includes $515.6 million for NSW to deliver housing and homelessness services and programs’. Mrs Elliot also accused Ms Nolan of ‘trashing the truth’ and, ‘diverting attention’ from the Greens refusing to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Edward Herring’s alternative Byron universe ▶ p18
A plethora of spring offerings in Byron! ▶ p19
Runners up for the Chinny Charge ▶ p24
Saturday’s Fix the Housing Crisis rally in Byron’s Apex Park highlighted the urgent need for social housing, which is a result of government neglect over decades. Organiser Chiels Hood-Withey said, ‘If federal Labor can find $368 billion for nuclear submarines, they can find money for housing’. Pictured from left is Ms Hood-Withey with Mim Torzllo, federal Greens candidate, Mandy Nolan, and Andy George from Reclaim our Recovery. For more on Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund bill, see page 4. Photo Jeff ‘Social Housing, Not Nukes’ Dawson
Housing estate draws criticism over native species clearing Hundreds of locals are rallying together in a bid to save a large pocket of ecologically significant bushland in Brunswick Heads from development. The 30-hectare site at 15 Torakina Road, next to the Bayside housing estate, is home to scores of native trees and flowers, which provide food and shelter to koalas, black cockatoos, gliders and the ‘vulnerable’ Wallum froglet. However, the site has been approved for a major housing development, known as Wallum, featuring 124 residential lots, three
medium density lots and a series of roads and supporting infrastructure. With public consultation for the development taking place during the worst of the Covid pandemic, many locals feel that they were denied the right to have their say. They are now demanding that the decision to approve the development, made by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP) in May this year, be reversed. ‘Wallum wildflowers and the intricately-linked Wallum froglet habitat are rare, and cannot be remade or replanted successfully by humans, and deserve unreserved
Heilpern explores The moment we can current drug driving change the course of laws ▶ p12 history ▶ p15
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Backed by community ‘It is encouraging to see the community backing a crucial service, but we know we need government to do everything we can to lean in and provide support for organisations such as Fletcher Street Cottage. ‘MP Justine Elliot has been in contact with me on this to express her deep concern. I share her concerns and acknowledge this is a responsibility for the NSW government, and we are urgently working to identify new potential sources of funding that can support them to continue operating at its full capacity’. Ms Jackson says she met with Fletcher Street Cottage staff in July, ‘to discuss this crucial issue’. ‘I take the concerns raised very seriously. The team do incredible work for the local community, and we want to ensure they are able to continue providing this vital service’. ‘The service has never been previously funded by government, and although the current budget to fund homelessness support ▶ Continued on page 2
No ongoing funding
Paul Bibby
The Echo asked the office of Rose Jackson MLC, ‘Can some funding from the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement be made available for the cottage?’ She replied, ‘The latest street count data is just a brief glimpse into the devastating impact of the housing crisis in Byron Bay’. ‘The region was in the top five local government areas (LGAs) with the largest total increase in the number of people sleeping rough compared to 2022 – this is not good enough and needs it to change.
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