TOPIKÍ IDIOKTISÍA KAI ANEXÁRTITI APÓ TÓTE 1986 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 38 #40 • March 13, 2024 • www.echo.net.au
Mayor backs down over ǖşşĎżōëĶŕ ĎĕưĕōşżŔĕŕƐ
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Says he has Councillor numbers on Residential Strategy Hans Lovejoy Floodplain development to the south-east of Mullumbimby appears now off the table. Mayor Michael Lyon told residents in a Monday night Zoom meeting that he has the numbers on Council this Thursday to remove it from a 20-year Byron Shire housing strategy that aims for 4,522 homes by 2041. Most of the land put forward by Council for rezoning under that strategy is in Mullum, Bruns and Bangalow, with the target being higher than the state government is asking for. Yet a blanket 11.5m, or three- tofour-storey height limit across new greenfield developments is still on the table, which appears to be another inclusion without public consultation. Currently it is 9m for most of Byron Shire. Remarkably, Cr Lyon told residents via Zoom he wasn’t sure if a 11.5m height limit was included in the Housing Options Paper, which was adopted by his slim majority on December 14 last year. That paper ‘informs’ The Residential Strategy 2041, which will be voted upon at Thursday’s Council meeting. Additionally, the strategy will not include 2022 flood data and relies on pre-flood strategies, like the Mullum Masterplan. The last-minute backdown by the mayor comes as flood-affected residents were preparing a campaign against the inclusion of large lots near Argyle Street, included without public consultation.
Wallum Q&A with Clarence Property CEO ▶ p9
Council’s Residential Strategy 2041: Q Major rural land rezoning
proposal – mainly in Mullum, Bruns and Bangalow – is likely to be passed at Thursday’s Council’s meeting Q Floodplain development
in Mullum’s east now not included, says mayor Q 11.5m height (three storeys)
proposed across rezonings, including some floodplains Q Increased density proposed Q Council’s process mired in
secrecy, criticised for lack of consultation and ad hoc inclusions, and appears aimed at appeasing state govt demands Q Lacks infrastructure provisions
Dale Emerson from the Mullum Residents Association told The Echo he was thankful floodplain development was removed near Argyle Street, yet said there were many other questions the mayor was supplied with prior, that went unanswered at the Zoom meeting.
ĶīŕĶǕĈëŕƐ ĈIJëŕīĕƆ And while the mayor says it is the ‘single most important document that this Council will resolve on this term’, and has been ‘five years in the making’, the process leading to the Residential Strategy 2041 has seen significant changes with land inclusions/exclusions made after the public submission stage. The mayor and planning staff ▶ Continued on page 3
David Heilpern makes the case for a natural park ▶ p10
More than 100 cyclists donned their shoes, helmets and sunscreen for the annual World Naked Bike Ride event, held in Byron Bay on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. While many wore painted slogans in support of a clothesoptional beach at Tyagarah, it was bicycles, with an odd skateboard, scooter, wheelchair and roller skate, that were the focus of the day. According to www.worldnakedbikeride.org, the event aims to put ‘a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create’. Photo Eve Jeffery
m É şōĶĈĕ ƆżĕŕĎ ćĶī şŕ ƱĕĕĎ IJƖŕƐ Aslan Shand As calls for a date to be set for the NSW government’s promised Drug Summit continue, many locals questioned the costs involved in recent cannabis busts. Witnesses saw marijuana plants being loaded onto police vehicles at the Mullumbimby High School oval last Wednesday. While the police media spokesperson was unable to say how many personnel or vehicles were
What’s controversial about vehicle efficiency? ▶ p17
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involved in the raids, they were accompanied by a police helicopter that flight path information indicates flew down the coast from Coolangatta Airport. It appears the helicopter went straight to known growing sites, hovering near Lennox Head, Talofa, Bangalow, and Cabarita. Other locals who were witnessing the activity estimated that there were approximately six Landcruisers and 30 police officers involved in the raids, assisted by
Love Byron Bay ▶ p21
the helicopter. Locals have called for police money to be instead spent more effectively on important police activities, such as domestic violence, theft and missing people, rather than on ‘some plants growing out of the ground that will likely be legalised soon and can be prescribed for headaches’. ‘This is part of the cannabis eradication program that the police do all the time,’ a police ▶ Continued on page 3
What’s The Scoop? ▶ p22
Ben Harper at Bluesfest ▶ p25