Volume 7 ~ 202
DESPITE THE HIGH COST OF LIVING IT REMAINS POPULAR The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 38 #50 • May 22, 2024 • www.echo.net.au
Flood recovery agency update
4 ~ byronhealin
g.com.au
With this issue!
Bangalow’s all downhill from here
Hans Lovejoy The most recent data from the Resilient Homes Program (buybacks, house raising and retrofits), administered by the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA), shows Byron Shire has just three buyback purchases completed, as of May 10, 2024. Byron Shire also has had six buyback offers approved, six buyback offers accepted, and four buyback contracts issued. The overwhelming majority of offers approved, accepted, contracts issued and completed purchases are in Lismore, with Tweed and Richmond coming in behind. In Lismore, 311 three buyback purchases have been completed.
Online stats removed Without notice, RA has removed its online Resilient Homes Program dashboard that provided the public with stats on how the program was progressing. The Echo asked RA why it was removed, and a spokesperson replied, ‘The RA regularly updates these figures in various channels including the Community Leaders Forum, the RA’s Community Update and in responses to media enquiries’. The program was initially presented to cabinet at a cost of $1.5b, yet after flood mapping was released, the figure was halved. This is despite thousands of flood-affected residents making applications in good faith. Local MP Tamara Smith previously told The Echo she expects very few people in Byron Shire to be eligible for the programs. Q See page 7 story.
Dissolving into the universe with a toad ▶ p4
On Sunday, around 5,000 people headed to Bangalow to enjoy the Billycart Derby, a popular yearly attraction for the town. Greg Nash, Bangalow Lions Club President, told The Echo that it was a ‘glorious autumn day, and after all the rain we’ve had, we were very grateful to the weather gods – it made the day’. The Billycart Derby ran in conjunction with the Bangalow Primary School Pitstop Carnival which was also a runaway success. Photo Jeff ‘René Des–Billi-Cartes’ Dawson
Homelessness service funded – but only for a year With 2024 Street Count data indicating a 16 per-cent increase in rough sleepers in Byron Shire, the NSW government has responded to say that the previously-announced Assertive Outreach team will receive $1.3m in funding for a year. Mayor Michael Lyon said he was ‘gutted’ to find out Byron Shire had, for the second year in a row, topped the 2024 NSW Street Count
Plan your death ▶ p7
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with the most rough sleepers. The NSW government announced the outreach service on October 12, 2023, yet there was scant information around the project at the time. Tuesday’s media release from Minister for Homelessness Rose Jackson says, ‘Homes NSW has partnered with local service providers Social Futures and Momentum Collective to form the new cross-agency
Legal system fails to keep kids safe ▶ p8
team, delivering intensive case management and outreach patrols to drive down homelessness’.
Patrols started in March ‘The approach is based on the successful Tweed Assertive Outreach model, which employs staff with expertise in complex case management. ‘The group started the first of its
Dust off your pleasure craft for the Mullum to Bruns paddle ▶ p18
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regular Assertive Outreach patrols in the Byron area in March 2024’. Ms Jackson says it is in addition to $11m pegged for homelessness services in the region for 2023-24. The Echo asked the office of Labor MP Rose Jackson why the funding was only for a year, considering the success of the Tweed program. A reply will be published if received.
Check out a world of arts and industry ▶ p20
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