THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF MAGICAL THINGS PATIENTLY WAITING FOR OUR WITS TO GROW SHARPER – EDEN PHILLPOTS
The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 39 #21 • October 30, 2024 • www.echo.net.au
Halloween Drug summit for Northern fun and Rivers frights at Bruns Public Aslan Shand
Winter, looking pleasantly scary at Saturday’s Fairtastic at Bruns Public School. Like a zombie, Brunswick Public School’s Halloween Fairtastic, has risen from its hiatus and it was as fun as it was scary. Parents and students dug deep into their creativity to take horror to a new level, there were ghouls, the walking dead and, the most frightening of all, a Donald J Trump doppelganger. There was also a very successful silent art auction. The event is a major fundraiser for the school. Photo Jeff ‘the working dead’ Dawson
Lavertys Gap possible option for Mullum water supply Paul Bibby The option to source Mullumbimby’s local water supply from Lavertys Gap has risen from the dead, after Byron Council backtracked on its decision to permanently connect the town to the Rous County Council (RCC) regional supply. In a remarkable turnaround that reflects a political changing of the guard on Council, a majority of councillors voted last Thursday to
defer any decision on permanently connecting to the RCC supply for up to two years. This time will be used to further investigate options for supplementing the existing Lavertys Gap supply, such as offstream storage, and to engage in an extensive community consultation process. Works currently being undertaken to extend the emergency connection between the RCC supply to the whole of Mullum will
not be affected by the decision. ‘This is Council’s own water supply,’ newly-elected Greens Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said of Lavertys Gap and its neighbouring water treatment plant. ‘Council has maintained it over the last almost 100 years. We have an opportunity here to keep Mullumbimby more resilient and to support sustainability… ‘Given how much new information has come to light, even in the
last 24 hours, it is incumbent on us to listen to the community, to explore this further, and to rule out the possibility that we are letting go of an essential public asset that will supply the Mullum community into the future.’ The stay of execution for Lavertys Gap was passed by a majority of five votes to four, with independent Cr David Warth voting with the Greens councillor block made up of g 4 ▶ Continued on page
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Drug reform is finally on the NSW agenda and the NSW Drug Summit will be held for a day in Lismore on Monday, November 4. It will also be held for a day in Griffith on November 1 and for two days in Sydney on December 4 and 5. Australians have been pushing for a change in policy from both state and federal governments as they have seen the devastating impacts of the misguided ‘war on drugs’ approach over generations. In 2020 a national study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed that Australians wanted to see a health and safety approach to tackling drug problems instead of locking people up. This approach was in line with the recommendations of the NSW special commission of inquiry into crystal methamphetamine and other amphetamine-type stimulants, or ice released in February 2020. The 14-month enquiry, chaired by Special Commissioner Dan Howard, SC, recommended ‘that the government needs to introduce a system of decriminalisation if it is going to stop drug deaths in New South Wales’. During the last state election NSW Labor promised that they would hold a drug summit but it has taken years for them to finally get the ball rolling while in the mean time Queensland has stepped forward providing pill testing for festivals or fixed locations, ▶ Continued on page 5
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