W A S T H E FA L L O F R O M E T H I S ST U P I D ? The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 39 #42 • March 26, 2025 • www.echo.net.au
ț ĶīŕĶǕĈëŕƐ ĶŔżëĈƐƆȜ ĕƶżĕĈƐĕĎ Īşſ Ʒſşŕ ! ' ĎſëĶŕëīĕ ƖżīſëĎĕƆ Paul Bibby Byron Shire Council is set to begin the next round of major drainage reconstruction works in the Byron Bay CBD in June, acknowledging that the project will have a ‘significant impact’ on business and the community. However, unlike the muchmaligned Lawson Street drainage project undertaken last year, the next round of works will reportedly be timed to limit the financial repercussions for local shop owners. And it appears that this time affected businesses owners have been given more than a few weeks’ notice about the imminent closure of the streets where their shops are located. An agenda item coming up at this week’s Council meeting proposes that councillors endorse the final plans for the town centre component of the Byron Bay drainage upgrade.
14–18 months of work The plans involve a major redesign of the town’s centre surface and subsurface stormwater management system and it is estimated that the entire project will take 14–18 months to complete. The works are designed to mitigate flooding in the centre of town during major weather events such as the floods experienced in 2022. ‘Construction of this scope of works is complex and multifaceted, involving significant excavation, sheet piling, dewatering, drainage installation, service relocation and road reconstruction works in some of the town’s main streets,’ Council
Speaking up for forests
staff state in their report. ‘Impacts on community and businesses will be significant, and consultation with the community has been undertaken during the design process to raise awareness and understanding of the disruption that will occur.’ ‘Impact mitigation measures have been stipulated in the Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Tender (RFT) documents to ensure that disruption to residents and businesses is minimised as much as possible.’
Mitigation measures One of these impact mitigation measures, staff say, is the requirement that construction on Byron’s CBD roads must not take place in December or January. The reconstruction works which were sprung on Lawson Street businesses during the September school holiday period last year nearly sent several of the shops to the wall. The stipulation that this mistake not be repeated, in concert with the deadlines imposed by the government grants which are funding the project, means that the works must commence no later than June. To expedite the process, staff are asking that authority to undertake several activities associated with the project be delegated to them and the general manager rather than requiring sign-off from councillors. But it appears meeting these tight timeframes and limiting the impact on businesses is not the only challenge facing Council in relation to the project. ▶ Continued on page 2
Funding for community centres vital for disaster response ▶ p10
Byron’s Malibu Classic returns for its 44th year ▶ p17
A nationwide march to end native forest logging was held on Sunday, with a large contingent of Byron residents adding their voice to the campaign. NSW native forests are managed mainly by the state government via the Forestry Corporation of NSW. Over many years, they have been fined – by the government that owns it – for breaches of environmental laws and illegal logging. Those marching took over the road from Railway Park up to the Lawson Street roundabout, and marched to the Main Beach Peace Pole to hear from speakers and performers. Photo Jeff ‘Old Growth’ Dawson
A dive into youth crime intervention funding Hans Lovejoy More police resources to address youth crime in regional NSW were announced last week, after another program aimed at educating young Indigenous people on the North Coast was quietly axed by the federal Labor government late last year. As reported in early February, a crime prevention program – which was supported by community and local police – was axed without explanation. The Echo sought an explanation from NSW Labor Education Minister, Pru Carr, as to why that
Making Spaces: home improvement experts ▶ p21
crime prevention program – the Aboriginal Alternative Learning Program (AALP) – was scrapped.
Minister Carr’s office instead handballed it to the department she is responsible for. While an education department spokesperson told The Echo, ‘The department is not aware of any Indigenous crime prevention program axed last year on the Northern Rivers’, they said another program, The Aboriginal Alternate Learning Faculty at the Southern Cross School of Distance Education,
closed after ‘federal funding for the faculty ceased in Semester 2, 2024’. They said it managed ten learning hubs for distance education students. Since the funding cut, they said, ‘The NSW Department of Education has supported students to return to their local public school, engage in post-school pathways, or remain as full-time online learners.’ The spokesperson added, ‘It follows an audit which uncovered irregularities in enrolment numbers. The faculty was federally funded through Ngulingah Lands Council’. Local NSW MP, Tamara Smith ▶ Continued on page 3
Discover the gems of Byron’s A&I and Habitat ▶ p22
Heaps of great gigs this week in Seven entertainment ▶ p24
Handballed questions
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