COUNTING ON THE CENSUS FOR CHANGE The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 41 #11 • August 26, 2026 • www.echo.net.au
Call to keep Bangalow Showgrounds in community hands Aslan Shand The Bangalow Park Trust (BPT), a volunteer community group that have successfully run the Bangalow Showgrounds since at least the 1950s, say they just want to get on with managing the showgrounds and don’t want Byron Shire Council (BSC) to take over their role. The committee had been running the showgrounds as a Section 355 committee of Council, which in turn managed the site on behalf of NSW Crown Lands. Earlier this year, Council asked Crown Lands to take over management of the showgrounds so the current community committee could remain in place. Crown Lands refused. Following that refusal, Council announced in early August that it would take over management of the showgrounds itself.
Spaghetti Circus performer and coach DJ Garner is somersaulting into the Annual Show this weekend, from Friday, 28 August to Sunday, 30 August. DJ, who aims to pass on confidence, creativity, and courage from one generation to the next, says the circus is for everyone, and performers of all ages will contribute to five vibrant performances. Photo Jeff Dawson See more in Seven, page 25
Byron Bay fights for its low-rise character
Appealing Crown Lands decision
Aslan Shand Urgent questions are being raised about Byron Bay’s future as the NSW government increasingly uses fast-tracked planning pathways for State Significant Developments (SSD) and the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA). These pathways can allow major developments to bypass or vary local planning controls, including height limits, raising concerns about how Byron’s unique character, built environment, and
Murray Hand Secretary of the BPT told The Echo that they have now put in an appeal to the Minister, Stephen Kamper, to reverse the Crown Lands decision as they had been told by Council staff that the BPT could not lease or licence the showgrounds from BSC to manage them. ‘At the meeting with BSC last Monday we were told that Crown Lands had told Council in ▶ Continued on page 2
Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital under threat ▶ p2 B B B Y Y R R O O N N B A A Y Y SS E C E R R V V II C C E E SS C L L U U B B
Bangalow rallying for the Bowlo ▶ p3
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community expectations will be protected.
16m to 21m height breaches loom This comes amid a growing number of developments seeking to exceed Byron’s 11.5-metre height limit, including DAs for 109 Jonson Street, the Quiksilver site at 2 Jonson Street and the Swell Hotel as well as the 16m high DA for the old Mitre 10 site in Byron Bay at 148–158
Labor and Liberals join forces ▶ p8
Make dad’s day this Father’s Day! ▶ p18
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twice the permitted height, yet allocates only ten per cent of its homes to affordable housing – and only temporarily – while the additional height and density would be permanent.’ Speaking to The Echo former National Party MP Don Page OAM said that ‘Both proposals significantly breach the building height of 11.5 metres. They are also fundamentally at odds with the NSW Coastal Policy from the early 1990s, ▶ Continued on page 5
Byron’s A&I is abuzz with creative local business ▶ p22
Your local home improvement experts ▶ p23 MEMBERS NIGHTS!
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Jonson Street currently going through the HDA pathway. Local community group People of Byron also raised concerns after discovering that the NSW planning minister has declared a proposed 21-metre development at 90–96 Jonson Street an SSD. Describing the decision as an ‘alarming escalation’, the group says this lacks transparency and threatens to erode Byron’s longstanding height protections. ‘The proposal for the old Woollies car park and shops is almost
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