‘Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof,’ said poet James Russell Lowell.
And so was the case at last Thursday’s Council meeting; two development approvals will undoubtedly affect rural residents in two different quiet roads in Myocum. Councillor Alan Hunter’s farm on Pine- groves Road will now operate a road transport terminal despite strong and unified opposition from neighbours, while in Kingsvale Road an addiction rehabilitation centre will be estab- lished, despite opposition from some neigh- bours. Last week The Echo reported that six of Cr Hunter’s neighbours contributed to fund a town planner to examine his ‘change of use’ application independently. Deficient report and application: town planner Town planner Graham Meineke, who is also a Lismore City Councillor, slammed the staff report, telling Councillors during Thursday’s morning access that ‘the report was deficient, as was the application.’ ‘This was initially advertised with a maximum of three deliveries a day, but no data were provided,’ he said. ‘Later, it was changed to ten movements a day. That’s an increase of 300 per cent and as such should go back on exhibition.’ Later Mr Meineke told The Echo that the application ‘should have also had a traffic and noise assessment.’ He said, ‘The distance on Tyagarah Road, which comes off Pinegroves, doesn’t meet Council’s traffic sight, or stopping distance requirements. All northern rivers councils have adopted this and I thought that would be a consideration with this change of use request.’ An attempt failed by Cr Duncan Dey at the meeting to refuse Cr Hunter’s ‘change of use’ application as ‘the site distance for heavy vehicles leaving Pinegroves Road is inadequate as it meets Tyagarah Road.’ Only Crs Cameron and Dey supported that, while a foreshadowed motion by Cr Hunter’s fellow team members, Crs Woods and Cubis, saw the application gain unanimous support (Cr Paul Spooner was absent). But Cr Hunter, who is a former Nationals Party federal candidate, will have strings attached to his operation. The approval will expire in two years and only a maximum number of ten non-articulated vehicle movements per week are allowed with a maximum unladen weight of four tonnes. The hours of operation will be 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. As Cr Hunter had a pecuniary interest, he left the room and did not debate or vote. One of at least six residents to be affected, Angus Way, told The Echo, ‘Like others who saw the presentations in Council, it was hard to come to terms with.’ ‘We struggled with how a transport terminal could be approved without a traffic study or a noise impact statement. ‘That was compounded as no councillor requested them when the deficien- cy was pointed out by both sides of the DA presentations. ‘For a councillor’s development application to be approved after only one question did not give the appearance of a robust debate, especially given the direct impact that this will have on a number of residents; the potential for catastrophic vehicle accidents and the precedent for development it will have on the broader community. ‘We are very concerned about the lack of due diligence in the “Independent Re- port” that was commissioned by Council staff... We feel that the conditions that the council applied to the DA are not able to be measured accurately and will have no impact in the containment of vehicle movements on Tyagarah and Pinegroves Roads. ‘A daylight restriction on heavy vehi- cles is cold comfort to residents who live a couple of metres from a very steep access to a Road Transport Terminal.’ Kingsvale Rd addiction treatment facility Councillors voted on another Myocum application, which will allow the conversion and expansion of existing dwelling on Kingsvale Road, to create a ‘transitional group home’, or addiction treatment facility. Proponents and opposers addressed Council on The Nungkari Treatment Centre, as it is proposed, during morn- ing access. Speaking against, resident Jon Veranese raised concerns over security, the lack of public transport and police presence in the area. ‘Our lifestyle will be affected,’ he said. ‘What happens if this is on-sold or fails?’ he asked. The facility’s developer Kylie Beattie spoke in favour. ‘I was treated in a facility like this [proposal] and it saved my life.’ ‘We bought the land after meeting with Council and engaged a town planner.’ She told councillors a lot had been invested and wanted to demonstrate they were addressing residents’ concerns. ‘There are many uneducated views about addiction,’ she said, and added the facility would cater more towards eating disorders and the like. Cr Wanchap was the only councillor who voted against the motion and spoke about the precedent it would be setting.
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Neighbours of Byron Shire councillor Alan Hunter on Pinegroves Road, Myocum, are again putting up a fight over his plans for a road transport terminal at his property.
In response to what they say is inadequate council staff advice, a group of six residents has paid for independent planning consul- tation, which they say is at odds with staff recommendations. It’s the latest in a long list of attempts by the prominent Nationals Party member to gain development consent; prior to becom- ing a councillor, Cr Hunter was prosecuted by Council and fined $2,000 for illegal construction, which included allegations of illegal earthworks and placing 18 shipping contain- ers on the site. A 2012 Land & Environment Court battle resulted in the councillor having to remove the containers and restore unau- thorised earthworks. And it was only four months ago that residents became angry over the latest DA. The quite cul-de-sac is home to around eight homesteads, and residents say the large trucks that pick up and drop off farm produce at the end of the narrow road already threaten wildlife and pose a danger to children. ‘Key changes’ to draft LEP But Cr Hunter’s latest bid has a twist. His development application (DA), to be determined at this Thursday’s Council meeting, will fall under new draft Council policy. Specifically it will be assessed under both the current 1988 LEP (local environment plan) and the new draft 2014 LEP. It proposes a ‘change of use’ from a farm building to a ‘road transport terminal’. ‘Warehouse and distribution centres’ is part of late ‘key changes’ to Council’s draft 2014 LEP, and includes provision for vaguely word- ed new operations that would be permissible in rural areas. Council’s January 2014 news- letter reads, ‘Additional RU2 rural landscape zones have been expanded to include inten- sive livestock agriculture, garden centres, rural supplies, warehouse and distribution centres, storage premises, recreation facilities (indoors) and livestock processing industries.’ Resident Angus Way told The Echo the late LEP inclusions appear to be ‘written in at the last minute to suit Mr Hunter’s activities’. He’s one of six residents who recently chipped in together to engage a town planner to examine Cr Hunter’s operation indepen- dently. Mr Way said, ‘We felt that as individu- als it’s easier for the Council to dismiss our concerns, but an expert in the field is harder to discredit. We were not happy with council staff ’s interpretation of the [LEP] changes, and felt that it was worth paying for a second opinion.’ Mr Way says his advice is that surrounding shires have not requested anything similar to those ‘key changes.’ But Council’s executive manager of environment & planning, Ray Darney, told The Echo that there were sim- ilarities with other councils. He said, ‘By comparison, the rural RU2 zone in Ballina LEP 2012 permits ‘rural sup- plies’ and ‘storage premises,’ but not ‘warehouse or distri- bution centres’, whereas the Lismore LEP 2012 permits ‘garden centres’, ‘intensive livestock agriculture,’ but not ‘storage premises,’ or ‘ware- house or distribution centres’. ‘The closest definition to Cr Hunters ‘road transport terminal’ – under the current 1988 LEP – is ‘freight trans- port facility’ in the new 2014 Draft Byron LEP. That use will not be permitted in the Rural RU2 zones when the new LEP takes effect. Howev- er, it would be possible for the applicant to apply in future for other permissible uses for the building in the RU2 zone.’ Cr Duncan Dey (Greens) however, told The Echo that since the residents’ planner emailed councillors over the matter, ‘the penny is starting to drop.’ He agreed councillors made changes to the draft LEP that will ‘fit the rezone and benefit Cr Hunter’s property’. He’s called for a meeting with planning staff to clarify the changes and to see whether the decision can be reversed. In relation to the current DA, Cr Dey said, ‘Alan has two zonings on his property – one for agricultural and one for rural residential. The issue here is around a cross-over allowed under clause 42 of the 1988 LEP of the activities permit- ted in each zone. This sharing is allowed within 100m of the distance between them and the zone boundaries.’ Staff have recommended approval of the development, despite 15 submissions and two petitions against the pro- posal. The report, provided by external planning consultant Dwayne Roberts, also includes an engineer’s report to make the case there would be no sig- nificant traffic, environmental and privacy impacts. Staff support In reply to residents’ traf- fic concerns, the report plays down impacts and referred to the RTA Guide To Traf- fic Generating Developments to claim that an 11 per cent increase, ‘has been assessed and deemed acceptable.’ That increase will see two to three deliveries a day, during day- light hours only, with inter- state carriers making up 10 per cent of the total trucks. The Echo understands that no wildlife impact state- ments have been undertaken and that the matter has not been referred to Council’s local traffic committee. Ad- ditionally Mr Way told The Echo that a koala corridor exists in the area. Remarkably the consult- ant took umbrage to a claim there was ‘an intention to slip this proposal through with minimal public scrutiny.’ Mr Roberts reacted that the accusation made ‘is offen- sive and unsubstantiated.’ But Mr Roberts did hand- ball the existing impasse onto previous planning decisions. ‘The design of the origi- nal subdivision is in part to blame for the impacts/con- flict that has been created by this application...’ The Echo asked Cr Hunter if there were any mediation or concessions that he was pre- pared to make with his neigh- bours, to which Cr Hunter replied, ‘I will be happy to respond to your story when I see it.’ Cr Hunter’s neighbours unfortunately won’t have the opportunity to ask him to re- spond publicly as questions to councillors and staff have re- cently been removed from the meeting’s public access.
There were accusations of ‘blatant misleading information’ over a staff report on Byron Bay’s bypass at last Thursday’s Council public access. Paul Jones from Grab The Rail (GTR) told a stunned gallery that the bypass report prejudiced his group’s efforts to seek the disused railway as an option. An awkward silence follwed his speech – councillors were asked if they had any questions, but there were none. Resident group GTR consists mainly of Butler Street residents who will be adversely affected by Council’s plans to build a Byron bypass up their street, through wetlands and then crossing over the dis- used railway at Mitre 10. Mr Jones was supported by six other members and claimed there would be ‘no compensation’ over the expected massive increase of traffic past their houses. ‘Initial figures from traffic modelling say it will jump from 80 to 3,000 a day in one direction – so double that to get the estimation.’ He also questioned why the bypass was not included as part of Byron Bay’s Master Plan terms of reference (TOR). ‘We need an integrated approach to this,’ he said. While Council’s media spokesperson agreed the masterplan did not specifically include the bypass in the masterplan’s TOR, they told The Echo, ‘The bypass is within the indicative study area map included in the Re- quest for expressions of interest (EOI) document and will have significant influences on the masterplan content in regards to how we move about, and through, Byron Bay.’ But perhaps the most damning accusation was that council staff incorrectly stated that there is a lack of support for the disused railway becoming a bypass. On page 68 of its April 10, 2014 ordinary meet- ing, the report by staff states, ‘Preliminary advice received from John Holland, who man- age the rail corridor on behalf of the State Rail Authority, and ARUP (consultants under- taking the rail trail feasibility study) indicates that neither favour the rail corridor bypass alignment option.’ Misleading But Mr Jones told The Echo, ‘From my direct approach to John Holland’s property man- ager Stan Knight-Smith and Transport NSW Country Rail manager Dan Champness, that statement is misleading as both managers said that the department was open to ideas, had many arrangements whereby other activities were accommodated within railway property, and the Arup study outcomes could be highly influential in how a beneficial arrangement may come about.’ He also says staff contra- dict themselves on page 69, which says, ‘...such approval [for potential uses of rail corridor other than for rail] was forthcoming at a time when trains still used the rail line and according to the environmental impact study (EIS) was possible...’ Compensation? As for possible compensation, Mr Jones said, ‘RMS is said to be compensating householders whom they cannot mitigate impacts from their roadworks for the full market cost of their property. Council has little or no means of mitigating the impacts of noise, vibration, air pollution, light pollution and vehicle danger when they put a main road down an existing back street. Grab the Rail has sought a bypass/ service road route that can allow mitigation of all these impacts with homes situated along the route. Mr Jones says councillors are making decisions based on staff reports and are not fully informed. ‘No mention has been made to date of compensation other than when Grab the Rail first made its proposal and staff tried to use that argument against our route – which we demonstrated was nonsense. So in terms of likely compensation costs, councillors have remained uninformed, even unaware.’ As for leasing or acquiring railway land for a bypass, Mr Jones said, ‘Council cannot fund the bypass, so the major cost will need to be managed by the state government.’ ‘In any event, land may not need to be purchased; lease- hold is certainly feasible and Transport NSW certainly has an eye for a beneficial relation- ship whereby they may find some relief from the maintenance and liabilities associated with the disused corridor.’ During Council’s meeting last Thursday, the mayor did attempt a motion that would see a letter written to the rail authorities to request a change of use but was advised against it by general manager Ken Gainger. The Echo had not received a return call or email from media representatives of John Holland or Arup before going to press. A promising proposal to divert traffic past Byron Bay’s First Sun caravan park and past the swimming pool fell into a heap at Thursday’s meeting after some councillors appeared confused with what they were voting on.
While Cr Rose Wanchap’s motion appeared to be supported by most councillors, there was an air of panic when the mayor put it to the vote. As usual Cr Simon Richardson called the vote at lightning speed. Cr Rose Wanchap told The Echo, ‘I thought by connecting it to an existing large body of work it would be as- sured of earlier implementation, but alas that is not to be.’ She says that due to the flub, the motion will have to wait three months before re- submission. Alternatively Ms Wanchap said she can ‘take it via one of the traffic com- mittees for presentation to Council after that review’. Regardless, Ms Wanchap says she sees it as a ‘very affordable solution to the pre- sent bottleneck that could be implemented this year, at least before the next silly sea- son if not sooner.’ Affordable ‘It seems a waste to have a very substantial road through the First Sun Caravan Park that could be utilised to keep traffic moving. At the moment it provides income from a handful of campers while our town is blocked from all directions trying to accommodate buses, tourists and residents as they cruise around, lapping town looking for parking spots. ‘It is clear from numerous traffic surveys that 85 per cent of the traffic is caused by day trippers and tourists and they just want to get to the beach.’ Her motion requested that a staff report ‘be provided as to the feasibility and cost of creating two lanes into Byron along Shirley Street from the Woolworths Service Station in to the Jonson/Lawson Street roundabout with one lane turning left and connect- ing via the First Sun Caravan Park with Bay Street at the northern end.’ Instead, councillors voted to continue with the current bypass option of up Butler Street, through wet- lands and crossing the dis- used railway at Mitre 10. A unified vote by Byron councillors at last Thursday’s meeting will see two letters sent to state government MPs regarding concerns over the rapidly expanding gas mining industry.
It will be requested that macadamia, dairy and beef industries of the northern rivers be classified as a critical industry cluster (CIC). Only horse breeding and wineries in the Hunter Valley have been classified as a CIC – as Cr Alan Hunter pointed out, it was only because they have open cut mines to contend with. Water threat to region And likewise, Council will express its concerns with pen to paper that ‘gas exploration is taking place in a location (Bentley, west of Lismore) within the surface water catchment of one of the region’s urban water supply sources.’ Cr Duncan Dey’s motion says, ‘Incidents in recent years such as wastewater overflows in the Pilliga State Forest and at Casino demonstrate that the infant unconventional gas industry is either not willing to, or not capable of averting such incidents, and that the planning for and granting of exploration licences was premature.’ Will this all make any difference? Probably not if done in isolation, as Cr Di Woods pointed out. She suggested it would be more effective if all north coast councils were aligned. But that’s notwithstanding the public’s discontent which saw thousands turn out at Bentley recently. One of the most interesting parts of the meeting’s debate was the idea put forward by Crs Hunter and Chris Cubis that Council should instead concentrate on the three Rs: rates, roads and rubbish. We shouldn’t be political, they said. It’s an intriguing argument: should we operate as non- political vessels and let the state and feds take care of us? Or, can humans ever achieve a pure non-political state of being? It’s understandable to want less work given the rates of councillors’ pay, but such is the calling to a higher purpose. The possible contamination of waterways from gas mining at the proposed Bentley site, just west of Lismore, has sparked a motion by Greens Cr Duncan Dey for this Thursday’s council meeting.
Cr Dey, who is also a councillor of water authority Rous Water, warns that Metgasco’s attempts to extract tight sands gas from prime agricultural lands could have ‘catastrophic impacts.’ He says in the upcoming council agenda for April 10 that the risks have ‘not been adequately investigated’. Additionally, Rous Water, which supplies water to Lismore, Ballina, Richmond Valley and Byron LGAs, has called on the state government to prevent gas exploration in areas it is planning to explore for under- ground water sources. It comes as the state government recently announced a six-month freeze on all new CSG explorations. Substantial risk Cr Dey wrote, ‘My view is that the risk to water quality is substantial while the necessity for unconventional gas to be discovered or, if found, extracted in this particular locality is negligible. ‘There is gas elsewhere.' ‘Rous and hence Byron Shire Council and their de- pendent water supply community rely on the Lismore source. If it were to be re- moved from Rous’s supply system, our future water strategy would be undermined in that a replacement source would be required almost immediately. While groundwater is proposed as ‘the new source’, it requires several years of investigation prior to use. But in reply to Cr Dey’s question on possible contamination, Rous staff said, ‘It is unlikely that surface water runoff will have the potential to impact on local tributaries’, but ‘a key question to be ad- dressed concerns the extent to which the upstream migration of contaminants occurs during... intermediate flow ranges, when potential expo- sure could occur.’ ‘This analysis requires consideration of the variability of tidal flows that would also introduce variability to this situation.’ Meanwhile Council’s Infrastructure Services director, Phil Holloway, says in the re- port that council staff contact- ed Richard Green, team lead- er of the state government’s Groundwater North, over the issue. ‘He has verbally advised that they have no concerns with the Bentley project. ‘It’s a conventional gas bore in that they are looking for dry gas, not fracking for coal seam gas. He also advised that groundwater flows very slowly and said that it may not be even possible for ground- water to travel from Bentley to Byron. ‘Without further investigation he couldn’t comment any further on the issue.’ But in his comments Mr Holloway provided the federal government’s Atlas of Ground- water Dependent Ecosystems which, ‘suggest the ground- water between Bentley and Byron Shire could be linked.’ State govt refused to fund water test Regardless, for those living next door, the possibility of toxic spills and runoff are a major concern. Boudicca Cerese from Gasfield Free Northern Rivers claims the water testing that was done last year was insufficient to make any reasonable comparison. ‘What is required is proper baseline data’, she said, ‘not just this one-off testing but actually, over a period of time, through all different seasons.’ Richmond Valley Council, which covers Bentley, commissioned Lismore-based Richmond Water Laboratories to carry out the 2013 testing, with Metgasco paying for the test after the state govern- ment refused to fund it. No baseline testing It was done within a two- kilometre radius of the well’s location, and looked at the water quality in two creeks, two bores and two dams adjacent to the property where the company plans to drill for tight sands gas. The tests will be repeated two months after the drilling is complete and again 12 months later. Cr Dey is asking for Council to write to Macquarie Street- based NSW coalition MPs regarding the dangers of the activity, while Cr Basil Cameron is calling on councillors to support a letter-writing push to include northern rivers agricultural industries as a Critical Industry Cluster (CIC) status. Currently there are only two CICs in NSW: the horse and wine industries of the Hunter Valley. That legislation protects just those two indus- tries from the state’s rapid expansion of gas mining. A voluntary contribution from Belongil landowners affected by beach erosion is the latest plan by Byron Council to help pay for the remaining amount needed for a rock wall that would cover the last stretch of private and public beachfront in the area.
The topic of ‘interim beach access stabilisation works’ again divided the Greens voting bloc at Council’s meeting on Thursday, with Cr Rose Wanchap siding with Crs Diane Woods, Sol Ibrahim, Alan Hunter and Chris Cubis to support funding the rock wall from an environmental levy. But if the Belongil landowners come to the party, the estimated $155,000 from the levy may not be needed. Cr Ibrahim told The Echo that after meeting all the landowners recently, they were open to negotiations and are looking at ways to maintain beach frontage (as rock walls are known to erode beach frontage). While conceding it isn’t cheap, Cr Ibrahim said, ‘there are other beachfront areas all over the world with rock walls that have been engineered to also have beach frontage’. He also challenged the argument that all Belongil landowners are required to have removable houses in case of a severe storm, as per a 1980s agreement with Council. ‘Some are not subject to the 1980s Council agreement because they bought before that agreement,’ he said. Regardless, a foreshadowed motion will see Council wait for legal advice, which is due in a few weeks, and would be considered prior to tenders being called (Crs Cubis, Woods and Hunter voted against). It’s advice that mayor Simon Richardson says was recommended by a panel of experts in coastal management, who recently met with Council. A staff recommendation that funds from an environmental levy be used to fund the project dominated much of the debate, with Crs Wanchap, Woods and Ibrahim claiming that that the geo-bags that are currently in place – and that have been largely washed away – constituted environmental pollution and a threat to sea life. Cr Woods said that in all her years in Council, she had ‘never heard such hypocrisy’. ‘We are told these bags are falling apart and that the environment is being affected. [It comes down to that] some of us want rocks there, and some of us don’t. Every time we get a report that comes before us, it gets delayed… whatever tactics that can be used are put in place to stop it from happening.’ Meanwhile, Cr Ibrahim argued that the works are interim, ‘as rocks can be moved and relocated’. In reply, Cr Richardson said the issue is ‘not about eco-worrying’. ‘If we truly care about the environment, we wouldn’t have walls there so the turtles and birds might have a beach that they could use.’ Eco-worrying While admitting that the walls will happen, Cr Richardson said it was important ‘how it will happen and how to minimise any possible litigation’. Of the recent meeting with coastal planning experts, Cr Richardson said one of the planners, Angus Gordon, told them either ‘to protect or withdraw’. ‘They all said legal clarity is vital,’ he said. Cr Basil Cameron argued that without a coastal zone management plan (CZMP), which is in accordance with the Coastal Protection Act 1979, Council could be ‘open to failure’. ‘We need indemnity that the landowners won’t sue us if the works fail in years to come,’ he said. Council’s director of infrastructure services, Phil Holloway, told councillors that staff will meet with landowners next week. Executive manager of organisational support, Shannon McKelvey, added that any agreement with landowners ‘would only be with landowners, not the land’. Reporting on Byron Shire Council would be much less colourful if local government masochist Fast Buck$ decided to retire from his public-nuisance hobby horse (it’s a recurring threat).
And while using morning public access as a personal therapy session certainly adds theatre to policy making, it’s also awkward at times. For example, calling the mayor a ‘small man’ is simply playing the man and not the ball. Serious questions lose credibility in light of such delinquency. And that can lead to the print media using valuable ink and paper to focus on those inane distractions instead. Is Buck$ the Lenny Bruce of Byron Shire without the Jewish wit? Regardless, one of Buck$’s bugbears this week was – again – reflective of his personal experiences with local government: Why are some compliance matters against residents kept confidential, given that the defendant is usually not asked if they wish it to remain confidential? A courteous phone call could alert you to the fact that your activities are being discussed behind closed doors. Sounds fair enough. As it happened, councillors agreed that day for general manager Ken Gainger to commence ‘Class 4 proceedings in the Land and Environment Court’ against the use of the property at 3822 Pacific Highway, Tyagarah. Moving on, it was another full day of policy which had me wishing I had brought more popcorn and pillows. Creating a noise data history of major festivals held at North Byron Parklands in Yelgun moved closer with all councillors agreeing to consider ‘undertaking independent noise monitoring’ after meetings with those concerned. Cr Richardson’s motion states that there are ‘apparent inconsistencies in information provided.’ Heads up for possible water restrictions too: Cr Duncan Dey announced that Rous advised him at a recent meeting that as Rocky Creek Dam is close to 70 per cent capacity, water restriction implentation is imminent. ‘I don’t think they made an estimate of when that is,’ he said, ‘but they will probably be during March if we don’t get rain.’ Byron alcohol-related violence Cr Dey also advised Council that after the recent Byron Bay Liquor Accord meeting, ‘statistics that the police collect are showing a continuing fall… and the general trend through the summer is in a downward direction for crime statistics in relation to alcohol.’ Again moving on, a regional transport plan by the state government that was presented to the Northern Rivers Regional Organisation of Councils (NOROC) was met with ‘significant outrage,’ said the mayor. ‘NOROC in general were significantly outraged that it was an incredibly weak and flimsy document,’ he said. ‘It was very scant on any sort of evidential data; it was as atrocious as I think all the member councils expected it to be and it was incredibly disappointing.’ The mayor said no timeframes were given, no money allocated, no action plan or commencement dates were provided other than ‘there will be one’. In related planning news, the mayor added that he has discovered that the north coast-specific E zones for the local environment plan (LEP) have been on the desk of NSW planning minister Brad Hazzard for four months. March approved The planned political demonstration against possibly the meanest and dumbest federal government in Australia’s history has been given the green light for March 16. But March in March, which will see Byron Bay take part in a nationwide action, saw councillors divided on whether to support it. Crs Woods, Cubis, and Hunter pushed for being apolitical with Abbott and his henchmen and one woman, and an amendment which failed by Crs Woods/Cubis would have seen Council not give the organisers a slight leg up with fees. Cr Cubis said that, while he supports their right to protest, ‘it is inappropriate to pay for the march,’ and to align yourself with the group is ‘a step too far’. But Cr Cameron’s motion passed, with conditions for the go-ahead including that traffic control and escort be provided by the police and that public liability insurance be in place for the sum of at least $20 million. The event will also be notified on Council’s website and in Council’s notices in The Echo at no cost to organisers. Lastly, and by no means inclusive of everything that transpired, a request to ‘review’ Council’s plant replacement program by Cr Alan Hunter brought about vivid recollections of the psychological battles played out on BBC’s Yes Minister. Yes, councillors, there was slight tension in the air as Cr Hunter pushed for a non-threatening sit-down with staff to look over procurement costings for items such as ride-on lawnmowers. Good luck, Alan! Noise monitoring of events at North Byron Parklands (NBP) in Yelgun will be put to the vote on at this Thursday’s Council meeting after the state government refused to hand over its own internal report to Council.
In his motion, mayor Simon Richardson says, ‘In four years time, Council will be the determining body when considering the long-term use of this site and the appropriateness of holding festivals and events. It is therefore beneficial to Council to have its own set of data, over a few years, from which to judge the noise issue and with which to compare other noise monitoring testing.’ While no funds have been identified for the project, Council staff say they have been quoted $6,900 plus GST per event. In a letter to Council on November 8 last year, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s Chris Ritchie wrote, ‘I note you have requested to be provided with a copy of the department’s site visit report from the 2013 [Splendour In The Grass] SITG event. The report prepared by the departmental officer attending the event was prepared for internal information only, therefore I am unable to make this available to Council.’ When The Echo questioned the secrecy, the department’s media spokesperson said the officer who attended the 2013 Splendour in the Grass Festival did not prepare a formal ‘site visit report’. ‘The “report” referred to in the letter to Byron Shire Council refers to informal, internal notes that are not appropriate to release publicly.’ A much-anticipated protest against the current Abbott government and its draconian polices have hit a local bureaucratic snag.
The Byron Bay organisers of the planned March in March say they are the victim of stalling tactics from Byron Council that are aimed to extract money. The weekend of marches is planned from March 15 to 17 across the nation. But Byron Shire Council’s director of infrastructure services, Phil Holloway, told The Echo Council’sroad closure process for events and marches ‘includes a fee for road closures which is set each year as part of the Council’s fees and charges.’ ‘The fee was paid at the time the road application was lodged and the application was considered by the Local Traffic Committee (LTC) on February 5, which recommended approval subject to conditions.’ The ultimate decision, according to Mr Holloway, comes down to councillors, not staff, and the issue will be voted on at Thursday’s meeting. ‘The Council administration cannot waive fees. The matter has been brought to the attention of Council and they will consider approval for the road closure permit and fees associated with the march at the meeting this week.’ But organiser Kim Wright told The Echo, ‘We are not an event. This sounds pedantic, but it has legal implications. ‘We are a public assembly – a public protest, which is totally different. About 60,000 people protested Sunday night in all capital cities over the death of the young man in Manus… did they have to pay insurance, fees, application costs? I think not. ‘Our biggest mistake was trying to do the right thing and involve Council.’ If all is resolved, the march will commence Sunday March 16, starting at 11am on Bay Street and will head to Railway Park. MC Mandy Nolan and other locals will speak. For more visit marchinmarch.com.au. |
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