Netflix Inc. still on the nose in Byron Bay

 

Echo Net Daily, 21 June 2021:

News that Netflix was planning to film a vacuous docudrama in Byron Bay brought a collective snort of derision across the Shire. 

But amidst the anger and disgust about Byron Baes, a gem of an idea was forming. 

What if locals made their own series about the Bay – telling the stories of real people living in the town rather than those simply seeking profit and self-promotion?

The idea was hatched by local bar owner and audio engineer, Saphia Smereka.

And though the plan is still in its infancy, locals have so far taken to it with gusto.

‘I could see how many people were upset about this Netflix show and I thought “why don’t we make our own series? One that way more people will want to watch”,’ Ms Smereka says.

‘I know so many creative people in Byron – this is the perfect place to do a project like this because we’ve already got people with the skills.

‘So I put a few posts up and so many people contacted me saying they wanted to be a part of it– retired script writers, cinematographers, sound people, copywriters, ex news journalists.’

The first major step in the process will take place today (Monday) when locals who are interested in getting involved in the project will meet at Ms Smereka’s bar, Kiki on Byron.

She is hoping for a lively discussion about the show, including the chance for people to talk about the kinds of stories they’d like to see covered…..

She has set up a GoFundMe page and is also interested in enlisting the services of a local grant writer who might help the project apply for government funding.

‘The point I really want to make here is that we’re not helpless in all of this,’ she says.

‘We have the power to do something, to respond to what’s happened and make something good out of it.’

Netflix to drown Byron Bay in Tacky With Extra Syrup

ABC News, 9 April 2021:

Netflix has announced it is making a reality series based on the lives of "hot Instagrammers" in Byron Bay, but many locals say they will not be watching.

In a Netflix press release, the series Byron Baes is described as a "docu-soap following a feed of hot Instagrammers living their best lives, being their best selves, creating the best drama content, #nofilter guaranteed."

Executive producer Julian Morgans said he came up with the idea while on holiday in the Byron hinterland with a friend "who's in advertising".

"It was getting dark and I could see all these big mansions in the forest and I thought 'my god this place is changing'," Mr Morgans said.

"It felt like there was this influx of money and power in this place that had been famous for hippies.

"I've become aware publications like the Daily Mail like stories about Chris Hemsworth and living in Byron as their bread and butter, so I put two and two together and thought 'there should be a show about this'."

….Byron Shire comedian and Greens federal political candidate Mandy Nolan said the bay was not currently an attractive backdrop.

"Byron Bay doesn't need any more vacuous exposure, it needs housing, it needs urgent work on coastal erosion," she said.

"Reality show about influencers? How is that remotely authentic?

"This is just artifice. Byron will be a set."

As a Byron Bay resident tested positive for COVID-19 on 30 March 2021 new restrictions are now in place for residents and visitors in the local government areas of Tweed Shire Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council and Lismore City Council

Northern NSW Local Health District, media release, 1 April 2021:

With Easter holidays now upon us, health authorities are encouraging people to celebrate safely as health restrictions come into force for certain local government areas in Northern NSW.

Northern NSW Local Health District Chief Executive, Wayne Jones, said the current rules around mask wearing, private gatherings and social distancing shouldn’t mean that people need to miss out on connecting with loved ones and friends over the Easter break.

“If you’re meeting up with friends, hosting a family gathering or celebrating at a religious service, please ensure you are following the current health advice,” Mr Jones said.

New restrictions are now in place for residents and visitors in the local government areas of Tweed Shire Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council and Lismore City Council:

• mask wearing is compulsory on public transport, in retail stores, and in all public indoor settings;

• the one person per four square metre rule will apply at all public indoor settings including hospitality venues;

• the number of household visitors will be capped at 30 including holiday rental properties.

“If you’re going out to celebrate, check-in and then check-out with the QR codes, so if needed, our contact tracers can quickly locate anyone who may have been a venue of concern,” Mr Jones said.

“If you are having people gather at your home, please also keep a list of your guests, because it’s vital that our health teams are able to track down potential close contacts of any positive COVID-19 cases.”

 

There have now been 70 cases of COVID-19 among residents in the Northern NSW Local Health District since the pandemic began, with the latest locally acquired case announced yesterday (Wednesday 31 March).

Prior to this case, the region had experienced 248 days without a locally acquired infection.

NNSWLHD cases by likely source of infection:

Source                                          Total

Overseas or interstate acquired 64

Locally acquired – contact of a

confirmed case or in a known cluster 5

Locally acquired – source not identified 1

Under investigation 0

Total 70

Of these cases, 67 are considered to have recovered.

HOSPITAL VISITOR RESTRICTIONS

Visitor restrictions in hospitals and health facilities have been strengthened to protect patients and staff.

Patients are now permitted to have one visitor for one hour, twice a day, between the hours of 1pm and 6pm. Two separate visitors could visit a patient during these hours.

Temperature checking is in place, and visitors who have been in the Greater Brisbane area over the last 14 days are not permitted to enter. Visitors also need to check in with the QR code.

Maternity services have also further restricted visitors. Women can continue to nominate two support people for her labour and birth, and these support people can also visit after the birth. No other visitors are permitted at this time.

“Wherever you are over this holiday period, it’s critical that you continue to practise COVID-safe behaviours and come forward for testing, with even the mildest of symptoms,” Mr Jones said.

To help stop the spread of COVID-19:

– If you are unwell, get tested and isolate right away – don’t delay. Remain isolated until you receive your test result.

– Wash your hands regularly. Take hand sanitiser with you when you go out.

– Keep your distance. Leave 1.5 metres between yourself and others.

– It is strongly recommended you wear a mask in situations where you can’t physically distance.

To find your nearest testing clinic visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-toprotect-yourself-and-others/clinics or contact your GP.

Rental housing is becoming beyond the reach of locals in 2021

ABC News, 1 March 2021:

After years of supporting others to find secure accommodation, Cherie Bromley never imagined she would find herself on the receiving end of the housing crisis on the far north coast of New South Wales.

Key points:

Valuable members of regional communities are being forced out of the area due to a shortage of affordable rental properties

A woman who applied for rental properties says she was told the successful applicants offered to pay $100 more than the advertised price

The head of a homeless support group says many of her own staff are struggling to find accommodation for themselves

"I didn't even approach the real estates because I just knew there was nothing out there," she said.

For the past decade, Ms Bromley has been working for the Byron Community Centre, which provides a number of services, including support for the town's homeless population.

The Byron Bay resident of 29 years said she began the search for a home when the lease on her share house ended late last year, thrusting her into a rental market with a vacancy rate close to zero.

"This is the worst it's ever been," she said.

"There is no housing stock that is affordable."

Ms Bromley said she was extremely fortunate to have a good network of friends who were able to find her and her 14-year-old daughter temporary accommodation.

"I'm sleeping in the kitchen area [and] I gave my daughter the bedroom, but I have to pass through her bedroom to go to the bathroom," she said.

"It's not sustainable long-term."

Cherie Bromley is sharing a one-bedroom unit with her teenage daughter.
(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

'Catastrophic proportions'

The term "traumatic experience" is not one Ballina solicitor Sadie Hunt thought she would ever use to describe trying to secure a rental property in regional NSW.

After all, she works in conveyancing, has a regular and respectable income, and has contacts in the local real estate industry — how hard could it be?

"I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting a rental property, but I was rejected from all the properties I applied for," Ms Hunt said.

"I was basically told that if you weren't a DINK (double income, no kids) … you just had zero chance of getting a rental property."

Ms Hunt said she sold her Lennox Head property in November 2020 and gave herself a five-week settlement period to find a new place.

But she said even the first hurdle into the rental market — property viewings — proved challenging.

"You get sent an email and if you don't respond to that email within two minutes those little 4-minute appointment slots are all filled," Ms Hunt said.

"You turn up and there's 30 to 50 people there … that you're essentially competing with to get a home for you and your family to live in."

Ms Hunt said she was able to find a private rental at the eleventh hour but was knocked back for the three rentals she applied for through real estate agents.

She said that the real estate agents later informed her that, in at least two of the homes she missed out on, other prospective tenants had offered higher rental payments to secure the properties…...

Right now a three bedroom house rental in Yamba is likely to cost between 35% and 50% of the 2020-21 middle tier median annual income of $67,000 in regional New South Wales. In Ballina a three bedroom rental is likely to take between 35% to 61% out of that same income if suitable housing stock is available. While renting a three bedroom home in Tweed Heads would reduce that median annual income by between 43% to 56% and, in Lismore such a rental would likely subtract between 34% to 43% from that $67,000 if there was suitable housing stock available.

A single parent raising a child on an annual Centrelink payment of $21,920 from March 2021 who is attempting to secure private rental of even a one-bedroom unit between Clarence Valley and the NSW-Qld border faces a daunting task.

Erosion continues along Byron Bay coastline in 2020

 

Byron Bay storm erosion 31 July 2020 from BluecoastConsultingEngineers on Vimeo.

Echo NetDaily, 18 November 2020:

The state government is set to install sand bags at Clarkes Beach to protect the Beach Byron Bay cafe and Whites Cottage from the coastal erosion that has decimated the popular strip.

But it says the bags are just a temporary measure to give the building owners time to ‘reconfigure’ their premises, and that the cafe owner has been told to prepare for ‘future retreat’.

Management strategies were discussed at an urgent meeting held last month by the various state and local agencies who have responsibility for the Clarkes Beach area, including Council, Crown Lands and the Environment Department.

Clarkes has been severely affected by erosion over the past 12 to 18 months, with tonnes of sand stripped away exposing a rock shelf beneath. The beach is littered with uprooted pandanus trees, and the eroded dune line is now within metres of the Beach Byron Bay cafe.

There has also been further exposure of Aboriginal middens……

Representatives from a number of the agencies also expressed their views about the causes of the erosion; most were generally in agreement. This included an expert from the NSW Environment Department’s Sciences Group, who said the erosion was owing to a general reduction in the frequency of southerly swells, which played an important role in bringing sand to Clarkes Beach and Main Beach.

At the same time, there was an increase in the frequency of east and/or north east swells – patterns that have the effect of taking sand away from the beaches.

‘The net result over time is that the shoreline is undergoing a long-term trend of landward recession…’ the expert reportedly told the meeting.

‘Shoreline recession will also be influenced by sea level rise. An erosion period is occurring at the moment with no way to estimate when it will end. History tells us that the shorelines will eventually accrete [gather more sand]; however, when this will occur there is no way to know’.

[my yellow highlighting]

The Guardian, 20 October 2020:

Australia’s famous Byron Bay beach has been closed to swimmers and surfers as authorities carry out emergency sandbagging to prevent further damaging erosion.

Escalating erosion at Main Beach and Clarkes Beach in the northern New South Wales town has left a drop of several metres from the top of crumbling dunes down to the beach.

Max Pendergast, a 77-year-old local who has lived and surfed at Byron Bay his whole life, told Guardian Australia he had never seen the beaches in a worse condition.

“I’ve been through quite a few big cyclones, I’ve seen the sea come over the six-metre high dunes, but what’s happening now is an etching away of the beach,” he said.

“It looks pretty ugly right now, because a lot of the beach is just gone. It’s very bad.”

Pendergast said he noticed the beach deteriorate significantly over the past six months, and said he was concerned that if erosion continued waves would threaten units and the road along the beachfront.

“Not that long ago it was beautiful white sand all the way down to the water, but now it’s just rock, it really has eaten it away......

Queensland is set to expand the border zone into more areas of Northern New South Wales from 1 October 2020

ABC News, 22 September 2020:

Queensland is set to reopen its borders to parts of New South Wales after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the state's border bubble will soon include five additional local government areas.

From 1:00am on October 1, residents in Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Glen Innes local government areas will be able to travel into Queensland.

It comes as the state recorded zero new coronavirus cases overnight, leaving just 16 active cases.

The extended border zone will include 41 New South Wales postcodes, spanning 11 local government areas.

Residents will have to apply for a border pass to travel into Queensland.

Queensland residents will also be able to travel to those areas from October 1.

"I think this is a great effort to consider how we can make our border zones more effective," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"These areas have a lot in common with Queensland, they do a lot of their business in Queensland so we believe this is the right measure to take."

CHO flags easing of further restrictions

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said there were 152,000 residents in the border zones who would now be able to travel into Queensland.

"These are people who might live in New South Wales, but many feel more of an affinity with Queensland," Mr Miles said.

He said the changes were possible because of the very low number of coronavirus cases in regional New South Wales…..

While I’m sure Scott Morrison will be quick to take full credit for this extension of the border bubble, I strongly suspect that NSW Labor MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin (left) would have been working behind the scene to make this happen. 

Ms. Saffin has been the member for Lismore in the NSW Legislative Assembly since 23 March 2019, having previously been the federal MP for Page from 2007 to 2013 and a member of the NSW Legislative Council from 1995 to 2003.

As if the NSW Northern Rivers doesn't have enough on its plate, here's Pete!

IMAGE: realestate.com.au

TV chef and wannabe social media 'influencer' Pete Evans has his two-level Malabar home (left) on the market again.

Word is that he is making his ten hectare Round Mountain Farm, near Pottsville, home base as he prepares to open a healing clinic in Byron Bay now that Channel 7 has apparently tired of his antics.

That's right readers, your eyes didn't deceive you, the man who peddled glorified light shows as preventatives against COVID-19 and was fined more than $25,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) over false claims he made about the "BioCharger", wants to run an alternative healing business in The Habitat, Byron’s new commercial precinct which has reportedly attracted health and beauty outlets.

The same man who without any scientific or medical training gave alarmingly bad advice to osteoporosis sufferers and was publicly slammed by the Australian Medical Association.

Who promotes 'anti-vaxxer' sites as well as the debunked "Plandemic: Indoctrination" conspiracy film on social media and, suggests putting doTERRA essential oils in your chicken broth - regardless of the fact that these oils are rarely advised to be taken internally.

Finally, this is the man who thinks 'fat shaming' a woman is a fun thing to do on Facebook.

It seems that Evans may have sensed a vacancy, since former tennis coach and "esoteric healer" Serge Benhayon removed himself from the local spotlight after he spectacularly lost a defamation case in 2018 to the tune of an estimated $1.2 million payout to the respondent and then Universal Medicine was stripped of its Lismore Business Awards after a review by the Lismore Chamber of Commerce.

A reminder that past mistakes make the Far North Coast even more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change

It is easy to forget that long before modern urban population pressure and seachange retirees, the coastal fringe of the Northern Rivers region was being shaped by mining which irreversibly weakened shorelines now experiencing increasingly erosive wave patterns due to climate change.

This past degradation of coastal sand dunes and barrier beaches leaves many communities vulnerable.

Echo NetDaily, 12 December 2013:

Mining, not waves, destroyed Belongil

Oh, spare me. The Belongil? Again? Could The Echo run that article from a few years back that detailed (with photos) the deep sandmining that destroyed the ancient solid dune base right across Byron Bay and Tallows and more?

Is there anyone left alive who knows there’s a place called The Sand Hills Estate in Byron Bay, and why? As a reminder, it’s where the YAC is, and there were huge sand hills there, which were mined out. Does anyone recall there was a freshwater lake there, just like the ones on Fraser Island that had to be protected from sandmining in the 70s? Byron’s lake was not protected, and it was destroyed by sandmining.

Are there still residents who recall the mining industry and politicians saying the mining was ever so important, for the space program no less, and that the beaches would be fine? Because a magic plant named bitou bush would hold the soft sand together after the ancient black sand was removed?

But it turned out the black sand was used for cheap insulation on power lines, the bitou bush became an ecological nightmare, and the soft sand washed away in the first big storm. Does anyone remember any of this? Or that we even used to have black sand? And that was when the mining industry/political fixers came up with: it’s a natural process and we need a planned retreat? Any of this sound familiar? Does anyone know what the black sand was, how it got there, and how long it takes to accumulate?

And the current cliff edge at Belongil? Anyone actually bother to look at a survey map? Because that edge just happens to be where the mining stopped, at boundaries of private land. Notice that otherwise the whole thing would have been mined, washed away, and the sea would likely be across Ewingsdale Road?

For goodness sake, anyone remember the radioactive tailings dumped as landfill around town, that was all supposed to be fine? Until some smart bloke wandered about with a Geiger counter and a few people woke up. Is that sand-processing plant still rusting on the beach at Kingscliff? You know, the one with the big signs that say ‘WARNING: RADIOACTIVE’?

For pity’s sake, what on Earth lets people make statements without any reference to the geological, industrial, or political history of the landscape, and line up as the poster boys for mining industry arse-covering, and yet claim to give a damn about the world?

Listen, John Vaughan may annoy people, he may be obstreperous and confrontational in manner, but he’s actually, in this case, right. Do. Your. Homework. Or. Don’t. Put. Your. Hand. Up.

Matt Hartley, Byron Bay

BACKGROUND

Environmental Science articles by Will Kemp, 14 August 2011:

The birth of sand mining in Australia took place in Ballina, NSW, in 1870, when John Sinclair discovered gold in the black sand on Shaw’s beach. That discovery sparked a gold rush that lasted for nearly 30 years. At its peak there were about 300 people digging for gold on the beaches around Ballina (Morley, 1981).

It is, however, unlikely that the beaches were in pristine shape before the gold rush started. Cement production didn’t begin in Australia until about the same time as the beginning of gold mining on the beaches (NSW Heritage Office, 2003), so beach sand wouldn’t have been mined for construction work prior to that time. But cedar getters began working in the forests in the 1840s and they hauled logs to the beaches and out to schooners moored offshore (NPWS, 2007). This undoubtedly caused some significant damage to parts of the dune systems.

The beach gold miners depended on south-easterly gales to expose the black sand and bring the heavier, gold-containing particles to the beach surface (Morley, 1981) and mining was done entirely by hand (Nott, 1957 cited in Borland, 1999).

Within twenty years, most of the beach gold deposits were exhausted and the attention of the miners turned inland. By the end of the century, gold had been discovered on beaches from Bermagui, NSW to Fraser Island, Qld, but its peak had passed (Morley, 1981).

For the next couple of decades, mining for gold, platinum, and tin continued on the beaches around Byron Bay. But around 1920 there began to be an interest in other minerals that were found in the beach sands – rutile, zircon, and ilmenite, the “heavy minerals”.

The first large scale mining of heavy mineral sands was carried out in 1935 when Zircon-Rutile Ltd began production of zircon and rutile at Byron Bay. They only processed the ore, and engaged contractors to do the mining – which was done on the beach by hand, using shovels (Morley, 1981).

When mineral sand deposits were discovered in the back dunes and heathland country behind the beaches, mining techniques changed. Ponds were dug and small floating dredges were used to extract the minerals (Nott, 1957 cited in Borland, 1999).

In the 1950s, as a result of criticism of the environmental damage being done by sand mining, the NSW Mines department began to work towards improving the rehabilitation of mine sites. But it wasn’t until the late 1960s that any serious effort was put into this process (Unwin & Cook, 1986 cited in Burdett, 1994).

Around that time, reprofiling of sand dunes was improved by the introduction of a stacker boom to rebuild the dunes with the tailings sand returned from the separation plant (Burdett, 1994).

In the 1960s mining began in the aeolian high dunes of southern Queensland (Morley, 1981).

In the late 1960s, mining companies began to employ qualified rehabilitation workers for the first time. (Unwin & Cook, 1986 cited in Burdett, 1994)….. 

Aunty Linda Vidler (2004), an Arakwal elder from the Byron Bay area, recalled 30 foot high sand dunes at Tallow Beach before sand mining took place. There were also dune swales and permanent lakes (Vidler 2003, cited in NPWS, 2007). Today the dune system there is more uniform, flat and simplified (NPWS, 2007). 

It is likely that while sand mining continued, it caused increased erosion of the shoreline of Australian beaches, as seems to have been the case with sand mining in California (Thornton et. al., 2006). Landward displacement of frontal dunes has occurred (Dallas & Tuck, 2008). Lack of vegetation and dune instability in old, unrehabilitated mine sites continues to contribute to erosion of the dune systems. 

Sand mining has destroyed archeological and heritage sites, such as Aboriginal camp sites, middens and possibly burial sites (Dallas & Tuck, 2008). Many sites of European and Aboriginal value were lost to sand mining around the Ballina area (Dept. of Land and Water Conservation, 2003)..... 

Port Of Yamba Historical Society Museum, 30 July 2018: 

Yamba’s Pippi Beach is a big open beach ideal for long walks, surfing and fishing. At low tide the odd Pippi shellfish can be seen, but not as many as there were before sand mining and overharvesting in the mid 1900s. 

In almost every decade of the twentieth century sand mining has occurred along the north coast of NSW. The sand, rich in zircon, rutile, ilmenite and monazite was considered valuable for steel alloys, enamels, glazes and glass. 

The Depression delayed early attempts but in 1934/5 leases at Iluka, Yamba and Back Beach, Angourie were exploited. The Yamba lease consisted of a 40 metre wide strip of beach above low water mark and from a point on Pippi Beach opposite the present Ngaru Village and including most of Barri Beach (locally known as Mines or Dump Beach). The sand was loaded by hand into a horse-drawn dray, which took the mineral to the treatment plant, about 1.2 km south of Barri Point (Flat Rock). Later a tramline was erected on the beach, and hopper trucks, still loaded by hand, took the sand to the treatment plant pulled by a small diesel locomotive. 

The Yamba lease was worked out by 1937 and production shifted to Angourie. Another tramway was built from the treatment plant to Back Beach, Angourie but little evidence remains of this tramway today. 

In 1942/3 four new leases covered Turners, Yamba and Convent Beaches in Yamba and Green Point, Spookies and Back Beaches at Angourie. A small amount of mineral sand was taken from Main Beach, Yamba in 1943 before an appeal by a delegation from the surf club to the Minister for Mines had the mining stopped. A further lease was obtained in 1943 covering Barri Beach and Pippi Beach up to Lovers Point. On seeing the notices of the proposed mining activity, William Ager appealed for Council to resist the lease applications, feeling that the mining would undermine his conservation work. Despite the lease being granted, however, no mining took place in favour of richer mineral deposits further north in the Cudgen area. 

 Another period of mining occurred from 1968-1970, when sand dunes behind the beaches from Brooms Head to Yamba and Iluka were mined then rebuilt using front-end loaders. 

The Bitou bush planted by the mining company to rehabilitate the dunes has since become a noxious weed. They did however discover the Yamba Cemetery, located towards the south end of Pippi Beach, covered in 20 feet of sand. 

The declaration of Yuraygir National Park in 1980 and the importance of our beaches for tourism have largely ended any prospect of further mining. The North Coast Environmental Council and Maclean Shire Council blocked an attempt in 1995, especially after exploratory work caused severe dune damage. 

Clarence Valley Council, Coastal Hazard Study for Pippi Beach, Yamba, 23 March 2016: 

Pippi Beach and its adjoining headland to the north at Yamba Point are of high aesthetic and environmental value. 

The beach is generally backed by dunes located within Crown Reserve. These dunes were mined for heavy minerals in the 1970s and later revegetated. Poorly managed stormwater discharges into the dunes at the northern end of the beach led to erosion of the dune face and formation of localised blow outs. 

Coastal hazard investigations by Manly Hydraulics Laboratory in 2002 found that Pippi Beach was only mildly affected by coastal hazard. However, storms in recent years have lowered the beach profile and impacted on beach amenity. 

Also a public footpath has been proposed joining Yamba Point with beaches to the south and a concern has been expressed for the stability of elevated bluff areas to be traversed by this path..... 

The Daily Examiner, 2 March 2018: 

Wooli Beach, Brooms Head, Woody Head and Yamba beaches are all being impacted by coastal erosion. The Daily Examiner has been following the erosion since the high tides and big swells were forced upon the Clarence in late December 2017, January and February this year.

Map of historical coastal mineral sand mining
from Yamba in the north to Wooli in the southern section of the Clarence Coast
IMAGE: "There were always people here: a history of Yuraygir National Park", p.55

NOTE:

While minerals sands mining results in short-term alteration of ecosystems, there is a particular concern that thorium, the principal radioactive component of monazite, may over time leach from tailings dumps into local water supply systems. Also, as elevated radiation levels are likely to occur at areas of spillage adjacent to monazite loading and storage facilities on former mining sites, it may be necessary to have a system of controls to restrict the public and nearby landowners from having contact with some parts of former mine sites [Greg Swensen, Mineral sands mining in Western Australia, p.2]. 

Some samples in an old ilmenite stockpile (since removed) at Jerusalem Creek in Bundjalung National Park held thorium and uranium that exceed public health exemption criteria. [NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Bundjalung National Park Review of Environmental Factors: Proposed ilmenite stockpile removal and site rehabilitation, 2016]

Northern Rivers homelessness and COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020

Echo NetDaily, 20 May 2020:

A quick look at the Byron Council website will tell you that the average rent in the Shire is $590 or 49 per cent of the average household income of $1,218. The comparisons on the page show Sydney’s Woollahra $800 rent being 44 per cent of a $1,814 income and Brighton in Melbourne with rents averaging 42 per cent of the income at $650. Even Brisbane’s Eaton Hills gets a look in with a $510 rent being 39 per cent of a $1,312 income. 

This is cold comfort if you happen to be a single parent whose only income is a Centrelink benefit. You’d definitely not be earning $12k a week, yet you’d be more than likely looking at $500 to $600 a week in rent – unless of course, you ended up homeless because you just couldn’t find something you could afford. 

Our volunteer services such as the Liberation Larder and the Mullumbimby Neighbourhood Centre are currently groaning under the weight of extra homelessness since the start of the pandemic. People who didn’t expect to be here and out of work, are – and the growing number of our own homeless is now making the issue and epidemic in the Byron Shire. 

We know what the volunteers are doing but what is the government doing?..... 

Tamara Smith MP says that the Greens have been working closely with the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) through the pandemic with regard to support for rough sleepers and people on the homelessness spectrum in Byron and Ballina Shire’s.... 

Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot says there are more homeless Australians than ever before. ‘On the North Coast we have a massive housing affordability and homelessness crisis, and people receiving Centrelink benefits are the hardest hit. ....

 ‘I have been inundated with requests for assistance and by many locals who have raised their concerns about the impact that this situation will have on our most vulnerable. The impact of Coronavirus threatens to make it even worse’. 

Ms Elliot says that as unemployment increases there’s a real risk that people don’t just lose their job, but also their home.’Housing is now on the frontline of Australian healthcare.’ 

‘Labor welcomed the National Cabinet’s decision to freeze evictions for the next six months for tenants in financial distress due to the impact of Coronavirus. We have consistently said that no one should lose their home, whether they own it or rent it, because of the virus. This will help.’  

‘As winter approaches and the Centrelink lines get longer, the charities that help the homeless and most vulnerable are suffering the perfect storm. The volunteer pool for a lot of charities is largely older Australians – most vulnerable to the Coronavirus. 

‘Most of these are smaller community-based charities that fill local needs. That loss places greater strain on other remaining services as the demand for help grows and grows. 

‘That’s why this extra support and assistance for providers of food and emergency relief and other homelessness services is so important. 

‘Both the State and Federal Governments must continue to provide support and assistance for those most vulnerable in our community.’ 

This would appear to be different just south of Byron. State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said she had been assured that the majority of people in their homeless community have been accommodated. ‘Many are in hotels and motels. It is wonderful for people to have a roof over their heads as being isolated in lockdown brings many challenges,’ said Ms Saffin. ‘I worry about accessing services that people need during these times such as GPs and health-related ones, that can be hard to access for people who are homeless at the best of times. 

‘The NSW Treasury has published a document titled Supporting NSW, and in the Communities and Families section, it specifies three key areas of funding under the heading, A Roof Over Heads.

‘I have written to NSW Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward and asked him if he could provide a breakdown of this, at least for my Lismore Electorate.’.....

Byron DA on land subject to coastal erosion?

Echo NetDaily, 23 April 2020:

A DA for 33 housing lots on the upmarket Linnaeus Estate at Broken Head remains 
on the table despite containing fundamental legal errors. Photo www.linnaeus.com.au

A Development Application (DA) for 33 housing lots on the upmarket Linnaeus Estate at Broken Head remains on the table despite containing fundamental legal errors, after a majority of Byron Shire councillors voted to defer the matter, rather than refusing it outright as Council planning staff recommended.

The councillors’ decision also puts them at odds with many affected neighbours, who supported staff recommendations. 

In February last year, the owners of the idyllic estate applied for an amendment to Byron’s Local Environment Plan to allow for a community title development comprising 33 lots, each with a minimum size of 250 m2.

It wasn’t until after the DA had received gateway approval from the NSW planning department and completed its four-week public exhibition that Council staff realised there was a ‘fundamental error’ in the way the existing and proposed controls for the site applied in the context of its ‘Special Activities’ zoning.

According to the staff report in the agenda to last week’s Council planning meeting, this error stemmed from advice Council received from the planning department.

‘Additionally, the way in which Byron’s LEP regulates community title subdivision in the SP1 (Special Activities) zone was not fully understood when the department issued the Gateway determination’, Council staff member Steve Daniels said in the report.

‘Council has commissioned legal advice on this matter which establishes that the proposed amendment to Byron LEP 2014 is redundant.’......

The legal advice also revealed that part of the site earmarked for housing in the DA was in fact ‘highly likely’ to be a coastal erosion zone. 

The Linnaeus Estate is located between Broken head and Lennox Head, and is some of the last littoral rainforest adjoining the coastline in NSW.....

According to Byron Shire Council minutes of 16 April 2020 the vote to keep this DA alive went thus:

The motion (Richardson/Spooner) was put to the vote and declared carried. Crs Coorey, Martin, Lyon, Ndiaye, Richardson, Cameron, Hackett, Spooner and Hunter voted in favour of the motion. No Councillors voted against the motion.