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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Far From The Madding Crowd

Latest News

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Other News

Save Wallum finalist in NSW 2024 environment awards

The Save Wallum campaign has been named as a finalist in the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Environment Awards 2024. The award ceremony will be held in Sydney tonight, and Save Wallum spokesperson and ecologist James Barrie will be attending with Tegan Kitt, another founding member of the group.

Queer family visibility

Did you know that, statistically, if you’ve met a redhead, you’ve also met a trans person? Over 800 trans and gender diverse people live in the Byron Shire, which includes at least 200 children. They’re often a bit hidden though, so come on down and celebrate with them this Trans Day of Visibility!

Could the future of the Richmond River be a clean and healthy one?

Imagine a drinkable, swimmable, fishable Richmond River? That is the aim of the Richmond Riverkeepers Association.

Zoom meeting

Just to clarify the report that Michael Lyon now declares ‘no’ to developing Ann St and New City Road....

Byron Council staff baulk at councillors’ promise of free parking for locals

Will Byron Council deliver on its pledge to make parking permits free for locals across the Shire when paid parking comes into force in Brunswick Heads?

Bay FM community radio celebrates digital upgrade

Volunteers from Byron and across the Northern Rivers celebrated nearly $100,000 worth of new studio equipment at Bay FM Community Radio station on the weekend.

Cinema review by John Campbell

If there is one thing that you can rely on in any story by Thomas Hardy, it is that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. More often than not it’s as a result of freakish coincidence or nature’s penchant for perverse malevolence. But life is like that anyway, isn’t it? This is a fantastic movie – and not least of all for the performance of Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene (the spelling is different, but the heroine of The Hunger Games shares the same surname).

My fear was that Mulligan might not emerge from the shadow of Julie Christie, the iconic actress who starred in John Schlesinger’s 1967 take on the novel, but she is stunning as the prototype feminist who is yet unable to fully liberate herself from the influences and demands of the men in her life.

Watching this in Paris (and trying to stop myself from compulsively reading the French subtitles), I was struck by the surprisingly large turnout – until it occurred to me that Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation is deeply philosophical and ‘earthy’ in the way that appeals so much to the Gallic temperament, and also charged with a smouldering eroticism that has no call for crass R-rated sex. I would struggle, too, to remember the last time I saw a film with so many scenes of ‘page-turning’ impact. From the moment when the shepherd Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) so shockingly loses his flock, to when Bathsheba is joined in song by the pining wealthy landowner William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), to when the bounder Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge) indulges in drunken ribaldry on his wedding night, to when – perhaps the most heart-thumping episode of all – Bathsheba rides frantically back with Gabriel to save her dying sheep, Vintergerg’s sense of the emotionally tactile never misses its mark.

Astute as the casting of the male leads is, however, it is all about Bathsheba, and Mulligan, with an extraordinary ability to expose her inner world with the slightest facial expression, takes us as far as we can go in understanding the neverending conflict between fate and stubborn self-determination.

Hardy’s Wessex is gloriously shot by Charlotte Bruus Christensen, as well.


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Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Making Lismore Showground accessible to everyone

The Lismore Showground isn’t just a critical local community asset that plays host to a number of major events each year, but has also been used as an evacuation centre during past natural disasters in the region. 

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Govt cost-shifting ‘erodes financially sustainable local government’

Byron Shire Council looks set to add its voice to the growing chorus calling on the state government to stop shifting responsibilities and costs onto local government.