At the Byron Shire Council meeting in Mullum last Thursday, I again listened to the manager of Elements/North Byron Beach Resort/Byron Bay Railroad Company Ltd, Jeremy Holmes, insist that his businesses had much community consultation.
His business still advertises as an eco resort, protecting flora and fauna, yet there was no effort made to protect the hundreds of creatures killed by the recent massive tree clearing on the rail corridor.
Googling ‘community consultation’ brought up quite a number of definitions. It seems to mean that it is to foster good relations with the developer and community by encouraging a real relationship by having a public meeting.
In my experience this usually means having a public space and inviting the public to attend. Not putting flyers in letterboxes, posting events on a website or having small groups attend meetings at the developer’s premises as Mr Holmes indicated at council.
As in any negotiation with two parties, by definition, each party can’t get everything they want. So far one criticism has been met: an asbestos test has been done on the soil under some rails.
A request for a survey to prove that a diesel train would reduce traffic on Ewingsdale road has been denied. As did my request that Mr Holmes stop using the words ‘solar train’ publicly with regard to the resort.
In June of this year he did acknowledge that there is no such thing as a solar train in the world but did say that it was feasible to take out one engine and add batteries at a cost of $300,000 to his train (which in a budget for a $100 million resort seems insignificant, at 0.3 per cent). However, he would not do that.
Mr Holmes will not budge from the planned train usage of 8am-10pm seven days a week even though there has never been any assessment about the social impact of running a train five metres from some people’s bedrooms, hostel bedrooms and holiday apartments 30 times a day.
Quite unlike the XPT precedent for two or three trips per day.
Mr Holmes stands fixed with these numbers with no explanation as to why the train has to run so many trips. So what is the point of ‘community consultation?’
As far as I understand it the only supporters for this venture are TOOT members who just want a train on the line to satisfy their objectives and the ex-coal-mining owners of the whole complex.
Since we’ll probably get this train, I will expect to see proposals for a helicopter pad on Julian Rocks, a floating five-star resort on Belongil Estuary, a chair lift from The Pass to the lighthouse, a car park in front of the Beachie, a Wet’n’Wild theme park between Middleton and Massinger Streets and a Westfield where Woolies is.
And nice white 20-storey buildings along Lawson Street.
Lee Cass, Byron Bay
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