Byron has a major problem. No one I know ever goes there anymore from the local area because you have to wait half an hour to get down the Ewingsdale Rd into Byron.
You have to sit in smelly, polluting traffic as you slowly inch along the road and then you have to find parking. It’s just too much hassle when there are other great beaches around.
Byron is a tourist destination that depends on getting people into town for the tourist venues to make money. Also the people who work and live there need to be able to get in and out of town in a reasonable time frame.
An easy way to get people in and out of town is so staggeringly simple and it’s about having a train.
We used to be able to catch a train from Lismore or Bangalow down to Byron in the morning and have a lovely day at the beach and catch the train home in the arvo.
We could also catch it in the evening, have dinner, a dance and a couple of drinks and catch the train home.
It was wonderful but the last Labor government took it away and the current government ignores the needs of this community.
These governments don’t want to pay for the train because their election campaigns get too much money from road construction companies, trucking companies, oil companies etc.
There is so much money to be made out of roads that the community misses out on good public transport.
Get rid of political donations from big companies and we’d have a train up to Qld in a flash. It’s going to have to happen eventually as traffic congestion is only going to get worse.
Beth Shelley, Booerie Creek
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