In reply to Sue Taylor’s and Ean Jones’ letter dated 13/09/17 who were responding to Dorothy’s letter in The Echo from 06/09/17 I would like to provide the community with some facts:
I have resided in the Byron Shire for over 40 years. My finger-lime business (Australian Finger lime Caviar) was established in the area over 10 years ago and has expanded in cooperation with nine local growers.
Subject to the expansion of the finger lime and the native food industry in this area, we will continue to take on more local growers, when exporting fresh fruit (which we have already been doing for 10 years) we unfortunately have to travel to the Tweed area to deliver our fruit for packing.
The ‘Food Hub’ area for development is zoned RU1 Primary Production under the Byron Local Environmental Plan. This zone allows Rural Industrial Buildings such as is required for the ‘Food Hub’.
The problem with a number of the objectors is they are near sighted and do not understand that the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a decline of agricultural output from the local area since 2005. Would those aforementioned prefer Australian businesses not to reinvest in local agribusinesses?
‘The Food Hub’ will support local food growers and food manufacturers which already supply the domestic and international market.
It would be morally corrupt not to see local Aussie businesses who pay tax, reinvest and most of all hopefully continue to employ locals in the area to reverse the decline that government statistics have shown.
We do not want to see local agribusiness shift out of the area, we also should not want to see homes built opposite and so close to an already established industrial estate which would further exacerbate problems.
As far as agricultural land for production, 64 acres is not large enough to run a sustainable amount of cattle and detrimental to a fruit and veggie production which requires high volumes of irrigation! Good luck obtaining a water licence from any creek these days.
Sheryl Rennie, Bangalow
No one is saying that the Food Hub concept / idea is a bad one. We’re just saying it’s in the wrong spot.
Local Agribusiness absolutely needs all the help it can get. It’s the backbone And the lifeblood of the Northern Rivers.
It interests me that the Bangalow community’s opposition to this development is now being positioned as being “morally corrupt”.
We are sorry that our moral compass is so skewed that we fight for intergenerational equity by protecting our non renewable RU1 farmland from industrialisation.
We are sorry that we fight to protect the amenity of our town from a development that is of a scale and location that is totally inappropriate and will make our town unliveable, poison our ground water and cause untold ecological damage in its proposed form.
Finally, we are sorry that the public interest does not align with the self interest of a minority who stand to financially benefit from it and we are sorry that we don’t believe in the fiction of job creation for an industry at the bleeding edge of AI and automation.
Sheryl, if this development is so badly needed, why is it that the approved multi stage Byron Food Hub in Mullumbimby is only partially occupied? And why is it that only two tenants have indicated an interest in Lismore Road? The answer is self evident. The demand isn’t there. The economy is important, but it is not the trump card that transcends the public interest. Do you really want this flawed narrative in support of this development to be your legacy?
Sheryl,
It’s too big, it’s in the wrong place, it’s that simple.
It benefits only a few at the expense of so many.
If 64 acres is not enough to be a profitable agricultural enterprise best you tell all those horticulturalist to plough their crops into the ground and head for the hills. I bet 64 acres of Finger Limes would do pretty well on that land.
Anyone who opposes pushy north coast developments under the thumb of the Obeid’s and Ibrahim’s is ‘morally corrupt’? LOL