Like many of Byron shire’s residents, I am mourning the rezoning of West Byron, and hoping it will not be as destructive to the (somewhat stretched) fabric of the shire as we all imagine it might be.
These kinds of development pressures on the shire have been one of the many considerations that prompted my enthusiastic interest and growing involvement in the Bruns Eco-village vision.
Many residents of the shire sense that most of our current human ways of settling on the land still fall a long way short of utilising the combined wisdom and knowledge as our species.
In a shire that is already known for its innovation and creative energy, we are eager to ‘lift the bar’ again, creating a whole new standard for housing developments that much more fully serve the needs of current and future generations.
As I see it, projects like the proposed Bruns Eco-village are essential if spreading, Gold Coast style development is to be avoided, and the distinctive qualities of Byron shire are to be maintained into the 21st century.
Like Chris Cooney (Byron Shire Echo letters 3 Jan) I would be disappointed to see Saddle Road Ridge (and West Byron) covered in standard, late 20th-century-style housing development.
I know we can do better than this as a species, and especially here in Byron shire, with our high proportion of creatives, innovators and healers.
I very much hope that our politics, planning processes and protocols do not wipe out this particular experiment in human maturation before it gets off the ground.
The symbol of Byron shire is the beacon. With the social world facing widespread and unprecedented change in the 21st century, it needs these kinds of beacons more than ever.
Dr Jaqueline Morris, Suffolk Park
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
