Mullumbimby resident Jodie Ewin has taken to Facebook to vent her frustration about being ‘kept awake every night having to listen to illegal campers’ in the town’s Heritage Park.
Ms Ewin says vans circle nearly every evening near the boat ramp at the end of Stuart Street – and she is calling on Byron Shire Council to do something about it.
‘We, as residents, are subjected to daily illegal campers disturbing the peace, with very loud music (that goes all night) and the yelling and screaming with abusive and offensive language,’ said the Mullumbimby businesswoman on her Facebook post.
‘The drinking and the drug taking is beyond a joke, the dog fights, the fist fights between the people, the rubbish, the mess, the list goes on!’
But Ms Ewin said what pushed her over the edge was being woken up at 6am on February 28 ‘by a man screaming at another camper to “shut the fuck up you stupid cunt!” while they were chasing each other up and down my neighbour’s driveway, physically fighting.
‘What a great start to the day,’ she wrote.
Ms Ewin said the campers roll in to the park in the afternoon… crank their music, crack their drinks, let their dogs wander wherever they want – and it continues until the early hours of the morning.
‘Most nights it does not stop. Some stay all day, some pack up at dawn and sneak out.
‘But,’ she added, ‘some never leave!’
Complaints to council
Ms Ewin said she and her neighbours had complained to Byron Shire Council ‘many times’ and questioned, ‘why isn’t anything being done?’
She added it had got so bad that locals feel they now can’t even go down and enjoy their local park.
‘This photo was taken this morning from our front verandah. It was a slow night by the looks, normally there are double or triple the amount of vehicles. Some even attempt to hide in the bushes on the side,’ Ms Ewin wrote.
People commenting on Ms Ewin’s post were unanimous in their opposition to the campers and had no hesitation in pointing the finger at the council for not doing something about it.
Danielle Diehm wrote ‘about time this council actually started to worry about taking care of the ratepayers who they are paid to represent. This town .’and the entire shire is an absolute joke! Good folks like you guys shouldn’t have to put up with this type of thing, especially considering we pay some of the highest rates in Australia and don’t seem to get a whole lot for it.’
Queanbeyan visitor Sharon Cappello concurred.
‘The last time we visited Mullumbimby, we stayed in beautiful legal accommodation, never partied/drank to excess/yelled/cursed/used disgusting language or left our rubbish behind,’ she wrote
‘We walked regularly past that park, never wanting to stop and enjoy the river and the park because of the rubbish, drug utensils, strong smell of open toilets (poop on the ground covered by toilet paper) and the rude and unsatisfactory behaviour of the people camping there. The council owes it to their ratepayers to keep their neighbour hood safe,’ Ms Capello added.
Joanne Newman shunted the blame directly at the council.
‘Take a look at Ballina Shire ladies,’ she wrote, ‘nobody lives in the parks or under the bridge’.
‘There is no illegal camping and no offending rude inconsiderate assholes doing what you have just displayed. Why? Because rate payers are taken care of and Ballina shire cares.
‘Mullum is just a dumping ground for all the people they won’t accept in Byron Bay as it’s bad for tourism and that’s probably why nobody does anything to help support the ratepayers of Mullumbimby.
Echonetdaily has requested a comment from Byron Shire Council and is awaiting a response.
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