Ian Cohen, Broken Head
The Echo (April 3) quoting Cr Lyon re ‘broad community support’ for the bypass has raised a number of intertwined issues.
Firstly I accept that Cr Lyon and I have regular communications and on some issues he has taken note of my concerns. It is far more consistent communication than other Greens councillors.
However, I have never supported the bypass or proposed siting of the bus interchange. Byron is meant to be a world leader. Places like Venice and Ortega in Sicily regulate tourist traffic away from the centre of town with drastic but effective tow aways of the vehicles of tourist transgressors. This proposed heavy engineering solution has a history of National representatives from Don Page to Ben Franklin ‘driving’ an environmentally destructive and expensive solution to Byron’s traffic woes.
If I am swimming against a tide of ‘righteous progress’ let me know ([email protected]). As a former Green elected representative at state level I side with existing businesses, affected communities and want creative solutions. Not the Mercato with its 321 underground carparks sucking in potentially thousands of cars per day with parking rotation which should flog any prospect of ‘traffic improvement’.
Environmental destruction, loss of residential amenity, the travesty of Biobanking, often trading already protected areas or inferior sites, are issues paramount to me as a Green. Contact councillors urgently as contracts to commence work are to be imminently signed.
And who was the political group that spoke of running a light rail tram system down the corridor? They must support putting in a huge rock wall between First Sun Caravan Park and Kendall St for its protection . Critical infrastructure within a coastal erosion zone will require this rock wall before a government will spends millions installing light rail trams or even heavy rail commuter trains .
Cause between a rock and a green place.
Spell check fix – Caught between a rock and green place .
Nor is the much-vaunted sacred bypass even a solution to Byron’s traffic woes….. how can it be when it just changes the location of the gridlock and bottlenecks ?
And at what cost? Look at what is being lost.