Cherie Heale, Brunswick Heads
Why does mayor Simon Richardson seem like the sole voice advocating paid parking in Brunswick Heads?
Didn’t he hear us the first time around?
Thousands of dollars are spent on ‘communicating’ with locals in the name of transparency, and on reports he doesn’t appear to read… because when a clear ‘no’ is on the agenda, somehow it is not ‘heard’.
Simon says, ‘Let’s grab a couple of bucks from our visitors so we can fix the toilets’.
Simon Says, ‘the businesses can suck it up’.
Simon says, ‘residents can just ride their bikes or walk to work’. Which would be great unless you live elsewhere in the Shire I guess.
Simon says, ‘that the millions coming from paid parking in Byron is “not enough” to do anything about the issues’. Well what is ‘enough’ and when will it ever be?
Simon also says that ‘Simple Pleasures is dead’ and herein lies the problem. The real cost for Bruns is simple… our ‘simple pleasures’ – there’s no time to hang at the beach with our fish and chips, even with a sticker.
Our businesses providejobs which, believe it or not, we all need. Jobs for locals and jobs for teenagers so they can actually stay in their hometown would be lost and the looming spectre of ugly meters creeping farther up the street until not even our own friends can come visit without having to pay.
It’s easy to say, ‘well at least I can get a park outside the post office whenever I want’ but at what cost?
I really just don’t get it but the lyrics to the Beatles song comes to mind…
‘If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street/If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat/If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat/If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet’.
Leave Bruns alone.
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. 
