Paul Bibby
Byron Bay’s ‘Disco Dong’ may be no more than a distant and (for some at least) slightly humorous memory, but the sculpture’s legacy is set to live on.
Late last year the Council decided to sell the thousands of metal birds used in the construction of the shiny protrusion and put the money to a good cause.
At yesterday’s full Byron Council meeting it was revealed that every single bird had been sold, raising nearly $27,000.
It’s not quite enough to recoup the $55,000 spent on the sculpture.
However, the proceeds are set to be put to good use, with council allocating half of the money to devising an arts and cultural policy, and the other half to local homelessness services.
‘This is still a matter which is quite, ah, tender for me,’ Byron Mayor Simon Richardson said.
‘But I think we’ve ultimately responded well to what was a community contention and arguably we ended this process better than when we started.’
Labor Cr Jan Hackett disagreed.
She moved an alternative motion seeking to have the entire $26,948 used for the development of an arts and cultural policy.
‘We were embarrassed in front of the community because we didn’t have the background, the expert advice and the supporting policies needed,’ Cr Hackett said.
‘Having corrected that mistake, I can’t see why the money we’ve got out of the sale of the birds shouldn’t go into that big black hole of the arts.’
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