Name withheld
In the 1970s Byron Council made their first attack on the alternative (hippy) newcomers to Main Arm who had built dwellings with little money. They were saved by hippy-friendly Councillor Frank Mills who, whilst agreeing to Council’s policy to purge the new dwellings, said first attention should be paid to the illegal cabins, garages and sheds and understorey flats in Byron Bay itself. The purge fizzled out.
Roll on to the 1990s and Greens Mayor, Tom Wilson, and in 2010/11 Jan Barham had another go; both using an alleged septic tank inspection program as access to examine Main Arm properties. These programs was alleged to be about cleaning up the creek, and again only targeted Main Arm, but it too fizzled out when it was seen that the hippies didn’t live near the creek, but the cows did; pooing all day long into the stream
Now it’s the 2020s and Main Arm is again singled out. A flood of show cause letters have been sent, but only to Main Arm’s owners of allegedly unapproved dwellings – and an illegal drone has been spotted – will this too fizzle out when the Murdoch press runs headlines ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREENEST COUNCIL CLEANSES POORER RESIDENTS OF BYRON SHIRE WITH EVICTIONS’?
We would prefer some help with provision of affordable lodgings.
