Adrian Gattenhof, Mullumbimby
I am appalled by Council’s arrogant invasion of Main Arm. Do they not realise Council’s writ stops short of the vociferously defended Coopers Lane Line? So to help stiffen the sinews of the hill tribe sans-culottes, I offer a Main Arm Marseillaise. All together now, sing it loud and sing it proud!
‘We don’t want your regulations/ We don’t want your plan controls/
We don’t want your house inspections –/ Hey – Council – leave Main Arm alone! Hey – Council – leave Main Arm alone!’
Around 15 years ago Council extended the garbage collection service into the hinterland, including Main Arm. It meant residents there would have to pay the garbage rate, like the rest of us. There was an outcry. Dumping rubbish in town bins – or beside roads – was cheaper. Town bins overflowed with domestic rubbish. Some still dump in town.
Where someone lives in an unapproved house but has no other unapproved dwelling on their property, Council should be conciliatory. But the proliferation of unapproved second and third rental dwellings warrants vigorous compliance enforcement. The owners pay just one rural rate and dodge the shared responsibility to contribute to our overloaded infrastructure.
Council should at least find a way to set rates according to the number of dwellings. If Council always chickens out, freeloaders develop an understandable sense of entitlement. Any challenge is met with souffled outrage.
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. 
