I was dismayed to read that councillors have again approved what must be another fateful decision on the future of this town as a congenial place to live.
It seems to me that you either have rules and regulations, or you do not. The alternative must be seen as open slather or Rafferty’s rules. Frankly, I have lost all respect for the governments of this country, including local councils.
No weasel words from certain members of Council can paste over what is going down; the further exploitation of Byron Bay by greedy opportunists. Who benefits really? We know that answer.
It is like other things placed in the ‘too hard’ basket, like rotten eggs. The bylaw that prohibited the riding of skateboards in the CBD, which has simply not been enforced, that I know of, for years. They have been permitted to become both a pedestrian and a traffic hazard.
To paraphrase the old Beach Boys’ classic: ‘Where did your magic go?/ Where is the place I used to know/ They say you’ve changed and, boy, that’s so – Oh, Byron Bay, No!’ etc. (Homage to Brian Wilson’s and Tony Asher’s Pet Sounds).
I reiterate Hamlet’s disgust – something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And I don’t mean Denmark; and neither did Shakespeare.
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. 
