With residents still mopping up and renovating from floods, councillors assembled in a room last Thursday to thrash out agendas, motions, staff recommendations and reports. Yes, the wheels of progress grind onwards, while running roughshod over the Shire’s ever-increasing potholes.
It’s still early on in their term, so how are they doing?
Plans for a Natural Burial Ground at Vallances Road will progress, after staff identified traffic constraints that will need addressing. A feasibility report, including a survey, concept design and costing will be presented to Council by September.
A Byron Shire Mayoral Flood Recovery Appeal Fund will be established, after it got councillor support. Cr Mark Swivel’s motion asks that the fund be overseen by a ‘committee of three made up of the General Manager, the Mayor and an eminent community member’.
A long-winded motion by Labor’s Asren Pugh says, ‘Thank you to staff and community’ for the ongoing flood recovery efforts.
It recognises that climate change fuelled flooding had an immense impact on this, and neighbouring communities.
Additionally, a ‘report [will] be provided to Council with options for holding an appropriate thank you and recognition day in the future to bring the community together and acknowledge the community effort in the emergency response and the recovery effort’.
Moving on – it’s worth looking closer at how councillors debated and voted on a fine a woman received after she had painted her house a colour that didn’t match Mullum’s heritage regulations. See page 7.
There’s a Michael Leunig cartoon for this moment: A man gets hauled away by police from his colourful house, while the rest of his suburb is awash in drab grey.
Imagine if the unwashed masses suddenly wanted to be colourful? In the rainbow region, of all places?
The absurdity of Council’s position appeared completely lost on the councillors who voted to uphold the fine. They were Asren Pugh (Labor), and Independents Mark Swivel, Alan Hunter, Peter Westheimer and Cate Coorey.
Not all laws are good. In fact, many are terrible.
Kerry Packer once pointed out in a parliamentary inquiry that bad laws are generally not removed, they just keep getting added to the pile.
The message the councillors just delivered to the community was that if you pay Council money, you can bend the rules and keep your colourful home. And that Council is okay with fining one person for one thing, while ignoring others who do the same.
The other message is that councillors appear uninterested in improving heritage provisions, as outlined in Mullumbimby’s development control plan (DCP).
Was this a good use of compliance resources, given the 2022 Compliance Priorities Program lists ‘Development or activities without consent’ as a ‘medium priority’?
Are these councillors concerned that they are undermining public trust so early in their term?
Come on councillors – please aim to represent the community by improving policy rather than repeating staff talking points.
And if it’s needed, there are plenty of workshops available to help you resist the inner urge to act like tinpot tyrants.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Cr Sama Balson did not vote to uphold the fine.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
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