I attended the last Byron Council meeting in order to support a motion from Cr Duncan Dey.
Cr Dey questioned the costs of commissioning consultants and included as an example the recent Burchills railway corridor report.
I am part of a large group of locals working together towards running train services again in the Byron and Lismore shires. Accordingly, I was disturbed by the apparent lack of transparency in the choice of consultants to carry out the study.
At the meeting, in public access, I noted that Burchills has had previous experience with ‘rail trails’ (as backed up by the mayor, in defence of Byron Council’s choice of the company) but not experience with railways.
Burchills’ senior engineer had originally worked with Burchills years ago. They are known for their work supporting rail trails. He then got a job with Byron Council for six years. He then moved back to Burchills. Council then chose to award the commission to that company without, I believe, a public tendering process.
Their report stated that it was not feasible to have both trains and a bike trail within the railway corridor, north of Mullumbimby and west of Bangalow, and that a rail trail should take precedence.
Cr Dey noted that recent scrutiny at federal and state levels had resulted in disquiet at the number of consultants being employed, the ‘revolving door’ tendency, and costs to the taxpayer.
The question of conflict of interest and prejudiced decision-making really beg to be addressed when commissioning any consultant.
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. 
