I grew up and live in Mullumbimby, and I know locals have a strong opinion about the Byron Shire Council. I had always given them the benefit of the doubt – as it’s not an easy job. But last week I changed my mind.
Our neighbour, Ray Musgrave, alerted us and other neighbours we’d be losing town water access on our properties. At first, I thought this was simply the Mullum rumour mill, but I called around at Council and found out it was true. Without any doorknocks, phone calls, or letters, we found out dozens of residents at the bottom of Wilsons Creek, including us, would lose town water access if Mullum is connected to Rous water.
While this decision has not been officially made by Council – yet – we all know it is the likely decision. I work in media and communications, sometimes as a consultant for state and federal government, and I’ll admit that tactics are sometimes a little underhanded, but, when it comes to infrastructure and impacting households like this, there would always be doorknocks to every home at a minimum in the communications plan. So, I’m simply shocked at these sneaky tactics by our local council.
Luckily, we have all been neighbours for decades or generations here and were able to quickly agree to work together to try and save our town water. Wish us luck!
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. 
