Driving along, radio on, I hear an announcement from Mayor Michael Lyon stating he is planning an open day for residents of northern Byron Shire – New Brighton, South Golden Beach and North Ocean Shores.
His statement was that he has heard that this part of our shire feels neglected. Michael wishes to give an opportunity for these residents to relay their thoughts for the future of their region, and to allow them the opportunity to let him know re ongoing infrastructural problems. Here goes another talk fest.
My issue with this pork-barreling lead up to election is that this long-serving mayor should already have a handle on the many issues and problems of these areas.
Ongoing issues with stormwater and sewerage in my opinion have been made public for decades with nothing ever done by Council.
Perhaps he is trying to make a good impression on the many new residents but us long-term residents of the shire are overwhelmed with the ongoing infrastructure issues and the fact that there has been no upgrade in connectivity of footpaths or cycleways, let alone fixing up the failed stormwater infrastructure and overflow of sewage.
How can it be that our mayor needs to be informed all over again and again?
Community has been screaming out about the consistent upgrades to the golden goose Byron Bay, while nothing is done to meet the needs of other locations that exist and are a large part of the Byron Shire.
Yep, sounds very much like pork-barreling to me – maybe scraping the bottom of the barrel! Let’s look at what we have got from this mayor and our council. The biggest problem was: ‘no emergency plan in place when we had the big flood’. Yes, left to organise ourselves.
Then there is the affordable housing plan that has failed to meet residents’ needs – and we are expecting to lose a much-needed car park and public toilet facilities to accommodate Council workers in another so-called affordable housing scheme. The atrocious placement of the pods. The proposals to build on flood-prone land.
I believe that Michael Lyon has had his go and it has been not too impressive by my book. Sorry, but no thanks.
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. 
