In relation to The Echo’s front page last week on the future of Byron Bay Golf Club. It is rather unfortunate that a member of that club feels that the fees are too high for the common person. Everything in Byron Bay has gone up, just like the cost of everything else.
So why has this happened? Australia has too many people, the population is expanding far too quick. There have been nearly 400,000 arrive from January last year to August this year, nearly 500,000 by the end of this year.
The Labor government is allowing this to happen. There is a mixture of people in Byron Bay like all clubs have, just to move to Myocum would not make much difference. This land was given to the people of Byron Bay back in 1957. It started out as a nine-hole course, the old house on the property was used for the clubhouse for many years.
My husband was an instigator to borrow money to extend the course to 18 holes. Later on Mr Ken Tough built the new clubhouse to the exact amount of funds the club had available. In recent years the club made an offer to the then owner of Byron at Byron to take their excess water for the club to use. A new dam was created and resident golfer Mark Wilson redesigned several holes to accommodate this. In return, Gerry Harvey supplied thousands of trees along the fence line. To sell this beautiful club now would be a huge mistake, just for housing, because the Labor Party has increased the population.
To describe a common person: that means to show a lack of taste, education, and good manners, vulgar, low, inferior and coarse. I hope the person who describes the members who find the fees too high understands what that means.
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. 
