In response to Bruce Robinson‘s letter regarding the Chincogan Charge. As everyone is aware we had the Chinny Charge last week which was a combined effort bought to you by the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce and the community who have worked together to bring back the event each year since 2017. After speaking to a lot of locals it is clear that the Chinny Charge has always had an entrance fee, even when it was run in conjunction with the Chincogan Fiesta.
This year we had Douglas Graydon on the start line holding the ribbon for both the start and finish.
Our mountain is part of our community and it is rewarding as a community to bring this event to town once a year. We have a lot of different groups volunteer each year to ensure this event can go ahead. These include our local fire station house 388 who take care of everyone on the mountain. There are many others, mainly business owners – even Aslan from The Echo was helping with traffic control – who give up their time voluntarily for an afternoon of enjoyment.
I wished to say a big thank you to Byron Shire Council who had us ready to go by the end of May, they were very fast with getting the approvals done. Yes we do charge but these days there are significant costs to putting on an event like this including insurance and road traffic plans – which are all there to keep us safe. At the end of the day all the money raised is given back to the community, for example the Mullum Show and the Mullum Sculpture Park, donations to the Mullumbimby District Neighbourhood Centre programs and events, and Carols by Candlelight – just to name a few recipients.
Thank you all for another successful event I hope you enjoyed it as we all did.
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. 
