It certainly is an odd thing – if true – that the Byron Business Chamber was denied a seat at Council’s Business and Industry Committee.
Was that the case?
In April 27, 2023, The Echo reported that Council staff claimed that the business committee struggled to attract members.
As result, a senior staff member said at the time that Council reverted to holding the meetings without outside input.
Instead, staff, and councillors just talked among themselves at the Business and Industry Committee meeting.
How riveting!
This perhaps neatly sums up the way in which the previous mayor did business.
Thankfully, we have moved on.
Engage me, baby
Now is an opportune time for a refresh, under somewhat new management, with bold new ideas and vigour.
So let’s Make Byron Great Again, and shake off all the poor decisions from the past with a shake of the smudge stick.
Council is the biggest employer in the Shire, running on the biggest budget. As such, it affects livelihoods and our shared prosperity.
So, it would be expected that communication and engagement by our local overlord will be at the forefront.
Thankfully, there is a draft Community Engagement Strategy now open for comment.
It’s a 29-page document that professes to take the community’s views seriously, yet like other ‘strategic documents’, it appears like a tick and flick requirement by the state government.
The process by which feedback influences policy, for example, is optional. Page 25 says, ‘Where relevant and possible, [community input and feedback] is reflected in reports for the consideration of Council and in final documents, strategies, and proposals’.
Engaging with the unwashed masses is just one aspect of what is an enormous and important job as a councillor. If the newbies can navigate and improve word salad ‘strategic documents’, created by highly paid, unaccountable consultants, then it’s at least a start.
What’s an advisory committee?
- They are voluntary positions to advise Council (councillors and staff) around finance, floodplains, arts, and traffic matters, for example.
- There are ten advisory committees listed on Council’s website, down from 16 in the previous term.
- New members are now being sought for eight advisory committees as well as the Byron Masterplan Guidance Group.
- To get involved visit: www.byron.nsw.gov.au
Hans Lovejoy, editor
News tips are welcome: [email protected]
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. 
