I read with admiration and dismay the large number of articles and letters published in The Echo. Increasingly local residents are writing about Byron Shire Council. They express disgust, dismay, frustration, and even fury that Council has not engaged in legally-required community consultation when assessing controversial development applications.
It is an indisputable fact that the expertise within the community is far greater than that of Council staff and elected councillors, yet Council fails to listen to and learn from the community.
It appears that Council does not need to listen. In the event of legal action Council must consider who can best afford to take legal action in the event of an unfavourable determination. Invariably it is the developer. (In the case of Save Wallum and the Roundhouse development, the community were reliant on pro bono solicitors and barristers.)
Council claims its decisions are determined by the need to provide low-cost affordable homes for those who need them (not the homeless).
The NSW government has mandated a proliferation of new houses in the Shire. What is being provided for the most part are houses for the wealthy and great opportunities for property investment. An example is provided by the rapid expansion of Community Title (CT) developments across the hinterland where parcels of land can cost between one million and two million dollars alone.
So what can be done about this? (1) where there are legal grounds to do so, action can be taken against Council in the Land and Environment Court provided that there are the means to pursue the matter through the court system if necessary.
(2) A written submission to the planning minister where there is substantial evidence that Council has failed to follow due process.
I was successful in doing this with regard to the Keyes Gardens development in 2004. This also included failure to issue appropriate notice with regard to a land acquisition matter. It was sent back to Council.
(3) In some cases it may be necessary to appoint an administrator. Concerns have been heard loud and clear by the community but not Council. The community therefore needs to become proactive rather than reactive. Community expertise needs to be co-ordinated, and funds raised to ensure Council ‘serves’ the needs of the community at large and ‘protects’ the natural environment from further destruction.
Hilary Bone, Federal
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. 
