Following the revelation that Byron Shire Council (BSC) staff had not followed through on the Mayoral Minute (resolution 25-454 on 9 October) to extend working hours on Mullumbimby Road to six days a week the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce (MCC) sought an ‘urgent meeting’ to ‘express our very serious concern about the devastating impact of the roadworks on Mullumbimby businesses’.
This followed the closure of Uncle Tom’s at the intersection of Mullumbimby Road and Gulgan Road and other Mullumbimby businesses saying they have been facing a significant drop in customers and were struggling to stay open.
Uncle Tom’s co-owner Carol Brooker told The Echo that she has been left unimpressed at BSC’s response to their situation.
‘I have been trying to contact the Council for over two weeks. I have left multiple messages; I missed one call back and quickly returned the call to be told the staff member had left for the day. I am still waiting for a return call and my business has had to close and my partner and I unsure if we will be able to reopen.’
Speaking to The Echo Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said she was ‘very sad to hear about Uncle Tom’s closure – let’s hope it’s only temporary.’
‘The best support Council can offer right now is to get the roadworks completed as quickly as possible and we are on track to deliver,’ she said.
Reopening 24 November
Council told the MCC that they would be reopening to two-way traffic on 24 November and that they ‘will review the traffic control settings [traffic lights at Uncle Tom’s] to ensure signalling which better corresponds to times when workers are active on the road and those times when the worksite is inactive’.
Stage 3 works till December
However, they then came back and explained that there would still be stage 3 works to be completed from Kings Creek to James Street.
BSC Director Infrastructure Services, Phil Holloway, reiterated to The Echo that work on Mullumbimby Road was ahead of schedule.
‘If the good weather continues, we are looking at starting work on the seal of the road in the week beginning 17 November,’ he said.
‘This work will take around five days to finish and, if all goes well, this section of road could reopen to two-way traffic as early as 24 November. The main focus will then turn to heavy patching on the stretch of road from Kings Creek to James Street.’
‘Some of this work will be done at night and there is not expected to be any significant impact on traffic.
‘There will also be minor work done along Mullumbimby Road in December to finish the project, but after the seal goes down in November traffic movements will return to normal flow, and waiting times for drivers should be minimal.’
Mr Holloway explained that work hours at the site had been extended (to 7am to 6pm) according to the Mayoral Minute ‘but on some days the teams finish early for operational reasons’.
He said that Council teams would be working on Saturdays going forward but they would not be making up for missed Saturdays by working Sundays ‘because of staff numbers and fatigue management’.
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. 
