What a great letter by Sarah Brinkhege from Suffolk Park on the Mandy Nolan rant.
You would have thought we were past the ‘locals’ tag, but it appears not.
Mandy tips anything on Byron, then wants our vote, and amazingly people in Byron vote for her.
She is the classic local – comes from Queensland and lives in Mullumbimby and raves about being a local.
Almost no one in this town was born here!
As for tourists, it should not be ‘us against them’; we need the tourists. Without them, the Beach Hotel would still be a brick outhouse, a big night out would chicken nuggets and chips at the bowlo and Rockmans would be the premier store for the ladies. If you want the old days, I believe Boulia is great at the moment .
Thank you Sarah, and I hope to see you late arvo down the beach one day with my $10 cask and we can share.
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. 
