What will the sales pitch be to sell off new subdivisions within the Byron Shire? The beaches, tree-lined avenues? Close to Gold Coast airport?
The reality truly is decades of neglect to upgrade or maintain essential infrastructure. Threat of the highest rate base in Australia. Uninsurable property. Lack of necessary facilities such as shopping centres, schools, footpaths, no surgery in hospital, lack of public transportation. Collapsing stormwater systems undermining roads you access to your home. Honestly there needs to be a warning sign.
My ongoing appeal to Council is to get Bayside Brunswick Heads stormwater system, that has been allowed to literally collapse, fixed. I’ve received no answer about when it may be fixed, which has turned out to be just the beginning of discovery that shire-wide there is disintegration of our most essential infrastructures.
Ignoring the fact that to follow legislation would prevent this disastrous, catastrophic situation. Leaving existing ratepayers high and dry – bled dry. Developers need a conscience. Council needs a conscience. How is this safety and health issue ever going to be addressed? Government departments send it back to Council and Council somehow gets to ignore it. On and on it goes whilst real estate agents sell it off to the next unsuspecting buyers. This has to stop, it’s not our fault Council has passed subdivisions with existing substandard infrastructure.
Council has not maintained or upgraded essential infrastructure for decades. Council just ignores the ongoing failures but continues to pass more development when the underlying issues just won’t improve but exacerbate the problem.
Asking existing residents to fund an infrastructure nightmare is not going to happen. We just don’t have the money. To continue to suck more unsuspecting people into becoming part of this mess is unconscionable. Wrong on every level.
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. 
