A number of locals have approached The Echo raising issues concerned with intimidation and filming on Crown and public land near the Wallum site in Brunswick Heads.
A Save Wallum spokesperson confirmed with The Echo that they had also been contacted by women who felt intimidated by Clarence Property security personnel, while they were either creating a sacred fire or accessing the public land.
At least two people have been arrested or fined by the police. One person who was arrested and fined told The Echo they are not sure they were on Clarence Property land, as they believed they were on the public Crown road and the neighbouring property which they have verbal permission to be on. They have since looked at maps and believe they have been wrongfully fined and will challenge the fine.
‘There was no identifying bunting or fencing that identified this area as Clarence Property and I believed that I was on either Crown land or the neighbour’s property,’ they told The Echo.
‘Since then I have investigated the maps and still don’t believe I was on Clarence Property land.’
Byron Shire Mayor, Sarah Ndiaye, confirmed that she had been contacted by multiple people, ‘particularly women, feeling intimidated by the security at Wallum,’ she told The Echo.
Mayor calls for calm
‘I visited on Saturday, 19 September with my partner and found security ever-present but kind and non-confrontational. When I returned the following Saturday after being contacted multiple times by people there, the mood was very different. The three women staying there reported that male security had walked into their tents and told them they would be dismantled.
‘I spoke with police, and later directly with security. Police were professional throughout and doing their best to navigate a tricky situation. Security, on this day, was different. My concern was with the conduct of one particular security guard, whom I found provocative and antagonistic. That is not the standard I expect, and it is not what I had seen the week before.
‘I raised this directly with Clarence Property and highlighted this to the police present on the day. I understand everyone is under pressure, and calm and respect from all sides is the only thing that will help.
‘There are genuine efforts going on behind the scenes, and the work is not over. Legal action is still in play, and some people are negotiating directly with Clarence for better environmental and social outcomes, like saving the Grandmother Tree at a bare minimum, and hopefully others. The hope is still to save as much habitat as possible’, she said.
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