If the proposed ‘affordable’ housing development is ever built on the car park at 57 Station Street, Mullumbimby it will serve as a sad reminder how councils can seriously disrupt communities and businesses to just save face.
The site has always been the wrong car park, and for Byron Shire Council (BSC) to support it and recommend its approval is shameful. It should come as no surprise that trust and confidence in local government is evaporating when decisions like this do not take into account overwhelming community opposition.
Now the DA has been approved by the NRPP [Northern Rivers Planning Panel], subject to certain conditions, we have the prospect of a larger alternative site, originally considered by BSC as suitable for affordable housing, being turned into a car park. The area north of Woolworths, identified by the Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA), as the only site meeting the conditions imposed by NRPP for a replacement car park, would allow for many more dwellings at a considerably lower build cost. It’s also reasonable to assume it would inflict considerably less impact on the CBD during construction, thus having a greater chance of community support. Despite these compelling reasons it was considered a less suitable site for housing by BSC than the car park at 57 Station Street.
That, seemingly illogical, turn of events now presents the community with the prospect of the 24-hour accessible, heritage-listed toilet at 57 Station Street being replaced with temporary ‘portaloos’ as proposed by our Council. The location has not been disclosed and installation is not specified as a condition by the NRPP, i.e. there is no certainty they will ever materialise.
It was asserted by one speaker during the online meeting with the NRPP on Monday, 19 October, that if BSC’s objective was to cause maximum disruption, chaos and negative economic impact to Mullumbimby then building an inappropriately-oversized three-storey block of apartments at 57 Station Street was the perfect way to achieve it.
The prospect of all those things is now a reality and it should never have reached this point. It’s worth noting, once again, that ratepayers will be expected to foot the bill for the replacement toilets and the replacement car park – overall it’s a ‘lose-lose proposition’ for us all. To add insult to injury it’s been reported Council sold the car park for $1 while we will be burdened with a bill likely to be in excess of $1m for a replacement car park and toilets. How could that be considered a good deal by anyone?
Sadly, all too late, some councillors came to the realisation the project was ill-conceived and inappropriate, but a slim majority chose to keep supporting a seriously-flawed concept just to save face!
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. 
