13.8 C
Byron Shire
August 29, 2026

A deathly success

Latest News

How can we keep paying for incompetence

The only way forward is going backwards. That’s how I explain the current situation of Byron Shire Council. The...

Other News

Mullum Gold Club charity day Saturday

This Saturday, 29 August  the Mullumbimby Golf Club (MGC) is hosting its rescheduled MND (Motor Neurone Disease) Charity Day in honour of Steve Ryan.

Two rescues in one day

Last Friday, Queensland Government Air (QGAir) Rescue 500 was tasked with two separate search and rescues in Tallebudgera Valley.

Byron Writers Fest

Like everyone else, I am still bathing in the warm inner glow and sanctuary of being surrounded by like-minded...

Mullum water investigation comes with $322,000-plus price tag

Byron Council faces a bill of at least $322,000 to complete the next stage of its long-running investigation into Mullumbimby’s future water supply, as it simultaneously prepares the ground for a possible 35 per cent increase in general rates.

Tweed Shire Council update

Tweed Council's latest meeting included motions on solar panel recycling, free speech, financial sustainability and Clarrie Hall Dam.

Call to keep Bangalow Showgrounds in community hands

The Bangalow Park Trust, a volunteer community group that have successfully run the Bangalow Showgrounds since at least the 1950s, say they just want to get on with managing the showgrounds and don’t want Byron Shire Council to take over their role.

Paperbark Death Care and Funerals founder, Halie Halloran, with Jen Cassidy and Rebecca Cook. Photo Jeff ‘Still Breathing Since 1066’ Dawson

The annual Death & Dying Expo took place on Saturday at Mullumbimby Civic Memorial Hall and was a great success, drawing a large, engaged crowd from across the Northern Rivers.

Organised by The Dying Well, the free community event offered talks, workshops, and panels on end-of-life care, home funerals, and grief work. There were 25 regional exhibitors providing valuable resources and connections to services available.

Organiser, Chi Chi Menendez, thanked the community for embracing this important day, which opened space for meaningful conversations about death, dying and grief.

‘For those wanting to continue the dialogue, the next round of death conversations will take place on Saturday, July 5 at The Paddock Project, from 10am till 12pm. All welcome’.

For more information, visit www.thedyingwell.com.au.



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.

If you are a local business owner help us and in turn we help you. All The Echo asks for is advertising, not a free ride. It is every advert in The Echo and on www.echo.net.au, which creates the space for all the stories and coverage of community events, happenings and concerns.

If you are a reader you can become a sponsor of The Echo. Your support keeps the us independent.

Even a small one-off or regular donation from you will help keep the echo’s independent voice alive and strong.

Support Us

Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.

You're Wonderful, Thank you for supporting independent journalism in the Byron Shire

You’re supporting The Echo, thank you

Your contribution is keeping independent, local journalism alive in the Northern Rivers.

Because of supporters like you, we can keep every story free for everyone — no paywall, no exceptions. Your money goes directly to funding our newsroom of 40-odd local workers covering the stories that matter to this community.

Tell us what you think, give us your opinion

The Echo loves your letters and comments and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, email us your epistles at editor@echo.net.au.

The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and telephone number.

Online comments are no longer available.

Greens urged to back pathway to end native forest logging

Some of NSW’s most respected and long-standing forest campaigners and scientists have today urged the Greens not to support the Nationals' attempt to disallow the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) method.

Ballina Council makes decision on Ross Lane

With the absence of all four of its progressive councillors for various reasons, Ballina Council pushed ahead with its agenda at yesterday's monthly meeting, including a decision which is likely to close Ross Lane for months while the road is upgraded.

Mullumbimby puts new governance models first, and now wants to build it

Imagine Northern Rivers says Mullumbimby is the only community across the region to rank new models of governance and decision-making as the number one element of its preferred future, and last week locals gathered to work out how to make it real.

Appeal to locate man missing from Broadwater

Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate a local missing man.