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November 7, 2026

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Third person dies after Suffolk Park crash

A 70-year-old woman has died in hospital after a three-vehicle crash at Suffolk Park last weekend, bringing the death toll to three.

Other News

I’m not a robot

In the microseconds it takes AI agents to tick the ‘I’m not a robot’ checkbox, do they have a...

Cinema: 500 Miles

Is it even possible to not love a film with Bill Nighy? Well, no! In this beautiful, sweeping and life-affirming adventure that celebrates the human spirit, 500 Miles follows a broken family that must come together when two young boys, Charlie and Finn, run away from home in England to reach their beloved but estranged grandfather (Nighy) on the west coast of Ireland.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Don’t scrape

The arts are an essential industry. We need artists as much as we need accountants. We need dancers as much as we need doctors. We need comedians as much as we need civil engineers. We need filmmakers as much as we need financial planners. We need musicians as much as we need ministers.

Blacks Drain crossing fully reopens after $2.56 million rebuild

The Blacks Drain crossing on Tweed Valley Way at South Murwillumbah has fully reopened after a $2.56 million rebuild designed to reduce the risk of another washout.

On the brink: beach-nesting birds

Perched on the edge of the Brunswick River estuary, binoculars poised, Jan and I are searching for beach-nesting birds. It’s a magnificent morning in early spring and these birds are starting to build their nest scrapes in the sand.

‘Go-ahead’ not positive

So the NRPP unanimously approved the controversial 57 Station St development after more than 2,500 signatories were against it. Those...
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September 29, 2021

Byron Shire Echo issue 36.16 – September 29, 2021

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Local News | Comment | Letters | Articles | #supportlocal | Stars | The Good Life | Good Taste | Seven Entertainment | Soapbox | Cinema | Gig Guide | Echo Property | Property Business Directory | Service Directory | Crossword | Classifieds | Community at Work | Backlash
In this issue: Made Here Magazine
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In this Issue:

Byron CBD heights

Thanks to The Echo for reporting on page 2 last week, the vote 5/3 of Council to approve modification of a motel approval in Lawson Street.  The original approval allowed the building to exceed the area’s height limit, but it can now go...

Submarine blunder

Well chalk up another monumental policy failure by the rapidly decomposing Morrison government. This time the hollow man has managed to insult one of Australia’s longest serving allies, with his jingoistic nonsense. The brutal diplomatic snub with the sudden...

Nukes

While sitting at my worktable here in beautiful Mullumbimby I could hear children, probably four or five year olds, playing and singing and I thought ‘Oh, you poor little buggers, growing up in this world’. What with horrendous climate...

Chose wisely

This pro-developer vote to approve the breach of building height limits in Byron Bay was by Labor and Michael Lyon. Please do not vote for either in December.  Lyon has voted pro-developer on the current Council and will not stand...

AUKUS

What a powerful acronym for a formidable alliance. But shouldn’t it be in order of primacy with the junior member last? USUKA. If we buy into this war-mongering against our major trading partner, that’s the USA’s message to us, ‘you...

When will we heal?

I’ve been reflecting lately, on when Australia pulled together during the bushfires of the Black Summer 2019–20. People listened to the experts, most didn’t look stuff up on the internet and profess to know more than the RFS. There...

Something to stand up for

Dr Helen Caldicott’s sage perspective on Australia’s nuclear-powered subs (22 September) was a searing reality check of how democracies can suffer from the insanity of the industrial-military, neo-liberal, white, patriarchal, theological, capitalist complex of ideologies, algorithms, and worldviews. As eminent...

AUKUS or USUKA?

Great letters from Robin Harrison, Hannah Grace and Gareth Smith on PM Scott Shyster’s war-mongering regime. He’s taken us across the event horizon into the terminal gravity of the Death Star. The awkward acronym clumsily disguises the hierarchy of...

CBD heights

The ongoing saga of the bullying push by developers to raise development heights in the CBD highlights that it ‘pays to be pushy’. This is how crony politics works. However, the law of consequences always reveals the genesis of...

Get on board!

Society works, so get on board. Stop the bullshit, here are the real facts. Society works – there are only two police on duty in Mullum, Bruns and Ocean Shores at any one time. We don’t need the police on...

Efficacy of AZ vaccine

In his letter (22 September) Bill Ashford states incorrectly that the AstraZeneca vaccine has an effectiveness of only 64 per cent. In a real life study in England of 156,930 adults aged 70 and over published recently in the...

Raising of CBD height approval

I was dismayed to read that councillors have again approved what must be another fateful decision on the future of this town as a congenial place to live. It seems to me that you either have rules and regulations, or...

Poor Mandy

What happened to Mandy Nolans’ column? It used to be outrageously funny and I’d be rolling on the floor laughing. Now (when I don’t flick past it) it’s just bad puns full of scorn.    She’s either taking the piss...

Get me out of here

Who’s been naughty? Who caused Byron Shire to go into lockdown? We hear about the naughty film crew member who visited non-essential venues on her visit to Byron Bay. She didn’t comply with her permit conditions. Yes, naughty. What permit?...

Lindy’s latest sculpture goes national

Coorabell artist Lindy Lee is about to create a huge sculpture for the National Gallery of Australia. The piece, Ouroboros, is her first immersive public sculpture.

Govt polarises community over mandatory vax

A local teacher, who cannot be named owing to onerous laws that prevent NSW government workers from speaking publicly, has raised their concerns over the looming November 8 deadline by the NSW government requiring all education and care workers to be vaccinated.

Developer pleads for fee reduction in Byron Shire

Locals could be forgiven for scoffing at the idea of a cashed-up property developer asking for fee relief from Byron Council to help boost his profit margin.

Editorial: Convictions make you convict

On Monday, cartoonist Michael Leunig became the latest victim of cancel culture.

Fugitive caught after OS crash

An accident on the Orana Rd roundabout at Ocean Shores last Friday quickly turned into a manhunt after a fugitive crashed a stolen car into another.

Correcting Dr Tim Devine

Dr Tim Devine makes several impassioned statements in his letter (September 8) about COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccinating children. I am certain that his arguments are well intended and heartfelt. But they contain substantial inaccuracies. He is writing with the...

Auntie Dulcie

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Local Elder, Auntie Dulcie Nicholls, (nee Kay). As Deputy Mayor of Byron Shire Council and Chair of the Arakwal MoU Committee, I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to her...

Forest for the trees

I’ve heard a lot of criticism (even hostility) over the years from people disdainful of ‘the mainstream’ and, in particular, mainstream medicine. People who routinely complain about ‘the system’ in general, or any public service. Yet I wonder how such...

Citizen frogs

Living in a biodiversity hotspot brings with it great joy for humans with opportunities to experience connection with nature.  I love frogs, they are beautiful creatures, and living with green tree frogs in our environment is a delight. So hearing...

A COVID summer: Limited vaccines and unhurried leadership leave Byron exposed

Lack of vaccines is responsible for low vaccination rate, not vaccine hesitancy. The impending lifting of the Sydney lockdown threatens people's health in the Northern Rivers and may lead to the region’s hospital capacity being overrun.

Teacher shortage sparks campaign

Overseas and interstate STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers will be the target of a new campaign to boost teacher numbers in NSW public schools.

NSW commits $3 million for Saddle Road sewer link

The NSW Government will spend $3 million on a sewer link for the Saddle Road housing precinct near Brunswick Heads, a connection it says could service up to 600 residential lots.

Blacks Drain crossing fully reopens after $2.56 million rebuild

The Blacks Drain crossing on Tweed Valley Way at South Murwillumbah has fully reopened after a $2.56 million rebuild designed to reduce the risk of another washout.

From Spinifex Country to Lismore for a $23,000 art prize

In Michelle Anderson’s Kanpala, circles of red, orange and yellow bring a place in Western Australia’s Spinifex Country into view. It’s a place she returns to often in paint: Kanpa, the Country where her grandmother was born.

Work starts on eight-lane athletics track in Lismore

Construction has begun on an eight-lane athletics track at Southern Cross University’s Lismore campus, giving Northern Rivers schools and clubs a competition-standard venue closer to home when it opens in mid-2027.