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June 5, 2026

Latest News

Marooned yacht on rocks near Ballina

A local photographer has shot a marooned yacht at Flat Rock, in Ballina Shire. It's the second boat to be washed ashore in recent months

Other News

Kyogle Council encourages making contact before starting development

"Planning a development? Contact Council before you start" – that's the message from Kyogle Council around building and construction.

Norths desert Bangalow Bowlo… again

Eight Bangalow community members attended Norths AGM on Monday, 25 May, to seek answers about the future of Bangalow Bowlo, but received no meaningful engagement, with their concerns merely ‘noted’.

Fund set up to help Chase Goldstraw’s family after tragedy

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family of a young father recently killed in a truck accident in Tweed Heads.

Council tightens ‘affordable housing’ rules

Byron Council has tightened its definition of ‘affordable housing’ in a bid to make access to housing more equitable on major projects like the former Mullumbimby Hospital site and 57 Station Street.

Potholes 

As a relatively regular visitor to this area I was astounded, on trips to Byron Bay, at the number...

Murwillumbah biz networking breakfast cancelled

Join the Murwillumbah business community for their June Business Murwillumbah Networking Breakfast, to be held at at Crystal Creek Estate.

September 14, 2022

Byron Shire Echo issue 37.14 – September 14, 2022

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Local News | Comment | Letters | Articles | Chinny Charge | Bangalow Billycart Derby | Good Taste | The Good Life | Soapbox | Crossword | Stars | The Scoop | Seven Entertainment | Cinema | Gig Guide | Echo Property | Property Business Directory | Service Directory | Classifieds | Community at Work | Sporty McSportface | Backlash

In this Issue:

GG, Bob Carr, and Morrison

Back page note (7 September) from Bob Carr that the Governor-General (GG) got $18m from Morrison at the same time as the secret signing in by the GG of Morrison’s multiple ministries is intriguing, if shocking.  We need more. Essential...

West Byron flooding

All east coast communities are now daily regularly warned by the ABC radio/TV, by the Bureau of Meteorology, to prepare for flooding. The flooding that just occurred earlier in the year has left social/ecological trauma and homelessness as La...

Odd row of lights

Just following up the letter from Sarah Smith in the August 31 issue. It was a Starlink satellite train. My webcam captured the scene. Michael Bath, McLeans Ridges 

Frustrated train support

I gather Mr Clitheroe (comments on The Echo online: www.echo.net.au/rail-trail-option-to-be-explored) was present at Murwillumbah Railway Station on 24 September taking photos to put on Facebook gloating at how few attended the music function. This is his way of so-called...

Rail trail concerns 

People are astonished that Byron Shire Councillors have voted to spend ratepayers’ resources exploring the rail trail option on the Byron Shire section of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line,  as they believe the State government isn’t going to...

Questioning Council

Regarding Hans Lovejoy’s article regarding Council ‘needing to get a spine and represent the community for a change’ and ‘Shouldn’t councillors question poor policy and intervene in operational matters (in the exercise of Council’s regulatory functions) when it is...

Paying insurance

Across the Shire, landholders of flood-affected premises are reconsidering their future and doing their best to make good on damage to residential and commercial premises. It’s hard work. It may include fighting an insurance company for a correct payout.  There...

Editorial – Just quietly, Govcorp is doing very, very well, at...

Gosh, the one per cent are having a field day, aren’t they?

Brian’s kite surf odyssey gets Guinness listed

Ocean Shores resident, Brian Kiss von Soly, has just been formally recognised by Guinness World Records for completing the longest solo kite surf journey by a male.

Independent review of Splendour sought

Byron Council is calling on the NSW Planning Minister to initiate an independent review of the Splendour in the Grass festival, following the serious issues that occurred at this year’s event.

Betrayed by Byron Council

Regarding short-term holiday rentals – residents of Alcorn Street in Suffolk Park have a right to feel betrayed by Byron Shire Council’s recommendation to allow short-term holiday rentals for 365 days/year. According to their language, we are a ‘precinct...

Short term rental accommodation policy for Byron Council Q&A

With Council’s short term rental accommodation (STRA) policy on exhibition until October 31, The Echo asked how it will work. 

Cute cults and odd isms

Cults are almost as common as potholes, flowing among the Northern Rivers of NSW. They range from the benign to the malignant to the downright silly.

Rural housing rules eased

Those living on rural Community Title properties will be able to use their land for secondary dwellings and dual occupancies, after Byron Council amended the planning rules at its last meeting.

Down the gurgler

Council’s guiding Community/Social/Environment Policy of ‘Going down the Gurgler’ is going well. The hard-fought No Club Med and subsequent Becton campaigns, to retain a socially acceptable, environmentally responsive development on the now Elements land, were given the boot by...

Rupert forever!

Interesting to read David Lovejoy’s editorial Gerontocracy rules, okay? and contemplate the worse than apocalyptic prospect of an immortal Rupert.  For more on the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots and the god-like aspirations of the former I commend...

A time to remember – who’s reality

May I correct Damian Kassabgi’s account of the events of 11 September 1973 when Salvador Allende was overthrown. Allende, while himself not a Communist, was certainly a ‘useful fool’ (in Lenin’s phrase) of his Communist partners in their election...

Rebuilding for the next flood

Mullum Cares founder and president, Sasha Mainsbridge, opened her home last week to demonstrate how to effectively rebuild for future flood events.

Brunswick Heads residents told to expect temp housing

Questions remain unanswered and handballed while secrecy still surrounds Council’s negotiations with Resilience NSW over plans to create housing for 180 people affected by flooding in Brunswick Heads. 

Betrayed by Council Regarding short-term holiday rentals – residents of Alcorn Street in Suffolk Park have a right to feel betrayed by Byron Shire Council’s recommendation to allow short-term holiday rentals for 365 days/year. According to their language, we are...

Cartoon of the week – 14 September 2022

The Echo loves your letters 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, send us your epistles.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: The Last Queen

The Queen is dead. Surprisingly it’s no surprise. She was 96. An age colonised Indigenous women will never reach. The Queen never had to worry about ACAT assessments. Or super. She didn’t have her family choose a nursing home....

The Honey Wagon

Garry Rodgers may be a man of nine lives. He’s already been through two, having died twice, once in the States and the second time doing what he now does best, moving his bees from Lennox Head back to Newrybar and getting stung in the process. ‘I get stung all the time,’ he says with the philosophy of a man who’s stared death in the face. This time, however, he went into anaphylactic shock and was rushed to hospital to be resuscitated.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

A Djinn in a bottle Alithea Binnie is a lonely British scholar who occasionally suffers from bizarre hallucinations of demonic beings. During a trip to Istanbul, Alithea purchases an antique bottle from which she accidentally unleashes a Djinn that was trapped within it. The Djinn offers to...

Native food pioneer: 20 years at Byron Farmers Market

Local farmer Anthony Hotson is considered a pioneer of native food in the Northern Rivers. When the former arts student made a career change back in 1995 and become a farmer, he decided to follow a less trodden path.

Echo celebrates 40 with awards night tomorrow

Tickets are selling fast! Come join a fun-filled night of community celebration – This Saturday (tomorrow) The Echo is set to mark its 40th year in style with a ’30s swing-era style party and community awards night featuring the dynamic sounds of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.

Author Tristan Bancks follows up with Two Wolves sequel

Local author Tristan Bancks launched his new book for readers 10+, Raised By Wolves, at Byron Book Room last night (Thursday 4 June).

Lismore City Council recognised for environmental leadership at LG awards

Lismore City Council has been recognised for outstanding achievement in environmental leadership, resilience and community infrastructure at the 2026 LG Professionals NSW Local Government Excellence Awards.

Byron Council’s Sandhills Wetlands project takes first place at LG awards

The Sandhills Wetland restoration project in Byron Bay has won another major award, with Byron Shire Council taking first place at the Local Government Professionals 2026 NSW Excellence Awards.