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Byron Shire
June 12, 2026

Latest News

Load limit increased for Byron Creek Bridge

The load limit for Byron Creek Bridge has been increased to 24 tonnes, say Byron Shire Council, following structural analysis of the bridge.

Other News

Eclectic Selection for the week beginning 10 June 2026

Eclectic Selection: What’s on this week is a taste of some of the events that can be found in the Byron Shire and beyond this coming week.

Lennox headland restoration works a success

Community members rolled up their sleeves last week for the 21st Lennox Head Community Tree Planting Day, which helped to continue more than two decades of restoration work on this iconic coastal landscape.

Wanted: citizen scientists to check on our creeks

The Richmond River upper catchment is currently sitting on a C- in the Richmond River Ecological Health Report Card. It's not a number we can accept without doing something about it.

Bombay to Byron: 12 years of modern Indian on Jonson Street

This June marks 12 years since Bombay to Byron first opened its doors on Jonson Street, and husband-and-wife team...

E-bikes rule

Teenage gangs on e-bikes now rule our roads at night in Byron Bay. Driving, or even walking, in the hours...

Climate action arts program announces 2026 recipients

Ingrained Foundation, together with co-founder of the Climate Action Arts Grant Program, Vicki Brooke, and delivery partner Arts Northern Rivers (ANR), are say they are delighted to announce the five recipients of the inaugural program.

February 19, 2025

Byron Shire Echo issue 39.37 – February 19, 2025

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Local News | Comment | Letters | Articles | Sport | Mullum on the Map | Good Taste | The Good Life | Health & Healing | Seven Entertainment | Gig Guide | Cinema | Soapbox | Crossword | Stars | Classifieds | Community at Work | Service Directory | Echo Property | Property Business Directory | Backlash

In this Issue:

Are traffic lights right for Suffolk Park?

Many people in the community have asked, how did we miss the plan for traffic lights for the Suffolk intersection? 

Short films take centre stage

The red carpet will be rolled out for Flickerfest’s travelling short film festival with the opening night party on February 27 at the Mullumbimby Civic Hall from 7pm.

Community battery to be investigated for Byron Shire

The establishment of a Community Battery Working Group was unanimously supported by Byron Shire councillors at their Thursday meeting, held last week.

Byron High student art makes exhibition cut 

Byron Bay High School’s 2024 graduates, Sophia St Honey Clair and Juniper Stockdale, have been selected for ARTEXPRESS 2025

Rous hit some customers with new fee

Residents have contacted The Echo concerned that water utility Rous are now slogging them with a $196 per annum fee for a ‘backflow device management charge’.

Where’s Justine?

With the issues raised at the end of her letter, I’d have to question the ‘no political agenda’ in Noelle Maxwell’s letter (February 12). Feros Care? – solved through the Labor councillor, Asren Pugh and the work of Mark Swivel,...

Congrats

Congratulations for publishing the December ‘Miss-Information’ front cover; I cannot think of any other paper that would print it, except The Light. The realism is amazing, a little scary. You should make a high-quality print, frame it and hang in your...

One state

It seems to me the only viable, legitimate, and lasting solution to the conflict in Palestine is one state, not two, with human rights and equality under the law for all its citizens. Perhaps Danny Wakil can explain why...

Identity

If you’re a Palestinian Muslim resident, whose family’s background is from Israel, I think you’d be safe, and you could be confident that you weren’t included as one of the Israelis who the Banksdown Hospital nurses said they’d kill....

Sam Kerr

I’d like to thank Catherine Cusack for giving us the correct information about soccer player Sam Kerr’s story. I hadn’t taken much notice of it at all, but I did spend the time and watched the video in the...

Food hub given oink of approval

A sprawling 33-acre property at 103 Yagers Lane, Skinners Shoot was once home to the largest piggery in the southern hemisphere.

Editorial – Punching down

Losing one’s home would perhaps the worst potential event for any individual or family, apart from inevitable death.

Necks planet

It is bewildering to aliens like me to see you humans wandering around destroying your climate as if it doesn’t matter. In particular it annoys me that there are so many cloudy wet days, due to the eight per cent...

Cycling

I read David Lowe’s article (December 31, 2024) about his cycling to Uluru. In 2024 I cycled from Cairo to Cape Town. There is another local couple who cycled across Africa in 2012. The rail trail has great potential for...

Life hack for surviving storms

During last night’s big storm, with flashes of fork n’ sheet lightning, crazy thunder and pelting rain, I noticed anxious feelings in my body. The house was literally rattling! Then I remembered a simple tip: deep-breath humming. So I began...

Support for Byron’s expectant mums

Few regions can boast that their expectant mothers have been given the guidance and care of an independent information service that has been running for over 30 years. 

Suffo traffic lights debate flares at Council 

The debate over Byron Council’s decision to install traffic lights at a notorious intersection in Suffolk Park flared again at last week’s Council meeting.

Blood money behind govt’s forest destruction 

In 2019 and 2020, NSW Forestry Corporation illegally clear-felled 14,440 square metres of mature native hardwood forest. Following a secret deal this illegal destruction kept secret from the public for five years...

HAJ

When my husband or I fail to finish a task, we affectionately call each other HAJ, an acronym for Half a Job. It’s so disappointing to see this dynamic play out at an organisational level via the Byron Council....

MensLine

In all the bustle and commotion of life, I discovered only last Sunday the Safe Haven behind Mullum’s Civic Hall as I sauntered by. In the adjacent park, I happened upon one beautiful brother from Tasmania, named Johan, and...

Happy night

Sometimes these days one knows that one is in the right place at the right time with the right people who are supporting animals facing extinction. This realisation happened to many of us last Thursday at the Bangalow Koala Fundraising...

Kerry O’Brien and Jenny Hocking in conversation

Could 2025 be any more burdened by less-than-great expectations? By the time this article gets published, an authoritarian populist with a penchant for grand gestures, threats and land grabs will be installed in the White House.

Trump has ruined our rivers

Good on The Echo for stepping up and devoting its front page to the global geopolitical stage. Slightly lacking in imagination however, as your article locked in goose step with the likes of Reuters and BBC in their latest...

Takeover of Ballina’s Hampton Park

Ballina Council’s complicity in the loss of local input and control of more than half of Hampton Park is revealed in the Hampton Park Draft Master Plan. The area under lease to Cherry Street Sports Club, which covers as much...

Where’s Justine?

Also as a long-time local, and contrary to the intimation of a letter writer from last week’s Echo (February 12), I can personally vouch for just a small aspect of the excellent work and actions of our Federal Member...

Festival and event grants on offer

Community organisations are encouraged to apply for NSW government grants to bring cultural festivals and events to life across the state over the coming year.

Dr Bronwyn Bancroft wins prestigious Ochre Award

Bundjalung woman and artist Dr Bronwyn Bancroft AM has received the Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence.

The Pocket Winter Festival bringing you music, food and fun

The Pocket Winter Festival is set to return on Sunday, 21 June, from 10am to 2pm, bringing together the community for a day of music, food, entertainment and family fun at The Pocket Public School.

Cudgen Lifesaver among King’s Birthday honourees

Far North Coast Director of Lifesaving, David Rope, was awarded an Emergency Services Medal as part of the King's Birthday honourees this week – acknowledging his significant and sustained service to the movement.