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Latest News

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

We are our brains!

Our bodies are made up of various systems, organs, components, etc. With the evolution and application of scientific medical,...

Call for Mel Davis to be permanent Byron Public principal

Parents at Byron Bay Public School (BBPS) have started a petition to ask the NSW Department of Education (DOE) to reconsider their decision to replace Acting Principal, Mel Davis, and to allow her to continue permanently as principal.

Horse lovers say nup to Melbourne Cup

As more horses risk life and limb at The Melbourne Cup today, animal lovers are gathering at Flemington Racecourse and across the country to stand up for the victims of what has been described as an outdated and exploitative horseracing spectacle.

Our rates, infrastructure and future

It’s time for our community to come together with purpose and demand accountability. Residents have legitimate questions about cumulative...

New approach needed for Northern Rivers public transport says Cadwallader

It is the age-old story – the lack of public transport across the Northern Rivers that leads to high car ownership and a failure of local and regional public transport infrastructure and use.

Jewellery theft leaves Bangalow artists without work to sell before Christmas

Hundreds of handmade jewellery pieces have been stolen from a Bangalow artists’ collective, leaving some members without any work to sell ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period.
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August 20, 2025

Byron Shire Echo issue 40.11 – August 20, 2025

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

In this Issue:

Celebrating 40 years of fundraising

The Brunswick Valley VIEW Club celebrated 40 years of generosity and their commitment to disadvantaged Australian children last Thursday along with veteran entertainer Normie Rowe AM at the Brunswick Bowlo.

Damon Gameau film awes audience

Last Wednesday night, hundreds queued to watch Damon Gameau’s new film, Future Council at the Byron Theatre. Gameau is an Australian actor, filmmaker and producer made famous by his films 2040 and That Sugar Film.

Chickenpox alert for Northern Rivers

Murwillumbah District Hospital emergency department has seen an increase in presentations related to chickenpox among school-aged children.

Byron Bay Christmas

As Christmas approaches, it is a chance to come together and celebrate the heart of Byron Bay – our amazing community. For the past two years, the Byron Bay Christmas Community Initiative has helped light up our town with a...

Australia’s genocide

It’s important to recognise and acknowledge that Israel could not perpetrate what I would call a genocide in Palestine without the unconditional support of the Western powers. The Australian government’s complicity of silence and material support for Israel is indicative...

Killer bots

Around 1966 in the school library, I read a short story describing hunter-killer robots that had been placed on Earth, to exterminate all the people. The short story scared me so much, it took me many years to recover from...

No winner here

Like many in Mullum, I strongly support initiatives to help our homeless and vulnerable. However, Byron Shire Council’s plan to redevelop our central public car park into a three-storey ‘affordable’ housing block, for those who can afford to pay...

Northern Rivers Food winds up

‘You know your competition isn’t really competition if they’re in the food industry,’ said Brookfarm and Northern Rivers Food founder Pam Brook.

Turning waste into wonder one stitch at a time

The Sewing Circle Collective has been launched at the Re-market Tip Shop in Myocum where community members can not only reduce textile waste but also revive the age-old art of sewing as a modern, sustainable practice.

So many questions

Hi readers! How many of us ratepayers are questioning the lack of maintenance and upgrade to our failed infrastructure by our Byron Shire Council (BSC)? How many of us have had Council regulations ignored by Council, such as the development...

Enough with the cloud-seeding

Wonder why it’s rained so much in the Northern Rivers? Just look up at the skies, like I do when walking my dog on Belongil Beach daily. Whoever is doing this – please stop. I hear the planes take off...

Why are we here?

‘Why are we here?’ was the opening question at the recent community consultation presentation regarding the proposed Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP). It’s a question that we who have been involved with committees or initiatives over the past two decades,...

‘Community insultation’

Mayor Sarah recently posted on social media that she was rather upset about a community meeting being held about the proposed Special Entertainment Precinct for Byron Bay while she was away and unable to attend. Mayor Sarah and Councillor Pugh...

The wonders of ‘adultwashing’

We’re all living in the shadows of the climate crisis. But sometimes the clouds part and blue skies appear briefly.

Now we’re (not) cooking with gas

Planning to build a new house or open a restaurant in the Byron Shire in the next few years? Probably best to let go of the idea of having a gas stove or gas-powered hot water system then.

New Gold Mountain

The Chinese name for California was ‘gam saan’ or ‘gold mountain’. After the Californian goldfields petered out, gold was discovered in Victoria and the Chinese name for Australia became ‘new gold mountain’ – which shows how highly the Chinese...

Gentle China

I refer to the letter from Len Hend in Mullum regarding his recent visit to China. This is so well written that it should be reproduced on every Australian media available. Why? Because it epitomises the feeling between China...

‘Revitalising’ Byron

After attending Tuesday night’s information session and reading the handouts, my initial gut feeling has been confirmed – the Special Entertainment Precinct is really about ‘revitalising’ Byron’s night-time economy, i.e. making Byron more of a party town than it...

Using them for us

Byron Council is trying to use state government, Sydney-centric planning policies to fundamentally change our home. In Byron, it is blazing a trail as the first council outside of Sydney to establish a ‘Special Entertainment Precinct’. Council has tried to...

More calls to reconsider the Mullumbimby carpark DA

Byron Shire councillors appear fixed on moving forward with the housing development at 57 Station Street in Mullumbimby despite acknowledging significant issues with the development application (DA) by Landcom

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: How Trump Will Make an Irish Village Poor...

Do you ever wonder where the Botox comes from? Who makes this magical substance that turns back the clock? There’s a town in Ireland that makes all the world’s Botox. That’s not a joke. That’s a pharmaceutical fact. Westport...

An apology

I would like to apologise to members of the audience at the MRA meeting earlier this year for getting it wrong on the height of the proposed building at 57 Station St, as reported in the Echo recently. Prior to...

Not a Council-basher

I’ve never been a Council-basher; it’s a tough job and some good outcomes over the years can be tabled. But nor do I accept the bad process this (car park – 57 Station St) DA has taken from ‘day...

Councillors: do good

When our past mayor referred to us as something like ‘privileged greyhairs’ he took a step too far. Current Mayor Sarah Ndiaye made a similar comment, supporting the view that homeless people in Byron Shire ‘deserve’ the Mullum madness (car...

The SEP survey

I completed the ‘Have your Say on the Special Entertainment Precinct’ residents’ online survey. It doesn’t convey confidence in Council’s concern for ‘community consultation and feedback’ when we are asked to only choose ‘main benefits’ but not possible detriments....

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.