Byron Bay

INITIAL RESPONSE FROM THE SCHOOLIES HUB COORDINATOR, NICQUI YAZDI, TO THE NEWS OF BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL REMOVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO THE BYRON SCHOOLIES SAFETY RESPONSE HUB in 2013 – “With all of the current high profile alcohol issues in Byron, it comes as a serious blow to the community that Byron Shire Council have essentially pulled all of their support for the Byron Schoolies Safety Response HUB this year. For the last four years, the HUB has provided much needed assistance during this high traffic time, not only to the visiting schoolies, but also to the local community, in making sure that the safety issues of having 10,000 extra young visitors here, are attended to. To clarify for the community [...]

PUBLIC FORUM IN BYRON TONIGHT!! Strange Bedfellows-Making the tourist/resident Marriage Work. Byron Bay Community Centre from 5.30pm – In response to the public outcry in relation to the impacts of tourism on the local community over peak holiday periods, a community forum has been organised to discuss how the community can benefit from the industry and how they may be able to address the inherent challenges. Presented by Byron Shire Council in conjunction with The Echo, Byron Shire News and Bay FM, the Public Forum will be conducted in the style of Q&A with former ABC journalist Mick O’Regan as moderator. Panel Members include Jan Barham – NSW Legislative Council, Don Page – NSW Minister for Local Government and local [...]

This coming Friday 6th July in Byron, there is a special fundraiser to send Dr Helen Caldicott to Roxby Downs. Happening at the Mullum RSL from 6pm URANIUM BOOM NUCLEAR DOOM will showcase a huge line-up of performing artists including: Fyah Walk Ras Bin Sam & Lion I The Lucky Wonders MC Mandy Nolan Lewis Walker Nakula Tara Murphy DJ Sheik Yerbooty David Bradbury films and a live hookup with Fukishima This event is supporting Lizards Revenge www.lizardsrevenge.net Supported by Byron Neighbourhood Resource Centre Fukishima: Made in Australia! Stop Uranium Mining! LIZARDS REVENGE – 5 DAY FESTIVAL 14-18 JULY 2012 Lizards Revenge is excited to bring their 5 day festival to Roxby Downs, to protest at the door of potentially [...]

Judi Watts from Little Grey Station does an An Interview with Jennifer Gifford – Creator of the Byron Bay Bridal Showcase Since the announcement of Byron Bay Bridal Showcase just a little over a month ago, wedding vendors and soon-to-be brides from Noosa to Byron Bay and beyond have been frantic to find out as much information about the showcase. Well, I decided to go direct to the source and find our more about what we can expect at this glorious event. Brides get ready for a wonderful explosion of creativity and flare…. Jennifer Gifford from Jennifer Gifford Dress Designs is the empowering force behind this event, let’s hear a little about the showcase and why Jennifer felt it was necessary [...]

Organisers of the 2012 Splendour In The Grass, have this morning announced a totally HUGE line-up for this years festival! For three days in July, Belongil Fields will come alive with the awesome sounds of - Jack White, Bloc Party, Smashing Pumpkins, At The Drive-In, Lana Del Rey, Azealia Banks, The Shins, Hilltop Hoods, The Kooks, Gossip, Miike Snow, Dirty Three, 360, Tame Impala, Explosions In The Sky, Ladyhawke, The Afghan Whigs, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother, Metric, Kimbra, Mudhoney, Band Of Skulls, Spiderbait, Django Django, Gypsy & The Cat, San Cisco, Last Dinosaurs, Electric Guest, Muscles, Angus Stone, DZ Deathrays, Howler, Lanie Lane, Wolf & Cub, Fun., Big Scary, Michael Kiwanuka, Seekae, Friends, Yacht Club Dj’s, Bertie Blackman, Jinja Safari, Blue King [...]

Brothers on The Block, Andrew & Mike THE BLOCK IS BACK WITH A BIT OF BYRON THROWN IN! The Block is back and this time it will have Byron Bay handyman and project-manager Andrew adding his own touch of Byron heaven to the show! Andrew will be joined by his brother Mike, who lives in Bondi. Andrew had barely had time to celebrate his engagement to his girlfriend, Emilie, when the call came through to confirm their acceptance as contestants on The Block. It will mean leaving his new fiancé at home in Byron for 10 weeks during the filming. The new season of channel Nine’s The Block will hit our screens just after Easter. This will be the fifth [...]

Do you want to volunteer to do some good things in the community? Then head on down to the Volunteers Expo at the Community Centre on Thursday… Keep your eye out for the BUDDI stall… BUDDI (the Byron Underage Drinking & Drug Initiative-Community Drug Action Team) needs volunteers for the new YACROCKCAFE, a teen music cafe at the YAC every Friday night; the Byron Schoolies Safety Response Schoolie HUB and other community events… Are you up for volunteering?? Head on down and sign up to be a volunteer! BUDDI – the Byron Underage Drinking & Drug Initiative-Community Drug Action Team BUDDI was formed under NSW Health Community Drug Strategies Program and is auspiced by Byron Youth Service. BUDDI Team membership [...]

Byron High Year 10 Vocational Learning Program Students Seek Work Placements 21 students enrolled in the Year 10 Vocational Learning Program (VLP) at Byron High School, are seeking local businesses willing to engage them on work placements for a period of up to 8 weeks at a time. These work placements will commence during March and students will be required to attend the work placements each Friday. These students have a wide variety of requests for experience in industries from building through to hairdressing. Businesses involved would be required to provide the students with employment related workplace skills and an understanding of the work environment. The VLP students are between 15 and 16 years of age. Vocational Learning prepares students [...]

Happy to hear that Gaia Retreat and Spa has featured in heavily in the top Trip Advisor awards are staff (from left) co-owner Gregg Cave, accounts Jody Peachey, manager Leanne Schoen, front of house Karen Leggett, reservations Kylie Tuck, head chef Dan Trewartha, and seated with Gio is spa manager Naomi Quarrell. WORLD travellers have recognised the Byron Bay health retreat owned by Olivia Newton-John and Gregg Cave as one of the most luxurious spa experiences on the planet. Gaia retreat and spa has come in at number five in the top Relaxation and Spa Hotels in the World on the 2012 Travellers’ Choice awards. The Travellers’ Choice awards are judged by the editors and travellers of Trip Advisor, arguably [...]

NATURAL LOOKS: The face of the Byron Naturally Campaign, Lisa Mae, during the development of the highly successful tourism promotion. THE 2012 Byron Naturally campaign is shaping up to deliver an even greater impact than last year’s highly successful tourism promotion. The campaign, run by Byron United, is being supported by tourism industry heavyweights including Destination NSW. “In 2012 we will achieve additional exposure via more industry partnerships with airlines and airports,” Utopia Creative principal and campaign creator Adrian Nelson said. “We have developed exciting new components for this year’s campaign including a Smart Phone application that expands the functionality of the website with an integrated, trackable redemption system and extended marketing reach using TV on the web. “We are [...]

Margie Wheatley and her dog, Honey, searching for Mrs Wheatley’s missing cows at Main Arm. WITH its hilly surroundings and steep valleys, Main Arm has seen its fair share of floods. But this week’s inundation was like none the area’s long-time locals had ever seen. “It was the biggest I have ever seen,” Main Arm Store owner Marianne Dichiera said. In the six hours until 4pm on Wednesday, Mullumbimby recorded 160mm of rain. By lunchtime on Wednesday, Main Arm Rd was completely cut off and the surrounding, low-lying paddocks resembled a wide and rapidly flowing brown river. Mrs Dichiera, who has lived in the Main Arm area for more than a decade, said she had never seen the area flood [...]

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IT’S official. The Northern Rivers now holds the unenviable title of the most expensive regional residential land in the country, surpassing popular areas such as the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast for the first time. The median price for a housing block on the Northern Rivers is $238,250 – almost as much as the country’s minor capital cities such as Hobart and Darwin, according to the new quarterly Housing Industry Association/RP Data report. “It is a surprise,” said Colin Buttenshaw, executive director of HIA’s Gold Coast and Northern Rivers division. “You would have thought the price of land around the Hunter and Newcastle or the Illawarra, which have had massive developments and population growth with people now commuting to Sydney, [...]

Swedish backpackers Madeleine Harryson and Emike Szanto enjoy the sunshine (for free) at Byron Bay. Emike said the high dollar had made her stay more expensive than she first thought. THE STRONG Australian dollar is cutting into backpacker’s budgets, forcing them to stay longer in capital cities and away from regional destinations like Byron Bay. Byron Bay backpacker hostels are reporting a decline in bookings – particularly from Irish, British and American backpackers – and say the high Australian dollar is at least partly to blame. Dougall Pennefarther, of the Backpackers Inn in Shirley St, said traditional backpacker markets like the US and Britain had dropped by up to 90% in recent years. Those that were still coming, such as [...]

Bluejuice is just one of the bands appearning at this year’s Big Day Out on the Gold Coast. Big Day Out rocks into town THE Big Day Out music festival is about to hit the Gold Coast this weekend. Bringing big names such as Kanye West, Soundgarden and My Chemical Romance, it’s sure to be a massive day at the Parklands on Sunday. Organisers are reminding festival-goers to bring identification, sunscreen and sensible shoes. They’ve also asked people not to turn up drunk or use drugs. “Don’t presume that the laws of the real world don’t apply to the Big Day Out. Anyone caught holding or dealing illegal substances will be treated the same way as anywhere else. It is [...]

THE FEDERAL Government’s new Minister for Housing came to Byron Bay on a fact-finding mission yesterday and took the time to sit down and listen to local experts in emergency housing. Robert McClelland, also the Minister for Homelessness, met with Richmond MP Justine Elliot, Byron mayor and Greens MLC Jan Barham, people from the Northern Rivers Social Development Council and emergency housing workers at a house for the homeless, managed by the Byron Emergency Housing Project. The minister listened closely to the range of issues discussed, asking questions and making notes. He heard of the need for funding for a regional housing co-ordinator to pick up some of the initiatives that have arisen out of grassroots involvement with community housing, [...]

Byron Council is trying to stamp out illegal camping in the shire. THEY camp illegally in our streets and leave rubbish for locals to clean up and skip town when the council tries to crack down on them. Byron United president Paul Waters said locals were now referring to illegal campers as ‘vanpackers’ to distinguish them from regular backpackers. “Backpackers are quite good and they’re what Byron Bay is about, but vanpackers are freeloaders who are outstaying their welcome and from a business and economic view it just degrades us a little,” Mr Waters said. “They park at our beautiful beaches for weeks on end, months sometimes and don’t contribute anything to the community; they just take.” From January to [...]

Roadside camping in Byron Shire could be coming to an end. Roadside campers to get the boot THE DAYS of illegal camping on the streets of Byron Bay are numbered as two tiers of government move to close a legal loophole that has blocked effective action against the practice. Current legislation prevents councils from stopping street camping, as local governments cannot legally regulate the use of vehicles in a road or road-related area. Byron Council’s governance manager Ralph James said tourism in Byron Shire needed to be managed appropriately and sustainably. “We welcome visitors to the Byron Shire and we want people to enjoy their time here, but at the same time we have to protect the community’s amenity,” he [...]

BYRON Shire Council says it handed out more than 1000 fines for parking offences mostly around Byron Bay between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The council said a blitz by compliance officers led to 550 fines for “street camping” – visitors sleeping in their vehicles overnight, while another 490 tickets were handed out for other parking and vehicle offences. Byron Shire Council governance manager Ralph James said compliance officers issued double the number of fines over this peak holiday than they did over the same period in 2010/2011. “Camping in residential streets in Byron Shire is an issue of concern for many residents because of the impacts of noise, disturbance, rubbish and loss of amenity,” he said. “It also [...]

Gold Coast visitor Savannah Roberts enjoyed some retail therapy with her mum in Byron Bay yesterday. Local traders say big crowds over Christmas and New Year’s have given them a boost, but January could be their make or break month. BYRON Bay traders are cashing in on this year’s big holiday crowds after a horror summer in 2011, but not all are popping the champagne corks just yet. While there are no official figures, accommodation is booked solid and the feeling in town is that visitor numbers are up. Pubs, cafes, restaurants and takeaway stores have all been doing a roaring trade in the past few weeks. Takeaway burger store Beloporto reported its best trading day in four years on [...]

Byron Bay’s Main Beach was crowded with revellers at the strike of midnight. Revellers pack Byron beaches THE crowds returned to Byron Bay’s New Year’s Eve celebrations on Saturday, with about 10,000 revellers packing into the area to see in the new year. Police reported well-behaved crowds but said the sheer number of people kept officers, St John Ambulance volunteers and surf lifeguards busy. After several low-key years with no entertainment, this year the chamber of commerce, Byron United, organised a band and a fireworks display. The plan coincided with the increased influx and barely a patch of beach could be seen for the sea of people crammed onto Main Beach. Mobile phone networks also crashed. By the strike of [...]

HOLIDAY letting is a “cancer” on Byron Bay and must be flushed out of all residential areas, a Byron council meeting has heard. A group of impassioned residents addressed councillors at a public access session this week, pleading to keep up the pressure on holiday-let owners and take legal action wherever necessary. Their calls were heard by councillors who voted unanimously to continue their current hard-line stance. The council has shut down two unauthorised holiday lets in Byron Bay in recent weeks, an alleged over-crowded schoolies “slum” and a luxury beach house complex, both of which were in residential areas. The meeting was told elderly residents had suffered breakdowns as a result of living next to noisy year-round holiday lets. [...]

The rear of the property where council alleges up to 19 occupants were staying – photo by Kate O’Neill BYRON’S alleged schoolies slum landlord Shai Major was supposed to appear at Byron Local Court yesterday. Instead he told the court he was working in Brisbane only to be found a short time later at the Jonson Street property that was shut down by council staff last Friday. Mr Major, who is charged with “development without development consent” for renting the property and then allegedly charging eight schoolies and 10 backpackers up to $800 a week to sleep on mattresses on the garage floor, pleaded not guilty in a letter to the court and informed the magistrate he couldn’t appear as [...]

BYRON SCHOOLIES SAFETY RESPONSE -WRAP UP FROM THE HUB COORDINATOR The third year of the Byron Schoolies Safety Response and the Schoolies HUB has come to an end. Once again this year, it has been a very successful event, helping to protect the local community and keep the youngest of our visitors safe while they were here on their special end of year 12 celebrations. Not everyone in the Byron community is happy about these types of celebrations, in fact, many would say that this type of rite of passage is unnecessary and should be stopped. Unfortunately, there’s pretty much nothing that can be done to stop Schoolies, so the best we can do, as a community, is to respond [...]

Byron residents spend 30% of their income on housing. BYRON Shire has the highest rate of housing stress in the state, according to new figures. The Australians for Affordable Housing figures show 25% of Byron residents are under housing stress – described as having to spend 30% or more of income on housing needs. While Byron tops the state for housing stress, Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Nambucca are close at 22%. The figures for Byron are not surprising said the Northern Rivers Social Development Council’s acting CEO, Brett Paradise. “Byron is a very desirable place to live with very limited capacity for growth,” Mr Paradise said. As unaffordability continues to rise in Byron, the rest of the region suffers from [...]

Byron Schoolies HUB Volunteers with their Certificates in Youth Mental Health First Aid ~ the volunteers will be ready for any crisis situation in the HUB. The Schoolies HUB goes up in Main Beach Park on Friday, in preparation for the estimated 8-10,000 school leavers who will be arriving in Byron Bay over the nextfew weeks to celebrate the end of Year 12. These young visitors will have access to the HUB 24 hours a day for 18 days from Friday November 18 through to December 5. The HUB will be run by over 100 dedicated local volunteers in 4 hour shifts. The Schoolies will be able to access water, first aid, tourist information and smiling locals to help them with [...]

Swedish tourists Emma Lund and My Borggren, both aged 20, having fun under the sun while on holiday in Byron Bay. ALMOST 90% of Byron shire’s tourists are happy with their holiday experience, despite growing concerns about parking, traffic, cleanliness of the public toilets and the state of the roads. A new survey released this week – the Byron Shire Visitor Profile and Satisfaction report – was under- taken by Tourism Research Australia in partnership with Byron Shire Council and Destination NSW. Of the tourists surveyed, 87% said they were “satisfied” with their experience, with 44% “very satisfied”. But councillor Basil Cameron, chairman of the council’s Tourism Advisory Committee, admitted there was “plenty of room for improvement”. “The results showed [...]

FEEDBACK: Hop online and help out with a youth survey for your chance to win. THE Northern Rivers Youth Advisory Council (NRYAC) is carrying out a survey to find out what matters most to young people in the region. Called the Northern Rivers Youth Census, the survey was released through Facebook and sms. “It’s a chance for us to have a say about what’s important to us, so we’d like to see every single young person under 25 complete the survey by 29 October,” said Jacob Fitzroy, the NRYAC chairperson. Jacob will also represent the Northern Rivers at the 2012 Youth Parliament in Canberra. The NRYAC is offering two prizes to help get the word out. First prize is an [...]

Parked cars and parked wallets are keeping Byron Bay businesses from returning to profitability but there are encouraging signs. THE loss of Splendour in the Grass, declining domestic tourism numbers and the high Australian dollar are combining to deliver a “triple whammy” to Byron Bay’s struggling tourism market. Adding to the town’s woes are a weak retail sector Australia-wide and uncertainty about the impact of the carbon tax. Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce, Byron United, president Sevegne Newton said she was “gravely concerned” about what was happening to Byron Bay businesses and the flow on effects to the community. She said Byron Bay was not facing anything different to the rest of the country, but was a microcosm of what [...]

Workers in the Northern Rivers are among the lowest paid in NSW. WHILE residents of ritzy Mosman in Sydney’s North Shore have an average income of $130,000 a year, workers on the Northern Rivers are amongst the lowest paid in NSW. Tenterfield has the lowest total average income in the whole of the state at $27,247. This is closely followed by Kyogle at $29,182, Richmond Valley at $31,224; Byron Bay at $33,438 and Lismore at $34,461. Of all of the local government areas on the Northern Rivers, people in Ballina earned the most, with an average income of $36,844. But that is still about $12,000 less than the state average of $48,755. These new figures from the Australian Bureau of [...]

THE marquees are going up and the site is a hive of activity as the countdown is on to the 15th annual Byron Bay Writers’ Festival. Being held at the North Beach site, workshops will start next Monday, with the three-day festival program starting on Friday, August 5. Festival director Candida Baker said the site looked wonderful. “The grass has been mowed and the ground is dry and everything is proceeding on schedule,” she said. “The renovated restaurant being run by North Byron Events looks amazing and will be a great place to drop by for a coffee or a meal during the festival.” Ms Baker said ticket sales were going “great guns” and it was looking like record numbers would attend. [...]

Gay Schofield, of Wyrallah, has had to lower the price on her home. THE sales figures speak volumes. If anyone doubted that the real estate market in the Northern Rivers had slumped this year, recent statistics reveal the harsh truth. The number of sales and the prices fetched have dropped drastically in 2011. Prices in many cases are down from a peak in 2010 – indicating the full extent of the GFC took a while to strike Australia. Figures for the past six years tell slightly different stories for the five local government areas in the Northern Rivers, but they all share a common theme. To add to the frustration of both vendors and buyers, the entire transaction process has [...]

After 14 years on the Internet & being visited over 12 million times, www.byronbay.com has undergone a total re-vamp! The re-launch also includes a 2.5 minute video showcasing the region. Please take a few minutes; have a look at the new site and watch the new video… share it, subscribe, tweet, comment, etc… let us know what you think.

Sarah Dougan, former Belle Property Byron Bay principal TRUST accounts held by the now defunct Byron Bay real estate agency Belle Property are missing more than half a million dollars, the Department of Fair Trading has revealed. The department last night called for clients of the agency to come forward, saying its investigation into the property had so far found trust account “deficiencies” of more than $550,000. Belle Property Byron Bay closed last week and Fair Trading seized the agency’s business records after the Belle Property Group, which franchised the Byron business to Sarah Dougan, contacted the department to say it had found “anomalies” in the agency’s trust accounts. Belle Property Group has since terminated its franchise agreement with Ms [...]

SARAH Dougan is still listed as the principal of Belle Property Byron Bay on business networking websites. But the Sydneysider was recently dumped by the franchise’s parent company following the discovery of “a number of discrepancies” in the firm’s financial records. The former principal is being investigated by the NSW Department of Fair Trading. No charges have been laid and Ms Dougan has denied “any intentional wrongdoing”. Ms Dougan has returned to Sydney and her partly-built home in Skinners Shoot Rd is for sale in a mortgagee auction through McGraths Ballina this Saturday, with a price guide of between $700,000-900,000. Meanwhile, some people in Byron Bay are wondering what has happened to payments they were expecting from the failed franchise. [...]

Line of defence: A line of sandbags were laid at Belongil Beach in January last year in an attempt to stem erosion of the beach. RESTORATION work on the storm-battered Belongil Beach will begin shortly after the NSW Government pledged $738,000 for works. A series of storms, resulting in big seas, caused considerable damage in 2009. “Byron Shire Council’s beach front protection works took the full brunt and considerable damage was sustained by these defensive structures,” Don Page, the Minister for the North Coast, said. “As well as seawall repairs, the works undertaken at Belongil Beach will repair public access pathways to the beach front.” Mr Page said the funding had been approved by the Minister for Finance and Services, [...]

Nudists from Queensland and overseas are flocking to the Byron Shire to take advantage of its relaxed attitude to nude bathing on its legal nude beaches. QUEENSLAND’S lack of legal nude beaches may be bad news for northern nudists, but it’s proving a boon for Byron Bay business, one of Australia’s leading nudist advocates says. Kingscliff-based publisher of Australian Naturist Magazine, Dr Les Rootsey, says because Byron has the closest legal beach to the Gold Coast, the lucrative nude tourist dollar is travelling south. “A lot of people make the trip down (to Byron) rather than take their chances on the Gold Coast,” he said. “It’s a lot easier and a lot safer.” Among the visitors to the beach near [...]

JOHN PILGER THE Byron Bay Writers’ Festival has scored a “recruiting coup”, netting John Pilger, the controversial Australian-born, UK-based journalist, author, film-maker and social commentator. Pilger has confirmed he will be the keynote speaker at this year’s festival. Festival director Candida Baker yesterday told The Northern Star she was “thrilled” that Pilger had accepted the invitation to headline this year’s event, being held at Byron Bay from August 5-7. As well as giving the keynote address, Pilger will participate in a panel discussion and conduct a question-and-answer session after the screening of his latest film, The War You Don’t See, at the Dendy Cinema at Byron Bay on the Sunday night of the festival. Born in Bondi, Pilger left Australia [...]

High rents and slow trade are forcing many Byron Bay CBD businesses to close their doors. Several businesses have already been lost and others are preparing to shut up shop. HUGE commercial rents in the Byron Bay CBD mean some businesses must now earn at least $1 million a year just to survive, according to Byron Bay’s Chamber of Commerce, Byron United. President Sevegne Newton said it was a near-impossible task, especially in the current retail climate, and the casualties were starting to mount. Two main street businesses have closed in recent weeks, five more are closing soon, and the figure could be as high as 25 by the end of the financial year, she said. Ms Newton said the [...]

Chairperson of Bundjalung of Byron Bay Arakwal Corporation Yvonne Stewart, Aunty Dulcie Nicholls and Theresa Nicholls examine plans for the elders housing at the Ironbark Avenue site. AUNTY Dulcie Nicholls’ eyes light up as soon as she steps onto the vacant bush block in Ironbark Ave, Byron Bay. This is where the 82-year-old Arakwal elder spent an idyllic childhood at her parent’s camp – playing, swimming and fishing in the nearby creek. She left the camp when she married, but has spent almost two decades battling to return. Aunty Dulcie was one of the four Arakwal sisters behind the Indigenous Land Use Agreement that handed the Ironbark Ave land back to the Arakwal people in 2001. The parcel of land [...]

With Khamal performing poems of passion, Paul Kelly live in concert, Louis de Bernieres reflecting on films and fiction, James Redfield on the Celestine Prophecies and Bill Leak’s hard-hitting cartoons, earlybird ticket sales for the 2011 Byron Bay Writers Festival are off to a flying start. Festival director Candida Baker said ticket sales to date were breaking all previous records. The 15th annual festival will be held from August 5 to 7. Ms Baker is confident the amazing array of talent on the guest list will have people flocking to Byron Bay for what has arguably become Australia’s most-loved literary festival. “2011 will be a year of breaking new ground for the festival,” she said. “As well as the new [...]

Michael Balderstone and volunteers prepare a vast number of herbal joints in preparation for MardiGrass over the weekend. photo Marc Stapelberg POLICE were keeping a low profile in Nimbin yesterday afternoon – although perhaps they were only sheltering from the sporadic heavy rains that struck the town leading up to MardiGrass. But the police have made it clear they will be highly visible at the weekend’s “law reform rally and gathering”, with about 100 officers from the Richmond Local Area Command and the Northern Region out in force. Their aim would be to “maintain a safe environment for the public without tolerating any illegal drug activity or anti-social behaviour”, a spokesman said. Despite the weather, revellers were filling up the streets [...]

Bob Dylan HISTORY was made at Bluesfest yesterday when the weather held for the fifth straight day and Bob Dylan finally got to play in the Byron Shire. The mood of expectancy was palpable as fans of every age poured on to a sun-soaked site from early afternoon and set up their chairs in the Mojo tent. They weren’t disappointed by either of the two headline acts. Despite having a 70th birthday looming, Dylan moves with the times. While old favourites provided its backbone, his set was sprinkled with highlights from his most recent highly acclaimed albums. Confounding the expectations of the benighted few who were hoping for acoustic protest songs or stage banter, the Bobcat turned in a solid [...]

BB King was too popular for his tent at Bluesfest last night. Pic: Brendan Radke BB King was too big for his tent and Grace Jones was too big for her boots on day two of the six-day Byron Bay Bluesfest last night. Good Friday headliner Jones was booed by a large, initially excited audience who began running out of patience when she finally took to the festival’s main Mojo tent stage 45 minutes late. If she was tryng to provoke a reaction, she got it. But her trademark tardiness was out of step with the spirit of Bluesfest and its audiences. ”The last time I was here … I remember … impatient, aren’t you?” she chided when she finally [...]

Essential Info for the BluesFest To make your entry to the Festival as easy and relaxed as possible, please make sure you haveYOUR (E) TICKETS and ID ready for scanning by the festival gate staff as you arrive at the Festival Entry. NOTE – There are 2 main entries to the Festival this year. South entry: For campers, busses, taxis, drop off & pickups and disabled parking. You won’t miss the signs guiding you the right way. North entry: For Day parking only. Parking will be free of charge, but we do encourage everyone to take the bus and ride to and from the Festival. Important message: Strict searches of cars will occur before entry to Festival. Alcohol and glass will [...]

British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who will be performing at Bluesfest with The Imposters on Monday and Tuesday, is renowned for jumping from one genre to another over his long career in the music industry. WITH Bluesfest kicking off in two days, the who’s who of the music business are rolling into the Northern Rivers. While artists like Grace Jones and Elvis Costello are touring other parts of the country, some acts are already making their way into Byron Bay. Michael Franti heads in tomorrow for his benefit concert at The Great Northern, while others are already here. Luciano and Ernest Ranglin are here, ready for their slots on Thursday’s schedule. Elvis Costello won’t touch down in Byron Bay until Sunday, [...]

Tent master Marty Ashton busy setting up one of the tents for the start of Bluesfest on Thursday. THERE are only three sleeps before Bluesfest kicks off for 2011. Not that we’ve got a countdown going. Setting up of the Tyagarah site for the six-day event started two weeks ago, with the five stages already ready to house an estimated 44,500attendees – a 20% increase on last year’s crowd of 35,335 – and 114 acts, or around 1140 musos. With only 11% of ticket-holders residing on the Northern Rivers, an estimated 89% of attendees will seek accommodation for the festival, with around 5500 camping on-site. This year the site consists of five stages, four bars (including one VIP bar), five [...]

Brunswick Heads Chamber of Commerce president Matt Mayall says the lifting of the sewage moratorium will be good for business and ease pressure on housing. THE towns of Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby are poised to enter a new period of growth and invigoration following the end of the 14-year Brunswick Valley sewage moratorium this week. With its new $30 million Brunswick Valley Sewage Treatment Plant finally online, Byron Shire Council this week voted to lift the ban on development, opening the door for new and more affordable housing, a 30% growth in population and an accompanying boost to business. Town planner Steve Connelly said the decision was cause for celebration. “People have been stifled from doing anything,” he said. “If [...]

Members of the Roundhouse Action Group say they will continue their fight to keep the Roundhouse site at Ocean Shores as a community asset, despite the council’s decision yesterday to have it subdivided and sold. “A BETRAYAL of the community’s hopes” is how Ocean Shores residents have described Byron Shire Council’s decision to subdivide and sell the Roundhouse site. At yesterday’s council meeting, Byron Shire Mayor Jan Barham used her casting vote to go ahead with the sell-off, despite objections from community groups who wanted to see the Orana Rd site used for an arts and cultural centre. The cash-strapped council deemed the centre proposed by the Roundhouse Action Group presented too great a financial risk, instead deciding to spend [...]

Karen Coyle, of Light’n’Up in Lismore, has created a special giant musical note to be used at this year’s Bluefest lantern processions. Marc Stapelberg ENGLAND may be gearing up for a royal wedding, but on the Northern Rivers there is to be a union of two beloved institutions that will be a sparkling pageant in its own right. A team of lanterneers from Light’n’Up Lismore, who present the annual mid-winter Lismore Lantern Parade, is joining forces with the Byron Bay-based Bluesfest to present a twice-nightly lantern procession throughout the festival from April 21 to 26. Artist Karen Coyle, of Goonellabah, has been hard at work at the Lismore lantern workshop making special music-themed lanterns for the event. It’s been a [...]