Byron Bay articles of interest.

International Womens Day Exhibition becomes an Annual Event International Women’s Day will be celebrated in the Shire with an exhibition of photos and artwork, recognising and celebrating the inspiring women from our community. The Exhibition and celebration has become an annual event of the Women’s Resource Service and Byron Shire Council, now in its third year, and continues to evolve into a unique celebration of the women in our Shire who have inspired, enriched and contributed to our community. Held annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. Globally there is a web of rich and diverse local activity that connects women from all around the world that mark the [...]

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 [...]

NAIDOC WEEK EVENTS Arakwal NAIDOC Week 4 July, 2011 – 7 July, 2011 at Byron Shire

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 [...]

A report by the NSW Auditor General reveals that Byron Shire and Lismore LGAs took the second and third spots for highest number of cannabis possession offences in the State. TWO local government areas (LGAs) on the Northern Rivers take some of the top spots for the most cannabis offences in the State, a crime which costs the NSW economy $700 million a year, a new report states. The NSW Auditor-General yesterday released his findings on the effectiveness of police issuing cautions to people in possession of minor amounts of cannabis (less than 15 grams). Eight per cent of the NSW population are cannabis users, the report found, a large proportion of which are on the Northern Rivers. The Byron [...]

The New Byron Youth Service Bus This week Byron Youth Service (BYS) takes delivery of its new Toyota 12 seater minibus for use as a mobile youth outreach service aiming to prevent and reduce youth crime around the Shire on weekends. The “Turning the Tide on Local Youth Crime” project will be commencing service on Friday 1st April, which is the start of National Youth Week, visiting townships of the Shire on Friday & Saturday nights and engaging with young people that are hanging out on the streets.  The aim of the new service is to reduce the likelihood of young people, particularly those under 18 years of age, becoming involved in criminal activities such as alcohol & drug related [...]

Red Cross volunteers trained in emergency services (from left) Amanda Lucantonio, Tracee Thomson, Tweed-Byron emergency services liaison officer Kodie Alderton and Byron Bay team leader Bronwyn Raphael. We’ve all seen the tragic images. Buildings in ruins. Lives lost. Byron Shire locals have looked on in disbelief – as have people around the world – at the devastation following the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Not that long before, Australia as a nation held its collective breath as Cyclone Yasi ripped through Far North Queensland, we shook our heads as bushfires destroyed homes in Perth, and could hardly believe the inland tsunami which swept through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley. And, in each natural disaster, there is a common feeling in [...]

BYRON Shire residents are being robbed of basic services like road maintenance due to inequities in the State Government’s land tax and grant systems, a local councillor says. Figures obtained by Byron Shire Councillor Patrick Morrisey show the State Government has collected almost $86 million in land taxes from the Byron shire over the past five years – the highest rate in NSW for comparable-sized rural shires – yet received the lowest of amount of Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants per capita for a comparable council in NSW. The state-administered Financial Assistance Grants are an important source of funding for local councils, which spend the money on priorities like local roads, parks and pools, libraries, community centres and waste services. To [...]

A police air wing helicopter searches bushland in the Tweed  and Byron Shires. ABOUT $1.6 million worth of cannabis was found in two days as a police heli- copter, dogs and officers swooped on outlying villages in the Tweed and Byron shires. The NSW Police Drug Squad, along with the police air wing, dog squad and Tweed Byron Police officers began the Cannabis Eradication Program (CEP) in the region on Monday and will continue until tomorrow, Drug Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham said. “So far we have conducted the CEP in Huonbrook, Upper Wilsons Creek, Billynudgel, Yelgun, Upper Main Arm, Mullumbimby Creek, Coorabell and Saint Helena,” Det Supt Bingham said. Yesterday, the searches were staged in the Chillingham, Tyalgum [...]

BYRON Bay has become a slave to the dollar, is putting its own people last and has lost the ‘magic’ for which it was once renowned. That’s according to Byron Shire Mayor Jan Barham, who is becoming increasingly frustrated with what she sees as an imbalance between the rights of residents and the power of economics. She says the dominance of the tourism industry in Byron is hurting long-term locals – the people who gave the town it’s ‘edge’ and attractiveness in the first place – and it’s time the town looked beyond the tourism dollar. Her comments have incensed the president of the town’ s chamber of commerce, Sevegne Newton, who is currently preparing to launch one of Byron [...]

Suffolk Park man Mark Tiernan who died crossing a flood causeway. FAMILY and friends are mourning the sudden and tragic loss of a Suffolk Park man who died after trying to cross a flooded causeway in the State’s south. Mark Tiernan was working at Boree Creek, north of Lockhart, in southern NSW, in one of the many seasonal work stints he undertook while away from his Byron Shire home. About 2.30am on Sunday – his 51st birthday – Mr Tiernan attempted to cross a causeway flooded by a swollen creek. Police said the Toyota Hilux utility he was driving was swept off the road, which flood indicators showed had about one metre of water flowing across it. A 25-year-old man, [...]

EVE GLIMMA A SEX conference in Byron Bay would offer ‘the sex education you always wished for”, according to organisers. The three-day Sex and Consciousness Conference, which starts on February 11, will feature presentations, interactive experiences, demonstrations and short films from local and international teachers and practitioners , on topics including passionate relationships, sustainable sex, intimacy and sexual healing. Event co-ordinator Eve Glimma, a privately practising sex educator and intimacy coach in the Byron Shire, said the conference would focus on “sacred sex” – an alternative to conventional notions of sex presented in school sex education programs and the media. “Conventional sexuality is all about the physical. Sacred sexuality is the other side of that,” Ms Glimma said. “In conventional [...]

BYRON shire locals are now putting pen to paper as part of their campaign to get a nightly bus service. The Petition for Byron Shire Night Bus started with a Facebook page earlier this year which now has the support of 800 members. Most recently, a hard copy petition has evolved. Two petitions are available to sign at the Byron Youth Activities Centre and at the Santos Natural Food Store in Mullumbimby. Nicqui Yazdi from the BUDDI (Byron Underage Drinking & Drug Initiative) said more than three pages had been signed at the youth centre since the petition was put there a few days ago. “There are 800 people on the Facebook site and we have got to get the [...]

THE person behind a Facebook page honouring dozens of young people killed on roads in and near Byron Shire says abuse by ‘older’ residents has forced the site’s closure. The page, Byron Shire Youth Road Toll A Tribute To Our Fallen Friends RIP, carried a list of about 35 people killed on roads – mostly young and mostly within the Byron Shire. It included photos of victims, tributes from friends and family members, and road safety messages. It gathered more than 2500 supporters in little more than a week, but was shut down on Monday after the unidentified site administrator claimed to have been lashed by older Byron residents over a post urging young drivers to be careful over the [...]

$127,000 POCA grant recipients – Di Mahoney Director of BYS and Nicqui Yazdi Team Leader of BUDDI at this years Australia Day Awards where Nicqui received the award for 2010 Byron Shire Citizen of the Year Byron Youth Service is celebrating! It has recently secured a 2010 Proceeds of Crime Act Community Grant that will fund a mobile youth outreach service for the Shire, in partnership with BUDDI, the local community drug action team. The “Turning the Tide on Local Youth Crime” project aims to provide an early intervention service for young people on Friday and Saturday nights in Byron Shire and at peak times during events, festivals, schoolies & summer tourism. Director of BYS, Di Mahoney, said “We are [...]

A SHARP spike in assaults in the Byron Shire was the stand-out anomaly in an otherwise good report card for the Northern Rivers from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics. The report released this week showed crime across the region last year remained stable, or fell across a range of major offences. While reported sexual assaults in the Byron Shire were up 79 per cent, Tweed-Byron crime manager, Inspector Shane Diehm, believes the statistic was the result of more people coming forward to report incidents. “We’ve been working closely with groups like NSW Health and youth services in Byron Shire to encourage people to report sexual assaults,” he said. Insp Diehm said that in most cases the victims knew the [...]