Byron Bay articles of interest.

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 [...]

With the 23rd BluesFest about to get underway, we thought we should give you a few tips on how to make it an easier experience… Take some sunscreen… The sun can be hellish if you’re spending 5 days out in it! Buy some gumboots! Available in every second shop in Byron! The BluesFest has another nickname in wet weather…. MudFest! And whatever you do, leave your thongs at home… there are thousands of them eternally buried in the ground out there from last year! Make sure you drink lots of water! There are hydration stations everywhere! Leave your dog at home… Unless you are a police person and your dog is a drug dog! And don’t try and pat the [...]

A heavy police presence helped to improve behaviour last year. A CRIME report on Byron Bay has reinforced the need for a CCTV system in the CBD, with the town’s rate of drunken assaults well above the state average. But cameras may be a while off yet with no funding currently available to Byron Shire Council. Last November, The Northern Star reported on Tweed Byron Local Area Command (LAC) police and Byron Shire Council working to tackle alcohol-related assaults in the Byron CBD. Police put forward CCTV as a solution. Last month, council released their draft Safer Community Compact strategy for 2012-2016. It showed that Byron Shire ranked 11th in NSW for non-domestic related assaults in 2010. Forty-seven per cent [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Rescue crew search for missing Kenyan teenager in Cabarita Beach. MISSING Kenyan teenager Samuel Macharia is feared drowned after a full land and ocean search failed to locate him on Monday. The 16-year-old student, who originally came to Australia as an orphan sponsored by Tweed Shire Council five years ago, never returned home following an afternoon run and swim at Cabarita Beach on Sunday. Police were contacted about 7pm (NSW) on Sunday after family members found a backpack with his clothes and mobile phone on the beach. Police, surf life savers, family members and volunteers searched into the night with help from the Coast Guard and Marine Rescue NSW. They were back again at dawn with the help of the [...]

THE investigation into missing drugs from a Tweed-Byron lock-up comes just weeks after a senior police officer within the command tested positive to illicit drugs, including cocaine. The Northern Star can now reveal that officer is Detective Inspector Shane Diehm (pictured), who was crime manager at the time. The Northern Star is not suggesting Det Insp Diehm is in any way linked to the drugs theft. AN internal police investigation is under way into the theft of drugs from a police lock-up within the Tweed -Byron Local Area Command. A spokesperson for police media said the investigation was focused on a small amount of seized drugs which had not been accounted for. A police source told The Northern Star the [...]

TWEED/Byron police officers only fired a taser seven times between October 2008 and March this year. Figures collected through the NSW Police Force Weapons and Tactics Policy and Review unit showed while a taser had been drawn by police 12 times, there had only been seven deployments. And while that number may seem low, Tweed/Byron Local Area Command Acting Superintendent Greg Jago said the taser technology had provided a necessary non-lethal weapon capable of subduing people that had been otherwise unavailable to police before the introduction of the electroshock weapon in October, 2008. “Prior to the approval and issue of taser to the NSW Police Force our options were either baton, oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, or lethal force by use [...]

TWEED Byron police command is trialling a new online community policing concept using Facebook to combat crime. The NSW Police Force yesterday announced the trial of Project Eyewatch, created to allow local area commands and their communities to exchange information using police co-ordinated homepages on social media network Facebook. Crime co-ordinator Sergeant Stuart Crawford said the project was all about timeliness. “It’s all about getting timely information to the public,” Sgt Crawford said. “It will enable us to communicate with the community quickly and easily.” Sgt Crawford said Tweed-Byron officers and members of the Banora Point Neighbourhood Watch had attended a training day in Sydney to learn how to best utilise the new communication tool. “We will continue to work [...]

Kronic NEW laws banning a synthetic form of cannabis called kronic came into effect last Friday, but police will allow a period of grace before cracking down on suppliers. Richmond Local Area Command crime manager, Detective Inspector Greg Moore, said police must enforce the law, but would give retailers enough time to dispose of the substance. “We will enforce possession from now on but, in fairness to the local traders that might not be aware, we’ve been going around and educating them about the new law,” he said. “Obviously we’re not going to go straight out and jump on people, I know one supplier who had just purchased 13kg of the stuff so we are allowing a certain amount of [...]

Richard Carr, owner of the Federal general store, is warning people to lock up their houses after a spate of break-and-enters. THE toothless, multi-lingual, middle-aged man who is allegedly stealing from homes across the Byron Bay hinterland be warned – the community and the police are after you. One proactive local even took the step of erecting a caution sign at the Federal general store, warning residents to be on the look out for the man alleged to be responsible for a string of break and enter offences in the area. Store owner Richard Carr said about four or five people recently came into the store with a story to tell about having their house robbed. “My sister had her [...]

POLICE are appealing for information after a teenager suffered a bizarre skateboarding accident in Lennox Head. Shortly after midnight, Saturday 4 June, two 19-year-olds left a hotel in Lennox Head and began to ride home on their skateboards. A third male, believed to be a friend of the two youths, was driving a maroon Ford Laser in the same direction. Police say it appears the two youths have grabbed the tailgate of the vehicle and were being towed north along Park Lane. Police have been told one of the youths let go of the vehicle and fell head-first onto the road near the intersection with Mackney Lane. He suffered critical head injuries and was taken Lismore Base Hospital before being [...]

THE Tweed-Byron area police command remains the drink-driving capital of Northern New South Wales. More than a quarter of the Northern Region’s drink-driving offences over the Easter long weekend were detected in the two shires. And the region, which stretches from Newcastle to the border, detected the highest number of drink-drivers in the state. Northern Region traffic co-ordinator acting Senior Sergeant Glenn Trubody said the detections were part of Operation Tortoise, which ran from Thursday to Monday. “Police conducted 2384 breath tests, and for that there were 27 drink-driving offences detected,” Acting Snr Sgt Trubody said. “There were 38 speeding infringements, 10 seat belt offences, 100 other traffic infringement tickets and 21 other traffic charges.” “Tweed-Byron was the highest in [...]

The famous Big Joint is carried down Nimbin’s main street. A MAN armed with a rifle was arrested at gunpoint near the MardiGrass celebrations in Nimbin yesterday. The 30-year-old was walking along Mountaintop Rd on his way into the town when police, who had been tipped off, swooped. They were taking no chances when they approached the man, who was openly carrying a .22 calibre rifle, said Richmond Local Area Command duty officer, Inspector Gary Cowan. The man immediately co-operated with police and was arrested. He was taken to Lismore police station and then to the Richmond Clinic for psychiatric assessment, Insp Cowan said. The rifle was not loaded. The arrest was the only serious incident at MardiGrass, Insp Cowan [...]

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 [...]

David Carter POLICE are searching for teenager David Carter following the death of a woman in Byron Bay on Wednesday. Officers were called to a home in Hayter Street, Suffolk Park, about 11am yesterday following the discovery of a 48-year-old woman’s body by a friend. The woman had suffered a number of injuries and a post mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Police now hold grave concerns for Carter, 17, a male occupant of the home who they have not been able to locate. David Carter is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 175-180cm tall with an obese build, blue eyes and brown hair. It is not known what he was wearing at the [...]

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 [...]

Police were on patrol at Tweed City Shopping Centre but the brawl did not eventuate. A TEENAGER has been charged after a fight organised on a social networking website attracted the attention of more than 5000 people. Tweed police charged a 19-year-old Banora Point man with using a carriage service to make a hoax/threat late Wednesday afternoon. The charges related to a fight organised on Facebook at a Tweed Heads shopping centre on March 5, which more than 5000 people indicated they would attend. As a result police deployed additional resources to the area, but nothing eventuated. Tweed Police Inspector Greg Carey said they made numerous inquiries to identify the event’s “anonymous” creator and charged the 19-year-old man on Wednesday. [...]

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 [...]

I remember the first doof I went to. I was about 25. It was a three day dance marathon held up at Macca’s campground somewhere in Main Arm. It wasn’t easy to find. In fact, I think that finding it was the first part of the challenge. We traipsed along a winding bush track in the pitch dark for what felt like an hour but was probably only 15 minutes. We couldn’t see it, but we could certainly hear it. A distant throbbing echoed in the forest like the heartbeat of some giant creature. Finally we emerged. A couple of feral fairies wearing fluffy flares crouched around a chai pot in a makeshift teepee at the entrance, gesturing that we make some sort of donation. I left $4 and an angel card affirmation. They smiled their beatific gratitude and handed me a cup. I felt [...]

Revellers celebrate in the streets of Byron bay on New Year’s Eve 2003 IT’S the better part of 20 years since then Constable Gary Kennedy declared, as a largely drunk but happy swarm of 5000 revellers dancing through his town, Byron Bay had become a ‘magnet’ for people celebrating New Year’s Eve. And its fairly unlikely Const Kennedy had any sense that he was speaking prophecy. The date had just ticked into January 1, 1992, when Const Kennedy made the comment to Byron journalist Gary Chigwidden. The following year, the number of revellers doubled to 10,000 and the numbers kept right on growing, peaking in 2002 at 40,000. At the same time, numbers down the coast have also boomed. Celebrations [...]

Police will be out in force across the region tonight to ensure a safe environment for the thousands who will see in the new year. WHILE most people are popping the champagne corks and yelling ‘Happy New Year’, an unusually high amount of crime is being committed, new research shows. According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, violent crime and property offences increase by nine-fold between the hours of 9pm New Year’s Eve and 3am on New Year’s Day. And violent offences increase significantly more in that time period than property offences. The state-wide figures are echoed locally, Richmond Local Area Command crime manager Detective Inspector Greg Moore said. He said 62 per cent of alcohol-related assaults [...]

Senior Sergeant Bill Darnell is on the lookout for drivers doing the wrong thing. BILL DARNELL wants you to have a happy and safe Christmas and new year. And if you speed or drink-drive on the roads the highway patrol officers he commands as the Northern Region traffic co-ordinator will take your licence away. Tonight, Senior Sergeant Darnell and his officers will launch Operation Safe Arrival on the NSW North Coast – a two-week traffic blitz aimed at preventing road deaths as holidaymakers traverse Australia’s most dangerous road to reach the Northern Rivers. Snr Sgt Darnell said 28 people had already been killed on the Pacific Highway so far this year – up 10 on the same period in 2009. [...]

ALCOHOL-related arrests account for more than half of the arrests made each year in the Tweed-Byron region. Although the number of alcohol-fuelled arrests is on the decline, police are concerned the figures are still too high. Tweed-Byron crime manager Det Insp Shane Diehm said 3076 arrests were made in the last financial year in the Tweed-Byron command. He said 51 per cent of those arrests were alcohol-related. However, Det Insp Diehm said this was an improvement over previous years. “Two years ago, 58 per cent of all arrests over the year were alcohol-related, and last year 57 per cent of arrests were due to alcohol-related offences, so we are seeing an improvement,” he said. Det Insp Diehm said police were [...]

Houses have been destroyed, up to 2000 homes are without power and two injured people have been taken to hospital after a powerful storm tore through Lennox Head on the NSW north coast Buildings have had their roofs ripped off by the storm and power lines brought down, while police say more people may have been hurt when what has been described as a mini-tornado hit the town about 7.30am (AEST) today. NSW Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan says 12 homes have been demolished by wind and hail. He said another storm front is approaching the area, potentially causing major problems for those whose homes have already been damaged. “Up to 2000 homes are currently without power and the power company [...]

Police are searching for a man who allegedly committed an act of indecency in front of two teenage hitchhikers at Byron Bay , on the state’s Far North Coast . Around 2.45pm today, the driver picked up the 14-year-old girls outside a supermarket in Jonson Street and drove south onto Bangalow Road . As his vehicle reached the intersection with Patterson Street , he allegedly pulled down his shorts and committed an act of indecency in front of the teenagers. The girls demanded the driver stop the vehicle and they got out. The car performed a u-turn and headed back towards Byron Bay . Neither girl was assaulted during the incident and reported it to police. The man is described [...]

THE NORTHERN Rivers has again missed out on new police recruits following the graduation of 131 probationary constables from Goulburn yesterday. Only three recruits were allocated to the Northern Zone, and they will be stationed at Port Stephens and Tuggerah Lakes. Meanwhile Richmond and Tweed-Byron Local Area Commands, two of the fastest-growing regions in the state, continue to miss out. While the NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told The Northern Star during his visit to the region last month that both commands were above authorised strength, the NSW Police Association’s north region executive officer Tony King disagrees. “When you account for sick leave and other leave, both commands are actually at 80 per cent of operational capacity or less,” he said. [...]

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 [...]

DANGER and drunkenness on the streets of Byron Bay late at night has led the council to move to curb young clubbers’ access to alcohol. The council voted unanimously yesterday to support a 1am lock-out trial at licensed premises, and to seek support for the action from the Liquor Accord and State Government. Byron Shire mayor Jan Barham said there was a lot of talk about tourism in the shire, ‘but one of the most important things you can offer as a tourist destination is safety’. This had to be the priority in attracting visitors to the town, she said. “I am concerned that we are increasing in the crime statistics,” Cr Barham said. “Anyone who has been in Byron [...]