Mullumbimby Community Action Network

Originally published 16Apr2010

mullum-zine

TALLOWOOD TOMORROW - MULLUM FARMERS SUCCESS

BRAVO MULLUM FARMERS MARKET

50 colourful stalls, loaded with gorgeous just-picked temptations to fill you with delight and energetic connection to our volcanic soil, our community and the vibrant biosphere - You too can wax lyrical when you visit Mullumbimby"s farmers market, at the Showgrounds, Main Arm Road, each Friday morning from 7 – 11. Poetry and prose accepted for this newsletter! We might ask Judy MacDonald – our community/farmer local achiever – to provide a prize for the best piece! See you there next week – enlarging our social capital!


WOOLWORTHS DO ‘LOCALWASH"

Last Friday the biggies had an ad in the Northern Star proclaiming ‘locally grown" mandarins from Mundubbera and Gayndah. Ever heard of those places? Mundubberah is 583 kms and Gayndah 536kms from Lismore, where the Northern Star is published. They are also selling ‘fresh" oranges from USA!


LISMORE GETS THE BOOZE BIGGIES

http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/04/15/woolies-to-open-dan-murphys-outlet-in-lismore/ you can leave a comment at the end of this article if you can get the N Star to accept your email & password – mine seems to have been glitched.


MALENY MARKS 6TH ANNIVERSARY AS OPPOSITION TO WOOLWORTHS GROWS

A bevy of willing volunteers delivered hundreds of flyers around Maleny this week outlining what happened 6 years ago when Deen Bros Demolition (motto: "All we leave is memories") cleared the native bush on the Obi Obi Creek bank. This green space with native vegetation in the heart of Maleny, including large old bunya pines, karri pines and a fig tree, was razed to make way for Woolworths. The police presence was horrendous, with protesters arrested (even a 70year old) enabling the destruction when no permit was produced. This clip shows some of the goings on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDEf3GLrCO0 Meanwhile, opposition to the big box gains momentum with the boycott growing stronger. Why repeat the Maleny mistake in Mullum???



TALLOWOOD: GATHERING TOMORROW 10 AM

Please come to a Gathering to protect the green belt and old growth habitat, off Left Bank Road, Mullumbimby (end of Tuckeroo).
The Tallowood development, which will be the single largest development ever in Mullumbimby, is still to be determined by the Land and Environment Court. Council refused the Tallowood development application for 15 major reasons including flooding, environmental impacts, remediating contaminated lands and sewerage. Their offer to work with the developers to find an outcome that will satisfy reasonable council and community concerns was refused by the developer. Council is not against the whole development but want it to be done with environmental modifications that respect the environment and the existing community.

Gathering to attract media attention, we want to show the court that the community supports council in wishing to protect biodiversity and rural amenity. In particular to ensure the vacant council road reserve, or paper road, on the southern side of the development becomes the green buffer between existing rural residential properties and the proposed urban development as council intended. (The developers want to build an access road here rather than use their own lands as previously proposed.) Council and the community want to see this area revegetated to keep the ridgeline free from development.

We also wish to send a clear message to protect existing vegetation including significant old growth trees. These are directly threatened by proposed house blocks. Another 200 trees have been marked and their future is uncertain. As there is currently no transparency in the development it is unclear if the ridge will be cleared for a road to link with the proposed subdivision entrance to Brushbox Drive.

This issue is about appropriate development to conserve community and environmental values.

MEET at entrance to Tallowood subdivision (end of Tuckeroo Drive off Left Bank Road).
This Saturday 17th April. 10 am sharp (for photographs for local media)
Wear something green to show your support for the green belt!

We also will gather for the court hearing at Byron Court House on April 28th. The on-site sewerage plant for the subdivision seems still on the developer"s agenda as the DA for the on-site sewerage disposal field has been lodged with council. If anyone is researching this issue please let me know and we will try and get an information sheet produced for people to write their own submissions.

Looking forward to seeing you Saturday; please pass this information on.


GE FOODS

Check http://www.truefood.org.au/truefoodguide/ for updates on what is genetically engineered, or not, in your favourite supermarket items.


WOOLWORTH"S SIMON ‘SPIN" BERGER

Simon has not responded to my open letter. If anyone would like to follow that up, (see last newsletter on mullumaction.org menu) his address is Community Relations Manager, 1 Woolworths Way, Bella Vista, NSW 2153.

Cheers
Deb