Because the NSW Department of Planning has approved a Woolworths Development in their beautiful little township, and the towns folk are still determined to have their valid arguments, for why this is not OK ,to be heard. A court case is pending, and the township of Mullumbimby needs your support!

Try these links to understand just why.

Firstly:-

Mullumaction.org : the Mullum Community Action Network that has formed to work to preserve the rural identity of the little township from being over-run by one of the two corporate giants (duopoly) in the Australian Grocery supply industry. Issues such as inadequate groundwater management, unfair competition against small local businesses, visual and physical impacts from the building of a large woolworths shopping centre in the township are just a few.

Mullumbimby at google maps.

bluecray Environmental Search Engine results for:-

Woolworths Mullumbimby .

Woolworths Gambling Poker Machines .

Mullumbimby Action Woolworths Court Appeal .(Woolworths Vs Byron Shire Council at NSW Land and Environment Court – possibly November 2009 hearing)

Woolworths hardware giant .

Phantom Koala sees that small regional communities can offer sustainable resources in a variety of ways, and large corporate developments offer sameness, blandness, non renewable resource dependency and the”rich get richer while the poor get poorer” scenarios

There are a number of small rural towns about the area of Mullumbimby. Many of them have small shops, local and regionalised industries  that offer community focus and community values far beyond what the woolworths corporate giant and its development has to offer.

Mullumbimby is a regional resource centre  to many of these small communities, and the issues at stake here, should woolworths gain the upper hand in retail grocery supplies (and possibly hardware as well?) could be against the basic principles of local and regional sustainability, as promoted and supposedly supported by the Governments of NSW and Australia.

The move by Woolworths, supported by the NSW Department of Planning,  to develop in this small rural township is an example of the rush of non sustainable developments that are now in the pipeline. These non sustainable developments have the potential of  overwhelming the coastal strip of NE NSW. Corporate leadership,  when it comes to Northern Rivers of NSW, appears to be based about non sustainable development, species and habitat destruction and land development at all costs to the environment. It is entirely out of step with the Global Vision for local environmentally friendly sustainable vision.

Biodiversity is subtle, and can offer resilience in times of Climatic Change. Regional and local sustainable community diversity can also offer resilience in times of climate change.

other bluecray articles for this topic:-

Mullumbimby Woolworths Approved by NSW Department of Planning 28.01.2009

The Long and Short of Corporate Vision 5.10.2009

Gambling can come in many forms, including throwing money into poker machines, coastal property development and large scale clearing of habitat in the name of habitat restoration

Bluecray experience is that whilst Governments can be elected by people and supportive of people who elect them, there are many voices making up the communities within the Mt Warning Caldera Region. One of the biggest pressures on both governments and communities is the need to make decisions when large corporations and businesses move to develop in a way that does not serve environmental sustainability or regional well being.

There is a current, highly obvious dichotomy within government where some non environmentally sustainable developments are considered “ok” and others are not. Some times it appears like rolling a dice as to what the outcomes will be, but often, there are also deeper undercurrents at play.

National Toxics Network:

Ross Gittens on Gambling, happiness and economic pursuits at the Sydney Morning Herald

They should serve as a warning to many small communities in the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE QLD, Australia.

Mullumbimby is a beautiful, at times flood prone town that lies on the Brunswick River. Mullumbimby township supports many artists, farmers, families ( who honour the rights of future generations of children to live in an environmentally sustainable community), pensioners, people with disabilities and active community members. It’s town centre is a peaceful thoroughfare and commerce hub that serves regional families and businesses.

The people of Mullumbimby, through the Mullumbimby Community Action Network, have spoken clearly to voice their lack of support and disapproval of the building of a Woolworths Supermarket within the location targeted by the Supermarket giant Woolworths. Woolworths, if built in Mullumbimby, will bring with it a number of extra corporate strengths to this peaceful rural town.

• Corporate credit
• more plastic (- NO – not the bags they pack your stuff in – the plastic that is around all their products  - fresh, processed and pre-packed such as meats, vegies, breads and many imported  products) that will end up in drains, recycling, land fill, animals digestive systems, food chains etc
• more traffic as delivery trucks, regional shoppers taking advantage of the hours of operation of the supermarket
• sewerage “the wet weather storage and (required) stringent monitoring and management of the irrigations system … to prevent effluent runoff; and the pumping out of effluent and its removal to Tweed which is illegal in the Byron Shire (Council Policy No. 5.59) which would set a precedent for other potential inappropriate development.” (from Mullumbimby Action Group letter to NSW Premier Nathan Rees, The Honourable Kristina Keneally NSW Minister for Planning, Ms Paula Tomkins)
• Mullumbimby Town and regional Heritage visual IMPACT

This Planning Right of Way by the NSW Department of Planning appears to be on the side of  the Woolworths giant ( which is also a large owner of Poker Machines in Australia) in this Far North Coast Region of New South Wales, Australia.

The building of this Woolworths Supermarket may herald future NSW Government condoned development expansion and rough riding over local  community well being.

The bluecray vision is that  cultural, community, commonsense, environmental and social  support return this planning right of way back to the town people of Mullumbimby.

And so, if you care about how  government and corporate power uses “behind the scenes” practices and economies of scale  to lever socially and environmentally undesired and harmful projects on to small rural communities, then please go to the Mullumbimby Community Action Network homepage and give the community your support.

YouTube Videos

Byron Shire Echo Article by David Lovejoy “Woolworths blocked at the drain” 16th June 2009 for an update on events

Sydney Morning Herald Article : 28th September 2009 “Woolies forced to explain pokie business”

shop till you drop bop till you pop
the Bluesfest of Byron is near
the Belongil site’s ready
and Tyagarah looks steady

The Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009 clearly illustrates that the  dichotomy of human rational, ignorance and self-gratuitous environmental belief systems is alive and well in Byron Bay, 2009. The Byron Bay Bluesfest has a long history within the Mt Warning Caldera Region and beyond.
And the slow subtle degradation of habitats and environmental health in the Byron Shire also has a long history.  Players in this field (Belongil Fields and beyond) can pat themselves on the back, preen their egos and shuffle their heads back into the sand. I just wonder how many cigarette butts, bottle tops and pieces of plastic they will find there, after the Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009 is gone and the animals that have survived the trauma of forced relocation come back to their homes to continue their lives.
I love music, I love the land, I love the animals and the human spirits that live in this beautiful Mt Warning Caldera Region.  I pray with all my might that some mass consciousness shift occurs at the Byron Bay Bluesfest at Belongil Fields (or is it Tyagarah?) this year (2009), so that the coming years of Bluesfest “mania” (Tyagarah ?)become directly, immediately and thoroughly accountable to the authentic spiritual land guardians of the Mt Warning Caldera Region.
I say this, because it is clear to me that the Byron Shire is incapable of taking care of this beautiful part of the world – one only has to walk along the shoreline at Byron and through the parklands to see just how much plastic, rubbish, cigarette butts, bottle tops, batteries and god know’s how much unseen waste and toxins have infiltrated the habitats that they proclaim to protect.
The Arakwal people are the historical custodians of the land in this area. Their land stewardship preserved a unique and diverse environmental heritage, much of which has now been swallowed up by inappropriate 19th, 20th and now 21st century development.  Today, more and more people have an increasing  impact on this area and region, and from what I can see, the heritage and rights for the native animals that live in the Habitats of the Byron Shire have been severely compromised.
Words like “precautionary principle”, “environmental sustainability”, “caring for country” and “global crisis” mean nothing, when the current dichotomy of human words and actions are let loose on the planet. Please don’t let the “vision fade”.

2009 Spendour in the Grass Festival Yelgun

Byron Shire Council and the Splendour in the Grass Festival – article in Byron Shire Echo 27th January 2009

Environmental Defender’s Office NSW

EDO Compliance Portal – a tool to assist citizens in enforcing environmental law

Byron Flora and Fauna Study 1999 (google HTML) or at Byron Shire Council publications website