Hi Sarah, is it your turn to be mayor?
Absolutely. It feels that way. Not just for me but also for the other people on my ticket, it feels like all the stars are aligned, and we’ve gotten to a place where the Greens have something powerful, new and quite different to offer. I’ve served two terms already and been the deputy mayor five out of the last eight years, so it feels like the right time to take that next step forward.
Last election, the Greens suffered the biggest downturn in votes for any party in Australian political history. Do you think you’ll turn that around?
We’re definitely going to give it a go. Any party goes through its ups and downs, and we had a collection of issues and topics we were going through then as a community: COVID-19, changes within the group, and demographic changes in the town. There’s a lot more harmony amongst councillors and within the Greens now.
That’s interesting about the changing demographics here. Do you feel that since we have had more influx from the cities, the protest/activist contingent is not as numerous as it once was?
With all that’s going on in the world, there’s a refocus and grounding on those things around us that are worth protecting. What’s important is finding a better paradigm than perpetual growth. We can be loved to death and exhausted by the amount of money required to service large numbers of visitors. The number of properties that were on Airbnb and the lack of available housing have caused a lot of stress. People have moved here because they want something different. We need to nurture what is different about this community.
Are you friends with Michael? (Lyon, current mayor)
Yes, of course. We have worked alongside each other for many years now. We have very different approaches to things but I value what he has to offer.
How would you do things differently?
I would aim for a more collaborative council, where we work together and leave room for people to participate. A more transparent council too. It’s such a big shire, and so many things to get done.
It looks like it’s going to be a fairly harmonious council. There’s no real division so far, everybody’s fairly centre-left. Do you have a concern at all that you’re going to get a new candidate coming from the far-left flank that could bleed votes from the Greens?
I’m not worried about that at all, in fact quite the opposite. I’m a little bit surprised at how few people seem to have come forward this time. Usually, we have 29 or 30 people running for 9 spots. At the moment, it’s only 12 that I’m aware of and maybe less than a handful of others that are thinking about it. It’s only a couple of weeks to August 14th when it closes. I do hope we have a cohesive progressive council.
Do you think people are put off by its adversarial nature? It can be quite daunting, and you need to have a reasonably thick skin.
Maybe. It can take a while to get used to. You have to do the work, read the papers and reports and show up. People can have a fixed idea of you, either positive or negative, and when people come to you, they can be generally frustrated around a council issue. You have to be able to get to the heart of the issue.
Well done on passing the Residential Land Strategy. That was a big accomplishment, and it took a while. Are you surprised more people aren’t following this, as it was important for housing in the Shire for the next decades? Considering the demands for new housing, do you think it could have included more options?
There were some key decisions that helped it gain a bit more acceptance, taking certain places out that would clearly still be in the flood plain. I think if they’d stayed in that there would be much more of an uproar. It’s a strategy and you can always update a plan and provide more affordable and social housing. I have stuck my neck out on a number of occasions to support some housing initiatives some others in the Greens might not have, perhaps because I get to witness more of the problems and issues with people suffering as a result of the housing crisis. The chances of this actually reaching all the targets in those strategies in the near future are very low with the building process and challenges in delivering at the moment.
Do you think there is a split within the Greens where older established party members are more NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) compared with younger Greens who veer more YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard)?
I think that discussion has found a bridge within the members because more have seen the downside of the housing crisis. But people are affronted by bad development. For example, in Sydney, people have seen what happens when you have bad highrises that are now not fit for purpose and constructed badly, and the cost disadvantages of housing that isn’t sustainable.
OK, then how do you fix that problem of supporting good developers and putting barriers to bad developers? Is that something you even have control over?
Absolutely, we set all those strategic documents. Of course, there is a limit to what we can control. Some people come in naively and think we can solve the housing problem and put these little houses everywhere and they haven’t done their homework. The people that we see that are successful are the ones who understand the parameters, who do good consultation, who work with the community and who have good design principles.
Yes, but they are people who have managed to have land in a residential strategy. That takes seven to ten years, then they are in the DA process and all the rest and maybe in 15- 20 years can deliver some housing product. What would you do if you had a magic wand and were able to do three or four things to fix housing – what would they be?
Well, there is the contribution scheme when people do go to develop, there is 20% devoted to affordable housing. There is the Land Trust (Byron Shire Community Land Trust). My immediate concern is the very short-term. What can we do with the people living in cars, etc. If I had a magic wand I’d make a really innovative temporary village and get the Federal and State Governments to deliver best-practice public and community housing to meet the basic needs. A priority is to find an appropriate piece of land where people could erect tents and park their cars with some services around it as a temporary shelter. That’s for the short term and then build innovative and interesting more appropriate dwellings and infrastructure that is really fit for purpose there later.
Do you see this adjacent to the Rail Trail? If residents can walk or bike to a town or village, that could offset some of the need for private transport.
I think the need would be to fix the rail trail first. This is a rural area, and you do need access to a car to get around at this point in time. We desperately need better connectivity, and this could happen with small, on-demand, electric buses looping between our towns and villages. At present, you can’t really function without one here. But further down the track, excuse the pun, that may be possible.
There is ongoing talk of a light rail between Byron and Mullum. And even further. Do you support that and think it has a chance of being funded?
I think the existing solar train to Elements could potentially be extended to Mullum. It is flat and could be viable. We’ll know for sure by the time we complete the other sections of the rail trail, but if it did work, you could put your bike on the train for that part of the trip.
Over the years, the council has been criticised for not having a good history of accessing state government funding or grants for projects. We have not been able to play the game well in that area.
I think in the last eight years, it has been my experience that we have got better at that. That may have been the case in the past. Over the last eight years, we have had $25 million extra for roads — the skate park. Community assets handed over to us like the old hospital site. In the Mullum hospital, which was not so successful, the amount expected for site remediation was much more than expected. They paid for the whole of the Byron Bay Bypass. Also $24 mil for the Federal road slip repair. That is open now and we could never have come up with the money for that. Where we suffer is rates, and we have a shortfall because of the number of visitors we have to cater for.
There is a lot of lobbying for more bike paths. Do you support that? Ideas like the Marshall Creek bike path and Synott’s Lane, connecting the Rail Trail to Brunswick Heads.
I am really excited about the idea that the north of the shire is getting a chance to do its own masterplan. If people push for individual pathways like the Marshall Creek one before the master plan, we could be putting the cart before the horse, as that will swallow up a lot of funding. Also, we are not the decision-maker for that area, as it is a national park and a sensitive environmental area that is unlikely to get approved.
Let’s talk about the existing culture within the council. Some here say that the council is where good ideas go to die, everything takes too long, and council staff are too risk-averse and conservative. That there are no performance reviews or KPIs.
We are really lucky with our staff. There are some gaps there, and it is hard to get new staff, especially now with the Reconstruction Authority, which is soaking up personnel. We also have moved from five directorates to three. So, under each directorate, there is an enormous amount of work. But the culture there is good. What struck me when I did work there prior to my time on council is there are a lot of incredibly intelligent women there who are just a joy to work with.
Thanks Sarah, if you were to give me your elevator pitch for mayor what would it be?
I’m excited by the possibility of being mayor with the incredible team I am running with. I am looking forward to more transparency around decision-making. We want to help breathe life back into Byron; the shire has had a pretty rough time in the last few years. We want to help protect and enhance what’s great about the area but also create a sustainable vision for the future that’s fit for purpose and explore a more circular economy. We want roads and accessible infrastructure, like pools, skateparks and libraries, that enhance people’s quality of life. Personally, I want to include councillors in meetings with staff if they have certain projects they are passionate about. I want to encourage us to get the best out of councillors and staff and consult more with the community.
Next issue, we will talk with the remaining Mayoral candidate, Asren Pugh.
Have a look at last month’s Q&A with Michael Lyon here.
Sarah’s team includes Elia Hauge, Delta Kay, and Michelle Lowe. You can read more about them here. Elia is an engineer, educator, and environmentalist who specialises in water, climate adaptation, and sustainability. Delta Kay is a locally-born Bundjalung woman who operates Explore Byron Bay Aboriginal Tours and works as an Aboriginal Student Support Officer. Michelle Lowe is a Bundjalung woman, local high school teacher, and mentor.