The sign at the gateway to Mullumbimby on the old Pacific
Highway welcomes visitors to "the biggest little town in Australia".
Home to three greengrocers, two butchers, one pub and a raucous colony
of rainbow lorikeets that arrives at dusk to roost in the palms on
Burringbar Street, Mullumbimby is a rare place: a thriving country town
that has held onto its village charm.
The hub for a sprawling web of hamlets in the surrounding hills and
valleys, Mullumbimby's vibrant counter-culture is wedded (mostly)
peacefully to the traditional cattle- and cane-farming community. On
Saturday morning, utes with kelpies chained in the back and crumbling
Kombis crawl the wide streets, cheek by jowl. But by midday the town
falls into a slumber. There are no backpackers' dorms, no Gloria Jean's
or McDonald's, no traffic lights.
But according to the state Department of Planning, the northern NSW
hinterland town with a population of less than 3200 is about to get a
lot bigger. With continuing high population growth forecast for the
region, and as sea- and tree-changers flee the cities, housing and
industry will be pushed inland to protect the coastline.
The Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, has earmarked Mullumbimby for
major growth in his 25-year plan for development in the region, to the
outrage of the local council and many members of the community who love
the town's diminutive size and its green, grassroots culture.
The Far North Coast Regional Strategy, released last year, proposes
to protect the diverse lifestyles and sense of community of other
hinterland "villages" such as Bangalow and Nimbin, as well as the
sensitive coastal strip east of the Pacific Highway. But Mullumbimby is
defined as a town ripe for urban growth, as is the tourist mecca Byron
Bay.
Despite the strategy's focus on "sensitive" development that protects
the region's scenic and cultural values, residents are fighting what
they fear will be great, unchecked change to their way of life. Their
immediate concern is the acquisition by Woolworths of a family-owned
supermarket that has graced Mullumbimby's main street for more than a
century.
The sale, announced on January 1, included land and a controversial
development application to build what many residents describe as a "big
box" store on the outskirts of the town.
A spokesman for the Mullumbimby Community Action Network, Garry
Scott, says Woolworths would change the shape of the town that many
people came to Mullumbimby to be part of.
"The vitality of the main street is so important for the wellbeing of
people and the feeling of community. History tells us when a big-box
store comes to town, away from the main street, the town dies - it
becomes derelict. We've seen it happen in Ballina, Tweed [Heads],
Grafton and Kempsey."
The saga of Mullumbimby's new retail development has been gaining
momentum for the past eight years. In 2000, the owners of Mallams - one
of the town's two small supermarkets, which has been in the hands of one
local family since 1904 - asked the council for help in identifying a
new site to expand their business.
Railway land in a residential area on the eastern edge of town was
earmarked for the new project, which included several specialty shops
and a car park.
The Mallam family's impassioned argument for their proposal went to
the heart of community's concern about maintaining the town's
environmental integrity and beauty in the face of voracious development
in the Byron and neighbouring shires. In a letter to the shire's
community newspaper, The Echo, developer Chris Mallam claimed the
big chains were moving in: "[We have] been contacted by a Melbourne
commercial property agency wanting to buy land and we know that other
supermarket chains have been talking to a local real estate agent about
the [former State Rail Authority] land.
"This proposal won't destroy the town that we grew up in and love.
The Mallam family are part of Mullum. We only wish to ensure that the
charm and character of Mullumbimby is protected."
But when it finally went before the council in 2005, the Mallams'
development application was twice defeated five votes to four, amid
concerns over the effect on existing businesses and the fragmentation of
the town's village vibe, as well as traffic management, parking, noise
and flooding problems.
The developers had another card in their hand, however. They wasted
no time taking their plan to Sartor, to appeal under legislation known
as SEPP 8 (now repealed), which gave the state authority over the
rezoning of public land. In November 2006, Mallams' development
application was approved - a decision described by the Byron Shire
Mayor, Jan Barham, as shameful.
"They've taken away our rights and they've made our community's laws
a joke," Barham says.
Just over a year later, Mallams announced the sale of their business,
land and DA to Woolworths. In a town that loves a conspiracy theory, the
question being asked over the chai and tofu burgers at LuLu's Cafe is:
"Was the sale to Woolworths planned all along?".
The answer, according to John Waterhouse, manager and co-owner of the
supermarket, is a vehement "no". Team Mallams and Woolworths are adamant
there were no discussions between the two parties before June last year.
"It's terrible what's being said because it's so far from the truth,"
an emotional Waterhouse says. "If people want someone to blame for this
situation we're in now, with Woolworths on our doorstep, they should
point the finger at the councillors that made life so hard for us.
"Now people are writing letters to the papers and talking about
boycotting Mallams. My staff have been abused and spat at on the
footpath. This is a company and a family that gave to this town for over
100 years. To be treated this way is just a disgrace."
Waterhouse says the developers pulled the pin because the long fight
with the council had drained them financially. He describes the sale to
Woolworths as a "bailout".
The Mullumbimby community gave a scorching reception to Woolworths
representatives who addressed a packed meeting in the local council
chambers in May.
The meeting was an opportunity for residents to hear Woolworths
discuss its application to amend the existing approval for the
supermarket site.
While Marty Hamnett, Woolworths' national general manager for
supermarket operations, described the new design as "less box-like",
Mullumbimby resident Luis Cristia's photo-montage of the proposed
building drew gasps of dismay from residents. It shows a mighty wall of
windowless concrete, so high it will block views of iconic Mount
Chincogan from the residential street onto which the building backs.
Deborah Lilly, the co-ordinator of the community action network,
described Woolworths' promise of the latest in green technologies and
design for their Mullumbimby store as a "furphy".
"You talk about sustainable design. But where are the windows? Where
are the solar panels? Where are the rainwater tanks? Where are the
compost bins? The Woolworths model is 50 years out of date and as
sustainable as a coalmine," she told the meeting.
A spokeswoman for Woolworths, Clare Buchanan, says the supermarket
site came with "a lot of baggage".
"Because of the planning process, in which council's decision was
overridden by the Department of Planning, there's an awful lot of
pent-up frustration in the community, which we're very sympathetic
about, but unfortunately it is past history."
Woolworths has been negotiating with the council over how the
building could be improved, she says.
The council's director of planning, Ray Darney, says Woolworths is
"heading in the right direction".
But concerns over the development's sewage remain. Mullumbimby has in
place a moratorium that prevents any new developments being connected to
the town's overloaded sewage system until a planned overhaul in 2010.
Hundreds of residents burned an effigy of Woolworths' "big box" on
the site of the proposed supermarket recently, calling for Sartor to
heed the wishes of the community and cancel the approval.
The final public submission period ended on July 18. The decision is
now with the minister.
Conflict and compromise as retail
giant threatens small-town charm across the land
WOOLWORTHS, an Australian company with an 80-year history, says it
buys 95 per cent of its fresh fruit and vegetables from Australian
farmers. In a town like Mullumbimby, where the average weekly family
income is $789, almost $400 less than the Australian average, Woolworths
also promises cheaper groceries - $77 for the "average basket", compared
with $97 at Mallams.
Yet the protest against the Mullumbimby development, presented by
residents as a clash between commercial and community values, has been
repeated across the country.
The City of Sydney Council rejected Woolworths' application to build
a two-storey supermarket in inner-western Erskineville in May after
intense lobbying by residents. The developer and Woolworths have
appealed to the Land and Environment Court.
In Victoria, the state's planning tribunal recently blocked
Woolworths from building a Safeway supermarket in Mount Evelyn, on the
eastern outskirts of Melbourne, after more than three years of protests
by residents.
Other communities, such as the Sunshine Coast town of Maleny, north
of Brisbane, as well as the Sydney suburbs of Double Bay and Thornleigh,
have fought long, losing battles against Woolworths stores opening in
their areas.
The concerns raised by Woolworths' opponents are frequently the same:
increased traffic, trucks and parking problems; reduced safety for
cyclists and pedestrians; increased noise, air and visual pollution and,
in particular, the loss of local businesses and village atmosphere.
Many also have ideological and environmental concerns about
Woolworths' size, such as centralised buying in which food travels great
distances from suppliers to distribution centres and out to stores, and
makes it difficult for small, local growers to compete.
But according to a Woolworths spokeswoman, Clare Buchanan, many
concerns are based on myths.
She says the Maleny Woolworths, which opened in 2006, is "trading
very, very well" despite a long-running boycott campaign.
"We've had letters from Mittagong, Kempsey, Forbes, Parkes and other
towns that all say their original objections were unfounded and the
towns are doing very well," Buchanan says.
Nevertheless, Woolworths is striving to change its one-size-fits-all
approach, she says. "We fully appreciate uniqueness is something that
should be protected."